Seeking My Querencia
Monthly Archives: October 2012
A Source of Inspiration
For the last three or four months, my blog posts have been few and far between. It is not that I didn’t want to blog — I couldn’t. As I’ve mentioned more than a few times, I have fibromyalgia and over the years, it has affected every aspect of my life, from work (I am on inactive status with the state bar.) and play. As such, it comes as no surprise that it would eventually affect my blogging.
It seems that the harder I tried, the more difficult it was to muster the energy or inspiration necessary to write. So, I didn’t. About a week ago, I was cleaning out my long neglected email in boxes when I stumbled upon an email about an upcoming e-course given by Decor8’s Holly Becker’s “Blogging Your Way Boot Camp.” Blogging Your Way (BYW) is “the first ever online e-course about blogging founded by Holly Becker from decor8 that launched over three years ago (circa March 2009) with a focus on a creative, personal and meaningful approach to blogging that gets results! Blogging Your Way shows you exactly how to use your blog as a catalyst to live your best life…” http://decor8blog.com/ecourses/ Since I’d taken one of Holly’s courses in the past, I knew that it would be a great source of creativity and inspiration. I registered almost immediately.
The course brings together hundreds of like-mined people from all over the world. The energy and excitement level on the site is palpable. All the participants are bloggers or bloggers-to-be, and they gather together for the insight and valuable information that BYW offers. One cannot help but be inspired in the company of hundreds of bloggers-both experienced and novices, much like me. Even though I started my blog about 2 years ago, I am still a beginner. Taking Holly’s courses emphasizes for me all that I have to learn about blogging and how that information can help my blog be all it can be. In this secure community, Holly creates this supportive online environment where everyone can share their experiences and questions without feeling awkward. Having access to hundreds of blogs and bloggers is a creative smorgasbord from which one can use as a spring-board to his or her own ideas that will set their blog apart from the masses.
Holly, a well-known blogger, author, and more, brings her immense expertise to the course. She is open in sharing her significant experiences and do’s and dont’s that she has learned along the way. Her exuberance about blogging is contagious and one can not help but be inspired by her work, and that of the fellow bloggers that she gathers to teach the course with her. We are only one week into the course and already, I have been prompted to move my blog from Blogger to WordPress, something that I wanted to do anyway, but was scared to do so. In addition, I have written and published two posts (this will be my third) this the first week of “class.” I am excited to begin the second week of this amazing course. I recommend this e-course to anybody wishing to create a blog that is visually appealing and substantively interesting. Blogging Your Way helps you to focus your intentions, identify your audience and create a blog that is yours and authentically you.
Chicken Lust
I am sitting on my bed watching a bevy of chickens as they strut across the lawn of my next door neighbors. The
Chickens (Photo credit: Allie’s.Dad)
first thought that comes to mind when I hear the word “chicken” is my grandfather, my paternal grandfather. He was a character. In addition to the numerous children that he fathered during his life (It was in excess of 20!), he also had chickens. We would go across the river, which from the city of New Orleans was the Mississippi, to visit him and the rest of the family.
The chickens were kept in a coop beside the shot-gun house and you could hear them making their chicken sounds and watch them pecking at feed and one another. I never had the slightest desire to go near them or harvest their eggs. I was more than comfortable watching them from afar. Our relationship involved them staying in their place and I in mine.
So, it has come as a surprise to me, that I have entertained the idea of adding chickens to our family. (My husband thinks I am losing my mind.) I know, I know, it’s weird, but you see, I am surrounded by chickens. Day after day, I hear roosters crowing from the neighbors on either side of us. We live in an area in which each household has a fair amount of land (at least an acre); so, it is not uncommon to see or hear lambs, goats, mules, deer, and of course, chickens. For reasons that I am not altogether sure of, the sight and sound of nature’s animals instills in me a sense of peace and comfort. I think back to the time when families lived close to the earth and the pace of life was slower. Nevertheless, I don’t envision chickens in my future, so I’ll have to live vicariously through my neighbors. Wait, there they go running past my window. I have to go to revel in my daily dose of “chicken” peace.
Listening to My Inner Diva
Lately, I’ve been beset with stirrings and yearnings from my inner diva. There I was getting ready for one of my
numerous doctor appointments. Rarely a week goes by that I don’t have one and, dressing for them is, believe me, a no-nonsense affair. I grab a pair of yoga pants and a clean shirt and I’m done. Ordinarily, I spend zero time applying makeup. I think, “why bother?” I am just going to yet another doctor appointment and they don’t care how I look anyway. As I stood in front of my bathroom mirror studying my face, I heard the softest inner whisper say “wear some red lipstick.” My initial reaction was not positive. I thought, “there’s no way that I am putting on red lipstick, or any lipstick for that matter!” So ignoring the unwanted intrusion in my head, I set about brushing my teeth and taming my wild hair.
As I was doing so, the insistent whispers became a mantra and the words “wear red lipstick,” bombarded me. No kidding, this went on for a couple of minutes. I was mentally swatting the words like I would a pesky fly or mosquito. Still ignoring and rejecting the idea, I began to pay attention, not to the words, but my reaction to them. Why was I so adamantly against something as simple as wearing lipstick? Was I in such a rut that the mere idea of wearing red lipstick could cause me such angst?
Before my health forced me to resign from my attorney position, I wore makeup every day. I was a trial attorney and I routinely met with clients and witnesses, as well as appeared in court for hearings or trials. Makeup was a part of my uniform that enhanced my look and style, and I wore it for me, not for anyone else. It made me feel like I was putting my best self forward. When I went on disability, all of that changed.
In my mind, I had no reason to wear makeup. At first, I was too depressed to even consider it. As time went by, my enormous stash of makeup went untouched and unused. In all honesty, I didn’t care enough about myself or the way that I looked to bother with makeup. Under the circumstances, in pain all the time from fibromyalgia and oftentimes, migraines, taking the time to put on makeup seemed absurd to me. So, I didn’t.
By this time, my hair was tamed and I was fully dressed; however, the voices urging me to put on red lipstick remained. Still reluctant, I went to my overflowing makeup drawer, opened it and stared for some time. Lifting my eyes from the drawer, I looked in the mirror. For the first time in a long time, I studied myself. I remembered all the reasons that I loved to wear makeup; especially that it raised my self-esteem, and made me feel special. I hadn’t felt that way in a long time. I picked up my favorite red lip color carefully applied it to my lip. I thought, “Today, I wear red lipstick–for me. My inner diva smiled., and I smiled back at her with gratitude.
seeking querencia 