Now folks, my heart is heavy over the brutal murder of George Floyd. I invite you to join me as you read here to stop, pause, think of him as the whole man he was. Honor his life. His memory.
Please join me tonight in prayer for five people you know. If you can, make those five be African Americans. Maybe they are your friends, family, colleagues, folks you know from a distance. Maybe they are total strangers.
Picture them. Pray for them. Wish them courage, strength, resolve, and protection. Wish them help in needs that maybe we cannot fathom because we cannot understand their walk unless we have lived it.
Tomorrow? Repeat.
At some point, you will discover what you can do. It may seem to be the smallest thing. If it is a good thing, do it.
Repeat.
It is not enough. But friends, it will never be enough. Start where you are. Adopt a fellow human. Do not give up on the goodness that does exist in this world.
Curse the bad, be enraged, shed those tears. Then get up and decide to support the people who need us.
I have lost count of the days I’ve been home lately. At some point, I’ll look back at a calendar or journal entry and know the exact number. Sometime in March though…so definitely a couple months, give or take a day or two.
I looked out today and started thinking about what I have added to my space during these days. What five things could I list? Which five things are items that bring me happiness and are things I might not have purchased in my pre-covid life?
1) cast iron skillet—-a little luxury that I’ve made excellent use of already—-more time to cook and cook well. It is also a nod to nostalgia—my family cooked a lot with cast iron as I grew up. If you like home cooking, there is a terrific lady named Brenda Gantt that you can look up for easy home cooking tips. She uses cast iron all the time.
2) an extra hummingbird feeder and two shepherd hooks—-happy hummingbirds already bringing me smiles as I watch them dart to and fro. Most springs get away without me getting feeders ready, but this spring it’s routine to clean feeders and refill the nectar. I love looking out of each window in my home and knowing there is some new item: feeder/plant/color to view.
3) double embroidery hoop with stand—-getting more hand stitch time in these days…a welcome diversion from the stream of news. The luxury of not having to grip a hoop while sewing means I can spend more time doing the stitches on bigger projects.
4) zinnias and tomatoes and herbs—-things to plant and nurture and watch grow…things to care for during these days. Yeah, I likely would have bought flowers…but it is fun to try new ones and see what I can help thrive.
5) maybe the best item: extra SD cards for my 35 mm camera. This was one of my first covid purchases…I hadn’t used that camera since my last big vacation, and all the cards were full. It’s been a welcome activity to sit and watch things in nature and capture them on film.
What about you? What good things have become part of your days lately? Tangible or not, it’s good practice to think of the good things. Celebrate the little things they bring joy to the days.
Stay safe and well, dear reader. Surround yourself with good thoughts and good things. 🦋
I hope that when you might start to think too much about these coronavirus days, some new and hopeful thought can wriggle in to keep you moving forward.
These are things that moved me forward this week:
…a new routine materialized in my morning writing. (This happens quite often…don’t be impressed. 🤣😅) However, a new schedule that I succeeded with today (yes, just today) gives me a sense of accomplishment. I guess I’ll keep trying new ways of moving through the days until I find the right one. ✅
…a friend who sends podcasts. We have similar tastes in our love for nature and poetry, and she seems to find the one that speaks to what we need on a certain day. Listening isn’t my best attribute, so this gives me a challenge and I have been rewarded each time with some new insight. ✅
…water. I offered some to a delivery man this week. You would have thought I had given him a thousand dollars. His gratefulness made me realize how little we have to do to make someone really happy, and how surprising to make such a difference without leaving my front yard. ✅
…a look back. Now and then, it is good to stop and reflect on all the ways our lives have unfolded through the years. Surely we all have a few places along the way where we thought What is this??? Yet, here we are. Past it. Stronger. Smarter. Determined. Remember: we only have to do this one day at a time. ✅
…a look toward the future. Join me in picturing yourself sometime in the future in your favorite place (or a new place). You might be smiling. Laughing. Embracing someone special. Toasting to some new wonderful event. You’re safe. Well. All the people you love are, too. That day you’ll realize you made it. Picture it. Think about it, even for one minute a day. There is power in visualizing what we want. ✅
I’d love to hear that you’re doing well. Take care of yourself during these days. Keep looking for the good…sometimes it comes through the simplest, sweetest means. ✅
My sis and I were talking earlier this week and she mentioned a beautiful crystal vase our mom had given her years ago. Isn’t it funny how some objects carry so much meaning? I hope she will fill that vase with flowers this weekend to honor a truly good mother AND her own good mothering self as well.
I’m planning to make biscuits tomorrow, and I’ll use a pottery bowl with navy hearts on it. My mom bought that bowl for me over thirty years ago. It was really too expensive at the time, but she bought it for me anyway. It’s seen a lot of good use. I’ll feel her spirit with me when I make those biscuits. I’ll wish I could sit with her and share one or two.
Vases, bowls—-those outward objects that represent people/times/moments. Outward gifts to be grateful for of course, but maybe your mom gave you some not so tangible gifts. Maybe you’ll think about those this weekend. Maybe you’ll hear her voice. Maybe you’ll feel blessed or grateful or loved.
During these hard days especially, I think of my mother and how she’d react to this pandemic.
Honestly, she would be worried, but she would also fill her days with prayer and good works. She would laugh a lot and make us laugh. She would call us to encourage us. She would look forward in hope. She would cook or later in life, ask us to cook for her. She would envelope us in such a sense of well-being that we would feel better than we were. And she would say this:
Be good to yourself.
This was one of her favorite quotes from the book of Sirach. She probably said it when she bought that vase, that bowl. She already knew that when you are good to someone else, you are also good to your own self. Amazing how she continues to teach me, years later.
Thanks mom. I’m surely grateful I had you to love me.
Happy Mother’s Day, dear readers. Be good to yourself. It has an amazing effect. ❤️
Let’s start with life. If you’re reading this, you’re still with us. Hallelujah… to praise that we are still here. Do you wake up grateful? I hope you do. ✅
Flowers along the roadside. Clover is coming on, some Queen Anne’s Lace, oxalis (even a white bloom variety!), and plenty of dandelions. Yeah, some folks don’t care for weeds, but if there is color, I count it as a good flower. And in this month of May, let’s try to pay attention to the color we are given —free bouquets to view daily. Maybe you’ll make a nature mandala? A honeysuckle crown? ✅
Something to do. I do not understand the word “bored”…so if you get that way, all I can say is … wow. Don’t you have a drawer to clean out? A car to wash? Heck…a window? 🧽 A book to read? Cookies to bake? Anything??????✅
Someone to cherish. I’m missing lots of someones these days. But I have words. I can text. Email. Skype. Call. Make contact virtually. So, in the time until it’s safer, I will think of creative ways to show love. I believe even Pope Francis encouraged the “creativity of love” early on in this pandemic. The reality is it is better to miss for awhile than for a lifetime. So suck it up and deal. ✅
Know-how. Sure, there are plenty of things I can’t do, but there are several that I CAN. Start listing them or ticking them off when you get slump-y. “Play those positive mental tapes” as a dear friend used to tell all her students. Advice that’s truer than true. ✅
I know there are marvelous things that are true about you, dear reader. I invite you to tell me anything at all…you probably won’t because…well…that’s how we often are…but I’d love to read something from your list.
Meantime…hang in there. We have made it through a full month (plus +++) of pandemic time. We have not liked it, but we have made it.
And we will keep making it and if we encourage one another, the walk will be not as hard, not as lonely, not as frightening.
So. Take care of somebody. Reach out to anyone this week. Do for them what you can. Carry on. ✅
A blog reaching out to victims of abuse and others in need, providing insight about abuse, hope for the future, and guidance to see THE LIGHT that lead Secret Angel out of the darkness of her own abusive situation and helped her to not only survive but to overcome.
agnestirrito 