Worth a Try? in Everyday Ramblings

Something about the circumstances the last few weeks have conspired to make it so the pictures I post are not the best, but the whole point of the pictures here is to give you a feel for my world as it is, when I experience it. This is from Saturday walking down this marvelous out of the way curved street (and we were walking in the street) full of beloved homes close in urban but with a neighborhood feel.

Kes needed to go to the dentist yesterday, an emergency appointment that she had to wait almost a week for (because…Covid). I wanted to cheer her up and am looking for ways to support local businesses, so I ordered flowers for her to be delivered from a local florist and the arrangement was their choice. I was a little nervous about this because I am inordinately picky about flower arrangements. It is a visual art.

The arrangement was beautiful and perfect for my sister with lots of yellow and amazingly three red tulips. Our capitol, (which is beefing up security big time, as we had a representative actually pop open a door for protestors a few weeks back. Who thought that was a good idea in the middle of a raging pandemic?) is in a modest sized city surrounded by a wide rural landscape.

The flowers came from a small nearby farming community and that was great. My stimulus check in action.

We have a flood watch. The sad thing is that it is weirdly warm, and our precious snowpack is affected and contributing to the rise in local rivers. Yes, standby while climate change comes to a community near you.

Some days I am totally fine with watching myself on video as I trim the class recordings I am doing to post and some days I am not.

I was doing great until the middle of last week when my mature adult response to the events both locally and in Washington D.C. is to soothe myself with food. And I am not talking about apples and carrots (although I have both).

It is truly challenging to watch myself teach. The feedback from the people that participate in my classes is so positive that I know it is a good thing I am doing and those few minutes of companionship before each class are priceless, but it is hard to watch.

Another reminder that we can’t trust what our brain tells us sometimes.

Compared to the hardships so many are going through it is small potatoes, but I am a mature woman with lots of water under my bridge. I can’t imagine how difficult this would be for a young woman with less arrows in her quiver for coping. Especially with Instagram.

I am watching this continuing ed program on compression and tightness in the joints and the teacher says that what we perceive of as muscle tightness say in limited range of motion or stiffness in the neck or hamstrings or hips is a message from our nervous system saying…hello…I am trying to protect you. We interpret it as tightness.

Our body is saying it will keep us safe. And there we go pulling and exerting effort in a stretch for what we perceive of is a release, which isn’t exactly what the body needs. It needs gentle encouragement to let go.

Hmmm. I wonder if I can use this technique to let go of the negative self-talk about my thighs. It hasn’t been an easy year what with the fall, managing Diego’s chronic gut issues (he threw up again this morning) and oh yeah, both the deadly pandemic and the insane political theater.

Out there in the rain the daffodils are shooting up stalks. I learned how to scan documents with my phone this week to help Mrs. Sherlock with something having to do with their property sale and with Most Honorable’s assistance I learned how to reassemble my big tube feeder after washing it thoroughly, which was not easy.

I have been doing the prudent thing and staying home, wearing a mask even to take the garbage out or get the mail, having my groceries delivered.

Right this very moment I am typing this with my feet and lower back supported and my hands at waist level in an effort to make my spine (and therefore my sciatic nerve) happy. I did have three days with no Tylenol this week, including a day I walked over five miles.

So, maybe, possibly, with all this accomplished I could consider the possibility of letting go of the negative internal self-talk?

It is worth a try.

Last updated January 12, 2021