FOURTH WEEK TUESDAY: WALKING TOWARDS MORE PEACEFUL PROSE

First of all, see my comments today at BeliefNets http://beyondblue.com link about the article of quotes on how to achieve a more peaceful world.  As you will NOT be surprised, I am old enough and wise enough to know how much I need to work on peace within myself.  Specifically, today I am concentrating very hard on talking to nature, friends, my pets as I “walk” along WITH them (not OVER them or UNDER them!!) in a softer, more contemplative manner.  Today, Tuesday of this fourth week of 5-day-a-week posting, is about:

SOFTNESS (with shape, with definition, with intentional acceptance of other’s quirks!)

CONTEMPLATION-BEFORE-SPEAKING (with appropriate body language showing attentiveness)

MODULATED SPEECH (focused, self-monitored with finger-to-ear canal:will explain later)

AFFIRMATION (of self and others but not necessarily every idea from either!)

GENTLENESS(with strength of very type well-tapped and utilized)

I started my outside-the-homeplace day today by popping into my church office to confirm spelling of father’s name in bulletin, as I am supplying fresh plants (as alar flowers) in celebration of his birthday(on Halloween, no less!).  I requested those present to give me a moment of feedback of my finger-to-ear-canal technique for monitoring my voice volume and intonation.  They gave me smiling support and encouragement.  This, soon after noticing how my naughtiest puppy responded quite positively to a whispered “command” beside her ear.

Now I am remembering all the times I was cautioned to “settle down and go to sleep” as a child.  How much better that was put into action when I whispered a favorite song or nursery rhyme to myself as I grew sleepier and sleepier!  Indeed, sleeping poetry does indeed walk you into the land of your dreams.  And guess what?  I am not a bit too old for such techniques to calm me down, cause me to regroup when I grow too loud, too verbose(at first just inside my own head) over any number of issues I passionately care about!

So I continue through this day stepping on my own hopscotch squares of “shush”, “wait–listen!” “o-ver th-e rain-bow” to the metrics of “going by woods on a snowy evening”.  NOT Skakespeare’s lines about “First, kill all the lawyers.” and only once or twise to the beat of “on into the valley of death rode the ten thousand”!!!!  Yes, I DO need the psychic energy I get from galloping about into situations of others’ conflicts sometimes.  But maybe, just maybe I will remember today to “put on the full armor of righteousness”; which, in my case, is to stop, listen, think, empathize, put the finger to my ear canal FIRST, MIDDLE, and LAST!!

THURSDAY: WISDOM BEFORE NEWS

I am trying something a little different today: at least composing the first draft of my post BEFORE reading any emails, twitters, online news or participating in any of my favorite blogs or forums.  I want to squeeze out of my fingertip pores a drop or two of my first-of-the morning impressions.  Then I will attempt to compare them to first-of-the-morning impressions I remember from the age of eight back on the farm, pretending that was on a Thursday morning, as well.

About-to-be 65 on this glorious October morning, peeking out the French door at first sunbeams striking the blazing leaves of the wild grapevines hanging above my mailbox, giving thanks for my bigger and better heating pad that prevents stiff joints in the morning, executing a few langorous stretches and pretend Tai Chi stances, I begin to allow my to-do list for today to invade my conciousness.  The annual trip to the vet for exam and vaccinations for my 3-year-old female Black Labrador Retriever has become something I approach with joy, as my Lab is really healthy and smart and our vet is just great (not to mention being wise enough to have graduated from my own alma mater!).  Then I get to complete and submit ads for the program of a local music festival in memory of a guy we all loved, whose life transformed so many lives in our community.  Also, I am remembering all the serendipitous encounters of my days over the past three-four weeks, no matter how rushed or how many deadlines(self-created or otherwise!) I was under.  So, okay, humming through a few more deep knee bends, toe-touchings, head-jogglings, I KNOW I am not bent under a single molecule of angst starting my day.

Now, about those early morning eye-openers back on the farm at the age of eight:  rolling over to gaze through my bedside window, I allow wake-up calls from the kitchen in another wing of the house to go unanswered for about 30 seconds.  I really NEED to absorb all the beauty outside first.  First things first, after all.  Then I leap up, crack my bedroom door, and holler a “Yes, Ma’am” down through the hall, across the “mudroom” to reach the vicinity of my mother at the stove.  I climb into last night’s outdoor chore clothes, scoot onto the mudroom, grab two pails of chicken feed and manage to avoid the worst droppings getting across the hen yard to their feeders.  Back to the kitchen, grab the waiting buckets of cat, dog, and horse food,  deliver feline and canine food in pans on the porch, scoot around the house,clump around and over piles of wet leaves under the live oaks in the front yard, back out the front yard gate, and putter along the tractor trail up to the feedlot/catchpen area of our biggest barn.  Stroke horsey nose, promise more attention after school, and start racing back to the house, not quite making it back inside the yard before legs turning to rubber, chest pain hits, and plop down on the front walk.  Mother has been watching from the kitchen windows of the sink.  As it turns out, my parents have been concerned and carefully observing my little “weak spells”.  She has been campaigning with my father to excuse me from before school chores until they can find out more about why I LOOK so healthy but keep having these “spells”.

Okay, segue way about 28-30 years ahead to when I am finally correctly diagnosed with a type of aggravated mitralvalve prolapse and develop the lifestyle/low-level treatment plan I still enjoy today.  Also, seque way to the years between 1999 and somewhere around 2006 when I finally stretched internally up above the heretofore lifetime angst I had suffered in the company of most other people, even when I was having a marvelous time with said folks.  The events of those two time periods in my personal growth are largely responsible for the first paragraph of this post being true of the Granbee of today!

Hey, I don’t need to write a second draft of this post.  I like it just the way it is.  After all, I will revisit all of the above no doubt many times in future posts here!  Love you guys!