Mindfulness and Nature Keep Me Going

If you review posts on this blog dating back to 2017, you will find that they contain general information meant to introduce readers to mindfulness. This has never been a stream of consciousness blog that rambles on about the latest fashion trends, celebrities, or politics.

Today I am going to write in the first person and explain who I am and why I write this blog and maintain the website.

I am well aware that this website is not popular, "liked" on Facebook or shared on social media. I have kept it going for over three years as a mindfulness exercise with the hope that perhaps someone would come across it and find something helpful.

Most of what I've done in my life was to meet some societal need. I spent a decade working to save homeless animals. I spent the same amount of time volunteering with a domestic violence task force working with abused women and children (and politicians too as needed.) I taught school and ran a daycare. I taught (excuse me, "facilitated") highly educated adults and advocated for educational opportunities for those without a high school diploma. I brought young people into our home that needed a place to stay until they got their lives on track. I advocated for orphan diseases. All of this kept me busy and engaged and provided a feeling that I was helping in some small way to make the world a little bit better for individuals (and animals.) My advocacy was not born from an unhappy life. On the contrary, I have a husband that I adore, along with our children +. My husband has worked beside me in all of my endeavors and led in some of them.

Websites are not free unless you want them littered with ads. I pay to keep my website ad-free and will do so for as long as I can. There is a lot of mindfulness information online - for a price. I look for the best, authentic, free information and link to it from my site. Some of it I pay for myself and I update the site as often as possible, based on my energy level. I've been creating zen jewelry since 2017, and made it available for sale this year for my husband's startup and it is not sold on this website. The amount of bucks involved in setup and supplies will take years to recover. I never expect that he will recover that outlay, as my production is sporadic. That's okay, because designing jewelry is my mindful activity. Observing nature is my equally important mindful activity. One of my favorite movie lines is "Nature always finds a way."

I've battled two illnesses and several related conditions for almost my entire adult life. In 2020, I could no longer work at an 8 to 5 job. I chose ( I say chose - I didn't have a choice) to leave my job at the beginning of a global pandemic. My illnesses and the state of the world were not related. The timing could be considered fortunate as I need to be secluded during this pandemic, or it could be very poor timing, as I left security, affordable medical coverage, and my income behind. I lost the opportunity to say goodbye to my friends and coworkers. Diseases don't care about anything - they are what they are and they do what they want, when they want. What I need most, I have: a loving family, a calming and satisfying hobby (jewelry and the website) and mindful moments throughout the day, every day.

Typing on a computer to maintain the website, and using small tools to create jewelry are a physical challenge for me. I guess I just like a challenge and would be lost without one. I work, I rest, I work again. Time means nothing. Every day is "day." As long as I am not on a schedule, I can always accomplish something in a 24 hour day. It is a tiny amount of something, but it is something.

So that is what the website and blog are about. I don't expect to have an audience for my thoughts and I will edit or delete this blog within a week. If you do see this blog, visit the rest of the site. There are some visual updates that I made this week that are calming and created from the heart. And that is all that I desire; to help someone experience a mindful moment, a moment of clarity, a moment of peace.

Peace