Saturday, July 31, 2010

the august break

Today is the last day of July which means tomorrow AUGUST begins!
I've signed up for Susannah Conway's August Break... you can read all about it here. Basically it means I'll be posting a photo a day for the month of August - no words, no rules, just images taken by myself. Now I'm no photographer but I've been wanting to take more photos for a long time and this is exactly what I need to get me going. So I'll be using our little Sony Cyber-Shot which fits into my handbag or pocket and that means I can take it with me wherever I go!

I'm looking forward to seeing what appears! Happy August!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Forgiveness

Here's a beautiful poem by Laura Walters I read on 37 days. Patti always seems to find great poetry worth sharing -thanks Patti!


Forgiveness
Is a thousand pains
Placed one by one
In small boats
Kissed tenderly
And sent out to sea
Sometimes a few float back
The exquisiteness of the pain
Remembered
Kissed yet again
Then placed in its boat and sent out
As many times as it takes
Will they ever stop coming back
I can’t know
I can only send them out again
One by one
-Laura S. Walters


p.s. do you like my new layout? It took about 3 minutes, the hardest part was choosing the background...

Saturday, July 3, 2010

when hungry, eat

A couple of weeks ago Nadine wrote about Joanne Fedler's new book When Hungry, Eat. I can't wait to read this book, for so many reasons (not least of which is that I love Joanne's honest and irreverantly funny writing style).
I've requested it from our library and I'm 4th in line...

While I wait, the title turns itself over and over in my head. So simple, so wise.

For someone who spent more than a decade of her life wrapped up in a compulsive dieting and eating disorder this phrase has been my path to freedom and a healthy relationship with food. All food.
Even chocolate cake.

Too often we use eating to satisfy emotions that can in no way be resolved with food.
Stifled? Yes.
Smothered? Yes.
Comforted? Maybe (yet briefly).
Resolved and healed? No.

So I've been jotting down some notes. Reminders of what to do when needs other than physical hunger have found (and sometimes still find) me stuffing food into my mouth. No doubt, I'll keep refining these, adding to them as life goes on and I develop new ways of meeting my ever changing, sometimes confusing needs and emotions.


When hungry, eat.
When thirsty, drink (preferably pure H2O)
When tired, sleep.
When happy, laugh (or hug or dance!)
When angry, breathe.
When scared, pray.
When lonely, reach out.
When bored, read.
When stuck, stretch.
When doubtful, wait and see.
When lost, find north.
When depressed, clean.
When inspired, write. (For that matter - when uninspired, write).
When curious, ask.
When desperate, walk along a wild and windswept beach.

While alive, love.

How do you deal with emotions, both positive and negative?