Journaling in July – Week 5

I’ll be blogging about this journey and sharing on Saturdays with Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 and Beyond and Deb from Deb’s World. I won’t share everything here. Just snippets from the week. Some of what I write is for my eyes only, and besides, you won’t want to read it all anyway. I think it would make for a boring read.

Here’s my final entry to wrap up the month of Journaling in July.

Day 31 – How has the challenge changed me?

This last day is an easy question to wrap up the month with. Although, I don’t know that I’d say the challenge changed me in this way, as opposed to that it pointed out something that I need to change.

I was excited to see this challenge come up. I’m a firm believer that daily journaling is an asset. Years back, I journaled most mornings. When I regularly write, I find that life flows. I’m more in touch with my true self and the world around me.

Then – life gets busy. I stop and am soon out of the habit. In trying to establish an active and full writing career, along with working a part-time job that turns into a full time whirlwind at holiday times (a greeting card company), this regular habit fell to the wayside about four to five years ago.

Sue’s challenge reminded me of how much I enjoyed having this a part of my daily routine. But through the month, I found that even with the intent to write daily, I still only did it about a third of the month.

What that showed me is that even if there’s something I enjoy, especially something that benefits my life in many ways – that has proved itself to be a benefit to me…I still don’t take the time to ensure that I follow through with it. I’m still not making myself enough of a priority in the 24-hours I have each day. And that I need to change.

Journaling in July – Week 4

Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 and Beyond is hosting a Journaling in July challenge this month. I’m participating with her challenge (mostly – I’ve missed a few days in each week.) She and Deb from Deb’s World are also posting a blog hop on Saturdays, with an overview of the week before. For my Week 4 recap, here’s one of the days I journaled to the prompt ‘My Favorite Season.’

Day 23 – My Favorite Season

Without a doubt, Spring wins the grand prize as my favorite season. There’s no debate at all. Probably because it’s the exact opposite of The Season-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. (Winter!)

I don’t like winter. Never have. I don’t like cold or being cold. I don’t like dreary days. I don’t like short days where the sky turns mahogany by 5 pm. The world seems to be hibernating. I want to hibernate and wake up when its over.

But, spring! The days get longer. Trees burst into bud and flowers begin splashing our environment with their vibrant colors. Birds chatter and nest. Bees start buzzing around in search of nectar. The days embrace the growing golden warmth from the sun and the world explodes in growth and vitality. Aliveness. That’s what I see and feel when springtime bursts forth in glorious bloom, unfurling its energy throughout the land.

I could wish for eternal springtime. But, it’s said that you don’t appreciate the peaks without the valleys. I suppose that its just as true for the seasons. Without the deep cold and stagnation of winter, would I appreciate the spring just as much? If that’s the world I lived in 365 days a year, would I enjoy the delights of this season as much? Knowing human nature (and me), I doubt it.

Journaling in July – Week 3

Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 and Beyond  is hosting a Journaling in July challenge this month. I’m participating with her challenge (mostly – I’ve missed a few days in each week.) She and Deb from Deb’s World are also posting a blog hop on Saturdays, with an overview of the week before. For my Week 3 recap, here’s one of the days I journaled to the prompt ‘View from my window.’

Day 15 – View from my window

Yes, there’s a window in there. Somewhere. This was the sunflowers in front of the house a few weeks ago, as they just started blooming.

Fluffy white clouds drifting through azure skies, framed with a border of lush green evergreens, accented during the summer with a array of brilliant yellow sunflowers. This is the view from my window. Oh, and an occasional kitten face peering in through the screen they’ve shredded.

If I’m awake and up and it’s daylight, curtains are opened. My desk sits in front of the window facing the front yard. Who cares if it’s good feng shui, or if there could be a better layout if furniture were rearranged. No. Desks must be in front of the window where I can see out. It’s a given. No debate.

Yes, this visual connection with the world outside of my home sphere occasionally distracts me. (Okay – probably more often than occasionally.) But I have to see outside. The outdoors is my siren song. Except on the days that its over ninety or below forty. Then, I’m perfectly happy sitting inside and only looking outside.

As opposed to my better half, who I think would be perfectly happy living in a cave. If I didn’t live in the house, drapes would never be open. Doors, unless entering or exiting, would never be open. They would be content living in darkness, lit only by a dim computer screen. I scoff. I think they’re crazy. And then I start laughing at myself, because their thoughts are probably the exact same ones – except that they think I’m the crazy one for wanting all this sunshine and light.

The view outside now that the sunflowers have grown & started to topple over.  

I suppose it is a grand thing that we are all so different. As long as while we celebrate these differences, when I am home I get my way! Until the sun sets, the sky darkens and now the ones outside can easily see inside. Then I’m perfectly happy closing those drapes and curtains and treating my abode as a safe little cave. Besides, by then the kittens outside are tucked away with Mama next door, or wherever they hide away for the night and they won’t be peeking in the window, curious as to what the human at the desk is doing.

And at night, once my ‘curtain’ is drawn, this is my view. A completely hand-stitched quilt top (never quilted) from the 1930s. (Backed with a dark blue sheet to protect it from the sunlight.)

Journaling in July Week 2

I’ll be blogging about this journey and sharing on Saturdays with Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 and Beyond and Deb from Deb’s World. I won’t share everything here. Just snippets from the week. Some of what I write is for my eyes only, and besides, you won’t want to read it all anyway. I think it would make for a boring read.

I have to admit – I didn’t make every day journaling this week. Thursday morning I got something in my eye and by Friday couldn’t put in my contact and the eye was red, swollen, and horrible. Bad enough to send me to the eye doctor, and for those that know me, know the doctor is my last resort. I am one that believes in a ‘hybrid’ type of medical care and the doctor is only one small aspect in my preferred medical treatments. But eyes. I don’t want to mess around with eyes. I’d like my vision to be here as long as I’m breathing. Fortunately he said it was just a “nasty abrasion.” Nasty enough that I’m still contact-less in my right eye. It will be fine – but for right now the pain and the temporary impaired vision has slowed much of what I had planned over the past few days.

That’s something we all deal with. We all make the best of plans and then – WHAMMO! Real Life intrudes and doesn’t always cooperate with Our Best Laid Plans.

Here’s a snippet of my journal entry from July 9^th.

(It’s Sunday morning here in Texas, and I’m too late to get on the Saturday link up, coming from Australia, but I’ll post it anyway, even though I missed the link up party. Sorry Sue!)

Day 9 – My favorite Place

The beach. Never a doubt. Although in the mountains or woods is a nice second. Anyplace with trees. It must be my Gemini split personality. I long for water. I long for trees.

But water is my first choice. A lake or stream suffices when a beach isn’t possible. However, not any old beach will do. I’m a bit of a beach snob. Growing up, anytime Mom took us kids to the beach, it was always to the flat sandy surface of Huntington Beach, a boring flatland of people and towels laid end to end. Once I was in high school and was driving, I graduated to Laguna Beach, and that is the kind of beach I long for. Rocky, craigy cliffs, tide pools teeming with life, and a magnificent view.

I don’t even have to be in the water. I just need to see the sun sparkling off the rippling surface and hear the roaring surf in my ear. Seagulls darting through the air with their piercing calls are just a plus.

Years ago I made one trip driving home from San Francisco to southern California on the Pacific Coast Highway. On the central and northern California coastline, I discovered a slew of glorious beaches that I’d gladly stake my claim on. Big Sur, Monterey, Carmel, Aptos…those rugged beaches are the ones that tug at my heart strings and beckon me with their siren call.

Journaling in July – Week 1

There’s enough on my plate that I didn’t need to add one more item to my list. But…journaling…

I’ve done a lot of journaling over the past 20+ years. But I find it’s something that I’ll pick up for awhile, and then I get busy and set it aside. Sometimes its several years later before I take it up again. I used to journal every morning – and now it’s been years. Far too long.

I just got my journals down. When the stack you pull off the bookscase is dusty – that’s too long. May 2016 was my last entry. Shame on me! Especially when I always notice that when I journal and spend time in introspection and mediation, my life always flows.

I’ll be blogging about this journey and sharing on Saturdays with Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 and Beyond and Deb from Deb’s World. I won’t share everything here. Just snippets from the week. Some of what I write is for my eyes only, and besides, you won’t want to read it all anyway. I think it would make for a boring read.

But what I do hope is that maybe it inspires you to play along. Try it for a month. There’s some great prompts here for the month, from Sizzling Towards 60 and Beyond. If you blog, you may want to share some of your journey. That part of the challenge is totally optional. Give it shot. Just for you. Give yourself a gift of time, energy and intention.

Day 1 – What Makes Me Special?

This was a tough one. I’m still working on this one. I think most of us (or is it only me) that are so geared toward looking for our flaws and finding where we need to make improvements, that we don’t always give ourselves enough credit for our own unique and special qualities.

Day 2 – Dreams and Goals

So much here that I filled a second page. Right now a lot of those items were writing goals. A lot of travel goals that I don’t see how the time and the finances will work to make it possible. And now, I find that as I’ve passed that 60-year milestone marker, I’m seeing a shorter distance available in which to make these dreams and goals happen, which adds a bit of stress and tension too.

Day 3 – What Makes Me Feel Happy?

Fortunately, this list also was very long. New grandbabies, visiting time with family and friends, items checked off of the ‘to-do’ list, getting in the car and it turns on and cold air from the A/C blasts me on a hot day, sunflowers growing and thriving and getting as tall as the house, fluffy white gorgeous clouds floating through the sky, time to write and learn new things…ah, the list keeps going!

Day 4 – Write About a Special Memory

I need to do a catch up on this one. Where the 4^th went, I don’t know, but I didn’t do any journaling.

Day 5 – What I Did Today

Too much RL (Real Life) to deal with today, so have a catch up day to do here too.

Day 6 – Three Things I’m Grateful For

1. My family
2. My friends
3. The ability to choose – choose my attitude, choose my goals and dreams, choose what is in my life and what needs to go, choose how I spend my time, choose….

Me and the boys in my life – my sons and grandsons

Sizzling Towards 60 and Beyond is in Australia, so they’re a day ahead of us. Since we’re not there yet here in the USA, and their link to join in ends in 9 hours, I’m going to go ahead and end this and my Day 7 will go onto next week’s post.

I hope this inspires you to add a little journaling to your life. Use the prompts for July – or just write. I think you’ll be surprised where you end up!