Category: Uncategorized

My Community Involvement

What do you do to be involved in the community?

I do not do nearly enough to be involved in the community. I am a pretty solitary person, not the sort for team sports and the like. I don’t belong to the community chorus like my husband; I do not belong to a church; I do not do volunteer work. For the most part.

I am involved in moulage (casualty simulation) with Missouri Hope, which is local and through the university. Moulage is the use of makeup and prosthetics to simulate injuries and illness. I also do moulage for the county docudrama, which is a drinking and driving scenario performed for the area students. This speaks to my expertise and my interests.

I would like to be more civic-minded, but I like being alone more. I like writing more. I am not called to community service. Maybe it’s just where I am in life right now.

Vote or Don’t Complain

Do you vote in political elections?

I vote in political elections. This means I get up early to vote over at my election place at 6:30 AM before work, show my voter ID, take the ballot to one of the partitioned booths, and fill it out with Sharpie marker. That’s how we vote in rural Missouri, with a Sharpie marker.

If I don’t vote, I don’t influence the politics in this country. I’m only one person, but if more people with my viewpoint voted, we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re currently in with our president.

Anyone who didn’t vote has no right to complain, in my opinion. What did they do to keep us out of this mess? Why did they not care enough to make their voices heard? Why do they think their complaints are accomplishing anything when their vote could have?

I get worked up on this topic, obviously.

Writing Retreat

I’m currently sitting at Broadway Cafe in Kansas City writing on my iPad. I have it rigged with a Zagg Rugged Case with keyboard, so it’s almost like using a computer. I am trying out a new trackball, the Elecom Bitra, which only takes up as much space as a small mouse.

I am putting off writing on the latest novel. I don’t feel like I have let it gel enough to start writing. I have not been writing, not even the blog (which I am remedying right now).

I am supposed to be writing, as this is a writing retreat. My husband keeps showing me Instagram pictures, so that’s getting in the way. I don’t really feel like writing right now, which is a problem. What is it going to take to get me to feel like writing?

Maybe this blog will help.

A Big Audacious Goal and a Positive Change

Daily writing prompt
Describe one positive change you have made in your life.
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I have a Big Audacious Goal I haven’t talked about much on here. My goal was to lose weight, and specifically to get down to a 25 BMI. My doctor chose that because, at my age, health outcomes are better with a bit of padding.

I am three pounds away from meeting that goal (and those three pounds will take forever). I have lost 88 pounds so far.

This weight loss has come with many non-scale triumphs. I have gone off of two of my meds, have cut down drastically on at least one more, and am working on getting myself in shape again. My liver is now normal, my kidneys are practically normal, and my blood pressure is a little on the low side. I wear a size 14 now (which is where I’ll stay; I’m not a small person) and I look better. I’m a bit saggy and lumpy, but that comes with a big weight loss and a life of being mostly heavy.

Life is not perfect. I need to get back into shape and start walking again. I could use some endurance and I have some muscle weakness from not lifting weights or anything. I have to figure out how to incorporate exercise in my life without detesting it. I’m afraid of gaining the weight back, especially as the goal is to get me off the Ozempic. The appetite return is daunting.

But I don’t want to gain the weight back, and I know how to eat to keep the weight from coming back. That is key. Now to keep my life in balance, juggle the weight with the exercise and the writing. Here’s to Big Audacious Goals!

Living by The Four Agreements

Daily writing prompt
Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?
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  1. Be Impeccable With Your Word.
  2. Don’t Take Anything Personally.
  3. Don’t Make Assumptions.
  4. Always Do Your Best.

These are the Four Agreements, from the book written by dom Miguel Ruiz, and I live my life by these.

Being impeccable with one’s word, to me, means not to speak unless one can speak truth. When we lie, we do not speak truth. When we say ‘yes’ when we mean ‘no’, we are not speaking truth. When we say negative things about ourselves or others, we are not speaking the whole truth.

Not taking things personally is exactly that — realizing that when someone says something, whether negative or positive, about you, they are speaking about their view of the world. They are speaking about themselves.

Don’t make assumptions — this, to me, is the easiest one to understand. I teach it in my case management class when we talk about clients, especially cultural diversity. Ask for clarification. Observe the other. Be careful to distinguish between facts and assumptions.

Always do your best. I make it a point to do this, understanding that my best during times of stress and distress is not the same as my best during good times. I can rest knowing that I did my best.

I know that The Four Agreements are considered New Age wisdom, and I reject a lot of that. But these four rules make so much sense in life and have made me a much calmer, more empathetic being.