Entries from June 2007 ↓

In the past, fads and commercial hype have turned me off. But I’m changing my mind about that. The picture on the left, courtesy of Wikipedia, was taken outside a Borders store in Delaware for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. There is every reason to believe the crowds will be just as long for the July 21 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Yes, there is a lot of commercialism involved. And I don’t plan to be waiting in line at midnight for our copy of the book. But J. K. Rowling is bringing joy to millions of people. The other day I read a quote from a woman in a nursing home: “We all need something to look forward to.” Rowling is certainly giving that to people all over the world.

What do you look forward to? How does that anticipation enhance your life? Increasing the joy in our lives is an important part of optimizing our stress.

I’ve spent most of the past few days editing videos for the local public access TV station. More specifically, I’ve been turning video clips I’ve taken of Ruth Williamson into sing-a-longs for the TV audience.

Ruth is a volunteer who does musical programs each week at the local Senior Center. She has been doing this for many years now, and I admire her dedication to making this corner of the world a warmer, friendlier place.

I’m a volunteer, too, and for the past three years have been making weekly musical slide shows of the animals at the local shelter, again for the local public access station. I added Ruth’s sing-a-longs about a year ago.

Video editing is time-consuming and can be an exercise in patience, but it’s been a true labor of love. Bless you, Ruth, for all that you do.

Azalea blooms by catmadogma

I’ve been spending a long time trying to rewrite the home page of this website. I think of it as nurturing flowers…sometimes it takes a lot of TLC before they start blooming. So I’m not only growing a website, I’m also nurturing my patience. It is starting to thrive.

I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed the past week or so. I’ve been trying to modify this blog…to make it coordinate better with the rest of my website. And after spending a day or so learning just enough about WordPress and PHP to do it, my friend Cyn has just told me she can’t see the header.

Obviously I haven’t learned “just” enough.

So this little squirrel is my role model at the moment. He’s got a nice warm coat and isn’t letting the snow get him down. He’s also in no hurry. So I’ll be patient, too. And my warm coat is the confidence that I’ll get it all sorted out in the fullness of time. There’s no great rush…just enjoy the process as well as the results.

Photo from FunnyZoo.

Valley Railroad Steam Engine, Essex CT
Originally uploaded by Professor Bop

Whenever I start getting tense, I tend to blow my air out slowly and completely on the exhale, then gently and slowly let it back in on the inhale. The calming effect of exhaling slowly and completely has been known for thousands of years. The blowing out with puffed out cheeks and slightly pursed lips seems to be my personal variation of it.

I started doing it years ago, when my daughter was little. I imagined the stress energy inside me as steam. The blowing out was using a pressure valve to relieve enough pressure so I wouldn’t blow up. The idea was once the pressure was relieved a bit I could figure out a constructive way of using that energy.

I thought it was a great idea. It really works for me. It’s become an automatic habit now, and I noticed myself doing it the other night. I’m just glad my daughter wasn’t around to see it. It used to make her nervous…she no doubt thought her mother was about to explode. Nope, just trying to regulate my stress energy and use it wisely. It’s just another technique for optimizing my stress level.

Picture by Brit. License by Creative Commons.

When life’s challenges come up, one of my favorite mottoes is “centered, creative and constructive.” I’ve taught a few classes in Emotional Aikido, so I try to envision myself as a calm and alert aikidoist…assessing the situation and deciding the best course of action based on my values. It never hurts to have a role model, even if you have to create it yourself.

Lainey Wells at My Unexpected Life reminded me of this image in her May 30 post. She discovered a pot pipe in her son’s room, obviously used. Even though she’s upset about it, she’s doing her best to keep her composure and is planning constructive action with her ex-husband. They will try to make sure he won’t spend the summer hanging out with his friends, but instead will try to get him into a challenging personal development program such as Outward Bound.

In the meantime she will have to confront her son and make it clear there will be no pot smoking in her house.It won’t be easy but she’s approaching the problem in the spirit of true aikido…with love and respect for her son and focusing on the ultimate goal of helping him to become a competent, responsible adult. She promises to keep us posted. We’re rooting for you, Lainey!