The Magic of Groups!

The healing power of groups can be magical. Having the opportunity to sit in a group and discuss one's life issues, can provide validation for emotions, support for needs, and even provide like minded "others" who can serve as role models for positive actions, thoughts and feelings.

We all belong to various groups, whether we are aware of them as such, or not! While we might belong to professional associations, or attend self help or support or 12-steps groups, we all, in some way, have various layers of groups that we are a part of. Our groups include members of our family, extended family, our friends, coworkers, those who work for the same company, those who work in the same industry, same job title, same profession, all the way to including those who live in our neighborhood, our city, our state, our region, our country, our political affiliation, religious      choice, or even sexual orientation! We have many groups in our lives, even if we don't mail in membership applications to belong.

Writing Prompt:   Please take a moment to reflect on the many groups that you are a part of.
List them. Circle them, and see if there are connections between the various groups. List as many as you can. Follow up: The next time you are feeling just a bit down, or alone or left out in the world, refer to your list, and know that you are actually not alone in the world. In fact, see if there are any ways that you can make the list longer, to imagine being the part of other groups, more connections. Are there ways that you can reach out to more groups, and make the list more inclusive? There is power in groups!                                                              
                                                   

Plot

"As for plot, it's nothing but the word, 'then.'" -Author Grace Paley, quoted in The Los Angeles Times, "State of Grace," by Susan Salter Reynolds. Page R10, Los Angeles Times Book Review, June 10, 2007.

Then.........(you can take it from there).

Computer to Karma

Gently admire this rare photo of cloudfire. Inhale the energy from each shape and color. Then, choose one color. Single it out from the rest. While you look at that color, send your thoughts backward to a pleasant time in your life that included that color. Think about it. See it. Feel it. Smell it. Where were you? Who were you with? What was the weather?

Frozen in Time

My faucet is dripping /
So I took a photograph/
I really need sleep.

(flash haiku by Jim Perondi)

Life goes by so fast. We don't see the clear blue crystal color of the water as it rushes by. Take a mental picture of each beautiful moment. The small moments. The mundane moments. Somebody spent hours designing that lovely faucet. Somebody got paid to design that faucet. It should be noticed.
Do people ever notice what you get paid to do?
More importantly, do YOU notice the things that other people do as you rush through your day?

Washington Street

Renewal: In order to upgrade a building,
the crew has to construct some protective
scaffolding. This is a photo of the work
being done on an old building in Mission Hills, an historic neighborhood of San Diego.
After the work is done, this will be torn down.
I, personally, find the wood structure
beautiful. I enjoy walking through it as I stroll
down Washington Street. The wood has a
fresh, natural aroma. The blonde color is very calming, and the long pathway feels cozy and safe. Behind the wall, an extensive construction project is in process. It is hidden.
I like scaffolding, and will miss it when they tear it down in honor of the new buidling behind it. However, it must be done.
I am also going through a process of renewal, and search for my own form of scaffolding as I go through the journey. I seek out people who are kind. I seek out moments of joy. I tend to linger outdoors, feeling the cool air on my arms. I don't rush through my days as I once did. I wait. I pause. I appreciate. I enjoy.
In your life, what serves as scaffolding? What supports you while you work on renewal?

Every New Beginning

 Every New Year:
How fitting that we celebrate each new year in the dark of night.
Unable to see ahead of us, we still rejoice at the end of one section of time, as we enter the next section.
The chill of the dark, the strangeness of the unknown, and the thrill of the bursts of light, giving us hope.
Please take this moment to thank the year that just passed, congratulate yourself for moving forward, and take a deep breath of gratitude. Exhale.
Write down what you are eager to experience in the coming year, then "Make it so."

Pioneers and Explorers

Dr. Sally Ride was invited to sit on a panel of scientists at the San Diego Air and Space Museum several years ago, and I was lucky enough to be able to snap this photo, now a collector's item.
I get sad each time I look at this photo, for it is difficult for me to accept the fact that
Dr. Sally Ride is gone, taken from this world at a young age.
She was the first woman in space. Thirty years after Ralph
Cramden, on TV's landmark but sexist show the Honeymooners,  told his wife
Alice that he was going to shoot her "to moon!"
Ride went there, not at the end of her husband's fist,
but by virtue of her studies in science and physics and SDSU.
Thank you, Ms. Ride, for having been a pioneer. Thank you, for having been an explorer into outer space, where very few men or women have been. And, most importantly, thank you for
having devoted your life to the education of young children. You were truly a pioneer AND an explorer. Writing prompt: When, in your own life, were you a pioneer?
When did you set out to do something that nobody else around you had dared to do?
Where did it take you and where did you go?
What did you learn? How have you shared that knowledge with others?