LIVE IN THE NOW

Live in the now, what does this mean? It means we must overcome a terrible human habit, at least as much as we can. The habit? Living in the future. You know, things will be better when I get that new job, I’ll be happy as soon as the kids are in school, my life will start when I retire in ten years, we’ll be on easy street as soon as we pay off the mortgage, then we’ll be happy,…. The list goes on forever, and we all do it.
The key here is to be aware, and catch ourselves as we do it, and stop. Yes, I will be happy when I get that new car, but I can also be happy right now. This is the self conversation we need to have at these times. That brings us back to the now, this moment, for this moment is truly all we have.

Building Relationships

Hi folks, time for another insight into the way my mind works these days.

I have come to understand that the only thing you can carry with you from this realm of existence to the next, is the quality of the relationships you have developed and nurtured in this one. This is the focus of my life and the lens through which I see my world.
     
I know, I promised to help develop a positive life focus. Well, building loving, supportive relationships is a very positive thing in my book; keeping this in mind at all times will help you stay focused. The purpose here is to build that new and beautiful life we all want; this is one of the ways we go about it.

Language and how we use it.

Language and How We Use It

The musings of a meandering mind, or, messages from myself in another realm.

This is an attempt to express many of my life’s observations and insights, as well as the lessons learned from experience, both my own and those of other people. I call them the master’s keys because they have opened the doors to untold joys and wonder, granting me an above average life filled with delight. It is my great hope that somewhere in here you, the reader, may find something useful to enhance your own life experience and the joy you take therein.

I shall begin with a discussion on one of my pet theories, the use of language and its effects on our daily lives. Language is how we communicate with each other, the world around us, ourselves, and our creator. I believe that we all create our own lives by the way we use language. The language under discussion here is English as it is my native tongue, but the observations may well hold true for many of the western European languages.

English, as we now know it, has its roots in a troubled history. It evolved during centuries of savage repression by both the religion of the day and the ruling classes. As a result we have far more ways to express the negative than we do the positive. This constant expression of the negative is embedded in the language and in the way we use that most powerful tool. It has been handed down through the generations and we continue to pass it on. It’s time for a change.

Tight Curve

Hello again, gentle readers, today I shall give you a quick look into my recent adventures in the writing world.  Recently, it has been a tight learning curve.

Another Dilemma

Hi folks, here we are again with another should I? Or shouldn't I?  The thing is, I appear to be all over the map with this blog.  Could that be the way my mind truly works?  Damn. (hangs head, sighs deeply.) Yep, it is indeed a busy place inside my head.  So, here's the issue.  How do I make this interesting enough to keep you coming back for more?  Should I put up another blog, dedicated to independent writers, and keep this one for more personal posts?

A Silver Lining

The big news in the writers circles these days, is the demise of the Borders bookstore chain.  There is a lot of upset and fear as well as sadness surrounding this event, and, as usual with us older folks, it triggered a memory.  I will now share that memory with you.

Something Different

Hi folks,

I thought of a dozen possibilities for a post today, the madening wait for the ferry boats the other day, the true delight of a morning walk through tall grass with K and the dogs, or any other of the true delights that make up my world. 

Determination

One trait common to most successful people, is determination.  Whenever I feel like giving up, I think of the following story.

One of our dogs is Jokko, a daschund/beagle cross.  We call him a German engineered beagle.  As  pup he could pull a ninety degree turn at full throttle. A year ago we were returning from a pack walk in the woods.  Jokko leaped across a ditch and landed wrong.  He yelped in pain,  then came to me on three legs.  I tried to pick him up, but he soon squirmed to get down, insisting on three legging it all the way home. 

Untold Stories

Untold Stories.

I was reminded today, of something I have thought of doing many times, but have yet to get it started.  I was reading a blog post about passions, and remembered this one, for the idea is a bit of a passion.  The idea is to find a nearly, or completely abandoned graveyard, find a name on badly weathered stone, and find out what I can of that person’s story.  If nothing is known, then return and see what the stone has to tell me.  Today I took the first step toward this goal.

Near our new home lies an old graveyard, not used since the early 1800s.  There is a clear path to follow to the site, and today we walked that path.  There we found the stones, some standing, some not.  The larger stones were carved, most still readable, but there are many smaller stones, still standing, but smaller and uncarved, quarried from local slate.  These were probably the markers for small children, or the stones of the poorer folk and their children.

One stone marked the grave of a woman who died at the age of forty, a very small stone stands close by her.  Easy to guess what took her life.  A neighbor of ours told us the graveyard was too close to the cliff, and one year, in a bad storm, most of it slid off into the sea. So many untold stories.  Some I do hope to tell one day.

Avoiding the Drama

Today I was rather pleased with myself as I neatly sidestepped a couple of folks who seemed determined to draw me into a big drama scene.  Sorry girls, I learned a long time ago to avoid the drama.
We all have drama in our lives, we can’t escape it completely.  We can, however, avoid a lot of it, and the more we practice, the more we can escape it.  Drama, for the most part, is the work of an ego that is desperately seeking attention.  This is a distraction that we do not need.  Drama is like a fog that clouds your view, your judgment, and destroys your sense of well being.  It blocks your ability to learn, to focus externally, and is almost always focused on the negative.
For example, we all know people who, with their load of drama to share, can suck the energy from a room faster than a vacuum cleaner can pull dog hair off a hardwood floor.  The trick is to avoid getting pulled into the vortex they create.  We don’t always get it right, but we can get better with practice. We must, for drama will destroy the joy that every day can bring, and this is turn can destroy the body.  You have all seen a face that has been angry for years.  That negativity is etched deeply into the face and body posture, and you can be sure there are internal signs of it as well.
Here’s an example:  Years ago I was on the ferry boat leaving Vancouver and headed for Victoria. As the boat pulled away from the dock, I sat back to engage in one of my favorite pastimes, people watching.  I watched as two men entered the lounge and sat next to each other.  One opened his newspaper while his companion relaxed back with a book.  A few moments later the man with the paper began to frown, his face darkened, his grip on the paper tightened, and he started to mumble. Drawing his companion’s attention, he stabbed a finger at the newspaper page and spoke.  His companion nodded, then returned to his book, smiling as he continued to read.
This was repeated several times on that two hour journey.  Newspapers are especially crafted, as are news casts on radio, television, and internet news, to draw strong emotion from the reader/viewer.  They are filled with drama.  Over the course of that short journey, the man with the paper continuously had his emotions manipulated by the stories he chose to read, while his companion enjoyed the trip by choosing to avoid all that drama and read a book that made him smile. By avoiding the drama, he was able to have a much more enjoyable trip.
I know it is hard to avoid the drama when it is in the room with you, carried by family and friends, but you must. Only by keeping apart from the drama can you remain non-judgmental, absorb new information, discover better solutions to problems, and enhance the quality of your own life as well as those you share space with.
This is a tough one, and we all struggle with it from time to time, but keep at it.  The rewards are worth the work.

May your journey be blessed, Pru

Odie's Tale (Tail)

Odie’s Tale

The adventures of a black Labrador Retriever.

The beginnings of this story were told to me by another, so I cannot verify the facts of the case, however, I do believe them to be accurate.

His adventures began at a very early age, perhaps too early.  This tiny puppy was chosen by a family in St. Anthony.  He was to be the companion to a small child, the old Christmas puppy story.  The thing is, he was an alpha pup.  Every fiber of his being told him to dominate, to lead.  The story is familiar, crawling child grabs puppy, pup nips child, and the dog spends the next six or seven months, tied by a short rope, to a small doghouse outside.

Mid summer arrived and the family moved to Labrador, leaving the now nearly full grown dog, in the care of an elderly woman.  He was far too full of energy, nearly starved for human interaction, and completely out of control. Unable to deal with the exuberant beast, the woman contracted with a neighbor to have the dog shot.

The man had been out hunting birds, and did not change the load in his shotgun.  He took the dog out onto the barrens near Goose Cove.  The dog broke loose and began to bound around, so the man fired, the dog fell, and the man drove away. 

Sometime later, the dog revived, one eye ruined, two teeth shattered and driven into the flesh of his cheek, and several other painful spots on his body.  He was alone.  For the next seven or eight days, he survived on the cold barrens, finding water and whatever food he could. Fate finally intervened.

A young woman and her boyfriend were driving past when they saw the dog running loose.  They stopped and she tried to call him in.  Nearly starved, and dying for company, and still half mad with pain, he came close, but was too afraid to let her touch him. They returned home where she took some cold chicken, then they returned.  This time she was able to get him into the car.  They took him to the police in St. Anthony.

The police agreed the dog had been badly abused, and they promised to investigate, so she left him there.  Having no place to keep the dog, the police took him to the town pound. There he had forty eight hours to be claimed, or he would be taken out and shot.  At least they fed him.

At this point, We entered the picture and can testify to the events that followed.  Some men were painting the fire hall next to the pound.  They noticed the dog and the sad shape he was in.  One was a personal friend, so he called and asked if I knew anything about a one eyed Labrador.  I didn’t, but, intrigued, my partner and I went to see him.  His eye was ruined, his face swollen double with infection from the shattered teeth, yet he wagged his tail at K as if to say, "You want to play?"

Needless to say, we took the money we had saved for a summer holiday, took the dog, drove the five and a half hours to Corner Brook, and found a dog friendly hotel.  We named him Odin, for the Norse God of Wisdom, hoping some of that wisdom would rub off.  He rode all the way to Corner Brook with K’s arms around him, channeling Reiki healing energy to ease his pain. That night, Odin lay between out bed and the hotel room door, growling softly at every set of footsteps that passed near.  His new pack would have its protector.

We dropped him off at the vet’s the next morning, spent the day shopping, then picked him up the next day.  He was a sorry looking sight, face and belly shaved, with a big plastic cone over his head, yet there he was, tail wagging, putting the charm on all the ladies who worked there.  This guy is nothing, if not a ladies man.

He’d had his eye removed, teeth and face fixed up, and neutered.  Once again, he rode the five hours plus home, in the back with K channeling Reiki.

It wasn’t all fun and games from there either.  Our other dogs weren’t too sure about this new guy, and being half blind, he kept smacking into them with that plastic cone.  The small terrier tried to show him the ropes, and eventually he learned to fit himself into the pack.

Over the first couple of years, he and I had our trials.  He was terrified of being left behind, so whenever I went grocery shopping, running errands, or whatever, he would destroy the house.  I tried kenneling him, but he had a panic attack every time he was put in the kennel.  By this time I had given up on him gaining wisdom, and had shortened his name to Odie.

We did work it out, mainly because we both wanted it to work.  I used everything the Dog Whisperer’s books and TV show could teach, and we made it.  Four misfit rescued dogs, and two crazy humans, managed to form themselves into a pack, and we are a tight pack.

Odie is getting old now, he’s nine.  There is some grey around his muzzle, and his one good eye is slowing losing vision, but he is still Mr. Happy, tail always wagging. I watch him sleeping in the sun, his tail thumping on the floor, and I realize that Odin blessed him with wisdom after all, for he has taught me the rightness of my motto: Give up all hope of a better past.  This one eyed wonder truly has mastered the art of living in the moment.  Just watch him trying to coax me into a game of tug-o-war and you will see what I mean.

Return from Exile

Hi folks, yep, it's me with another offering for the reading public.  It's that kind of day today, I should be doing laundry, cutting the inedible crop, or some other domestic duty, but putting out another book for you was way more fun.
Return from Exile has it all, sex, violence, travel, adventure, excitement, whew!  You can find it here:
                    https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/72852

Please do enjoy the story, and feel free to leave a comment or to contact me, I do like feedback, even the tough stuff.

Up on the Roof

It was an odd sort of day today.  Started out by shooing K off to the city, then walking the dogs at high speed.  K's brother was coming to help install roof vents in the cottage, and I had to hurry the walk to get back home on time.  I just made it in time, four dogs looking at me like, "Geez mom, what's with the four forty on a sunny day?"

Ah well, it had to be done.  While the boys lay on the grass panting, Matt and I went inside and made a list of the things we'd need, then I set out to the hardware store to pick them up.  A short while later, we were up on the roof.

It is a strange experience, just sitting quietly on a roof, soaking up the sun, the view, and the gentle breeze.  The world looks very different from up there; a bird's eye view, if you will. Matt worked dilligently, while I sat and passed him tools and such, my mind wandering through strange and alien realms.  I couldn't help it, it was the view and the setting.  I saw alien creatures, wars, airships of all descriptions, etc.  Gods,  the wanderings of a writer's mind.

In spite of all the "help" Matt managed to do a stellar job in record time.  I not only got new roof vents, but several ideas for new books as well.  Perhaps the next time I hit writer's block, I'll just go up and sit on the roof for a while.  That might work.

Should I or shouldn't I?

Should I or shouldn’t I?

Should I or shouldn’t I?  Now, there is a question we have all faced from time to time.  So, here I am again, on the horns of a dilemma; what to do.  You see, it works like this.  I’m a writer, and I mainly write fantasy / urban fantasy / sci-fi, etc. So far so good.

Now here’s the rub.  A number of years ago a young friend of mine asked me to write a self improvement book outlining my own personal philosophy of life and how to make it all work.  I gave it a shot, but soon realized this was never going to happen.  I just couldn’t churn out another of these things when so many great teachers had already written a better book on the subject than I could. 

So, I asked her why she was so keen.  She said that she wanted her relationship to work out as beautifully as my own appeared to be.  Wow, what do you say to that?  I thought about it for a long time, then it hit me.  I wrote a lesbian romance novel for her that contained much of what I deemed essential to a full and loving relationship.  She loved it and wanted more.  I complied, after all, I was having fun with it, and it was breaking down a bad case of writer’s block for me.  Twenty-one of these stories later, I was still enjoying myself, and the block was gone.

A relaxing day of hard work.

Well, today was no walk on the beach. It started out easy enough, raining, so, no big dog walk and no gardening.  Very cool.  A whole day to work on the writerly stuff that I have been putting off.

At first I was going to blog about our trip to the city the other day.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and there were whales feeding near the shipping lane, so we had quite a show on the way over, and again on the return eight hours later.  However, I decided not to blog about that, or the great view we had when we ascendeed to the top of the island, or the great....

Of Iron and Stone

It was a sunny day today, the first in a while, so we decided to take the dogs to the beach for a splash and a snuffle. We also wanted to do a bit of rock hounding. Our beach has no sand, only large jumbles of stone.
It is interesting to inspect the stone and see the layers of sediment that, over time, were compressed into stone. Other stones are much heavier, for they are laden with iron. In fact, this island was once well known for its iron, and iron ore is everywhere here.

The Arctic Gale

Happy Canada Day!

Greetings from the Island of Stone.  Today is a good day, for I have finally published The Arctic Gale, another of the lesbian romances. This one has some strong characters that I hope you will enjoy.