The Chosen Word for August is FAMILY.

Family to me isn't just people that you're related to by blood or marriage. Family could be your best friend. It could be someone you grew up with. My family and my friends are important to me. You may frustrate me or even anger me at times but once I have opened the doors to my heart and brought you into my world, rest assured that if you move, we don't talk or see each other, or if you willingly walk out of the doors that I opened for you I. Will. Always. Love. You. No conditions, no exceptions. I may not always like you but by God, I will always love you. Most of my friends know, I would take a bullet for them. And most of my friends know that if I am armed I would shoot the asshole that tries to take you from this world. Family was my work friends of 45 years. Family is my fellow vendors. Family is people that I have gotten to know in my little community. If you're reading this, I hope you are part of my family. I will agree or disagree with you. I will argue with you, laugh with you, cry with you, share your highs and lows. Even if you don't do the same for me, I am the nurturer and supporter to my tribe of people. I will be there if you need me. I hate and really despise one sided friendships but when push comes to shove, I am the one who will come in the night with pajamas and slippers on when no one else will. So that is my rant about family. If you are new to my blog, welcome to my world. Feel free to peruse my previous posts.

The empty box

Everyone has at various times in their lives, an empty box in their posession. They keep it with them until such time as they decide to let go of something and put it in the box. Most people are afraid to put things in the box. They are afraid to let go. These are old memories, bad memories, fears, and disappointments. They are regrets, remorse, resentment. They are the inabilitiy or refusal to forgive or to forget. They are strong feelings of hatred and anger. They are the kind of thoughts and emotions that get in the way of moving forward with your life. So many people are hindered or even severely handicapped by their inability to put things in the box that their life is essentially on hold. We all run into some of those roadblocks in our daily lives but make quick decisions to move past them. These are the roadblocks that have been with people for very long periods of time.

Now, once these barriers are finally put in the box, they don't disappear altogether. You put the lid on the proverbial box and put it in the place that is reserved for the things in your life that you have accepted, come to terms with, and have otherwise simply learned to deal with and overcome.

During my time of not working for the past 15 months, I have had alot of time for self discovery and personal assessment. I have found that I have things to put in my box. Sometimes when you spend some time digging around in the attic you find things way over in the corner collecting dust that you don't need, you'll never use, and you really don't know why those things are still there but when someone tells you to get rid of it you can't and are adamant about it. And you can't supply a valid reason. What you learn, over time, is that if you root around in that attic long enough, you may yet find a reason, to let it go. Don't keep it stored in the attic, put it in the box and close the lid. And don't look back. You're not going that way.

Remiss is another word for lazy

So, when someone says, "I have been remiss" I think it really means they are lazy and just didn't take the time or didn't think it was important enough. Here is the definition I found on Google "If someone is remiss, they are careless about doing things that ought to be done. [formal] I would be remiss if I did not do something about it. Synonyms: careless, negligent, neglectful, culpable More Synonyms of remiss." So, esentially, lazy. Just a fancy word for something that doesn't need it. Well, the last time I was on this blog and wrote anything of any significance was over two years ago. I could use the excuse that there has been a lot going on, there has. I could say that I have been busy with work, busy with crafts, busy with being busy. But while that has in fact been the case, I have not been so busy that I don't have time to write. I have neglected my blog, my books, my daily journal, my calorie log book, my daily "I got this" and why I supposedly "got" this, my health, and my happiness. I seem to take care of everyone in and outside of my life pretty well. But I cannot seem to give a rip enough, to take care of myself. I have an issue with that and I am looking for a solution. I have decided that counseling may hold some answers. In the meantime, writing was/is/should be a therapeutic outlet for me. So much so that you would think that if it truly was so beneficial to my mental and emotional health, that I would make a point to keep it up. Ha. Therein lies the rub. I have been remiss in keeping up with something that should, in theory, be helpful to me. There's that word. Just another word for LAZY........

Well, Well, Well. Here we are on March 30th, 2020. It's been 2 years since my last post. We are deep in the midst of a global crisis. We as a race of humans, have been hit with a pandemic that has not been seen in my lifetime and not sure just when it will peak. It is still building up and taking many lives. It seems very surreal in a way when you're reading about it and hearing about it from various sources but the reality of it is that it is taking many, many lives. It is called Novel Coronavirus and it hails from Wuhan Province in China. It has been devastating world wide but has as the epicenter, my beautiful state of Washington. This thing totally sucks. It has taken a huge toll on the economy to the point where companies have had to shut down and millions are out of work. The hospitals are overrun, and it seems there is no end in sight. The government is doing everything it can to help small businesses and larger corporations and stepping in to help with the production of masks and life saving treatment. Very few individuals are surviving this virus. It is brutal. I will write in more detail later.

I just found out that one of my good friends that I've known since 1985, has the virus. He and his girlfriend. They live on Long Island, New York, in Nassau. They have fevers, chest congestion and while they have not been tested, docs tell them that they don't need to. They have it. Damn. Damn. Damn. *** Update, my friends are on the mend and are surviving Covid-19.