Once again, I have “busy-ed” myself so much so as to not have time to drift into the ethers and commune to create.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow?
Not Drifting
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Tag Archives: humanity
Turns Out, We Can Save Ourselves
Mother Earth is not happy. She’s turned up the heat and has been shaking us with repeated earthquakes.
I don’t blame her. Mother Earth is a living organism and we have been abusing her forever. She’s only doing what lifeforms do – trying to protect herself.
We have shown, in recent history however, that we humans can actually change our behavior and dramatically improve the quality of life here on Mother Earth.
During the COVID pandemic of 2020 we humans stopped driving, flying and reduced industry pollution. The result was a measurable improvement in the air we breathed worldwide. Nitrogen dioxide was down 30-70%. Particulate matter was down 10-40%. Carbon dioxide from fossil fuels was down 5.4-6.4 %. (Source: Reuters)
AND, for the first time in years, you could see the the beauty of Mt. Everest from the ground in Nepal and Bhutan. The air pollution was gone and Mother Nature could show us her beauty.
Unfortunately, we humans snapped right back into our old habits after the pandemic and we are choking ourselves again.
So, let’s take a look at our own behavior. Can we walk instead of drive? If we can’t walk, can we cycle? If we can’t cycle, can we take a train or other public transportation? If we can’t do any of those, can we drive a hybrid–or not take the trip at all?
Can we finally stop using plastic bags and plastic straws (oil based products)? What other things can we do to save ourselves and love Mother Earth?
Can we still believe that we can DO SOMETHING?
Love.
A Tsunami of Goodness
May there be a tsunami of goodness this November in the United States.
Reading and Writing Romance Has Made Me, Well, More Romantic
I was not a person who read romance books but two years ago a character, Lexi Maxwell, presented herself to me while I was on holiday in Ireland. It was chilly, windy, wet day as we rode through the rolling hills of the country. It is true that Ireland has more shades of green than anywhere and the dots of white sheep sprinkled in the fields made everything feel quaint and cozy. After the rain, rainbows appeared everywhere I looked.
That was when Lexi started talking to me. It’s how all my characters present themselves to me. They just show up in my “mind’s eye” and start telling me their story. You will hear some creatives refer to it as a download. “The music is in the ethers and I just capture it,” to paraphrase Bob Dylan when asked how he write his songs. Elizabeth Gilbert and Rick Rubin have discussed this experience as well. In fact Gilbert talks about how she sits at her desk every morning at the same time to “receive” her stories. Paul McCartney admits that is how “Yesterday” came to him. It was a complete song in a fast download. Such a complete song that, at first, he thought it surely must have been someone else’s song that he’d just heard on the radio.
Lexi kept talking to me all day in Ireland and, by the time I arrived at my hotel, I told her I’d write it. Four months later I completed her story and Under The Autumn Moon was published the next year.
Under The Autumn Moon has been described as “Finally, an adult romance. This isn’t puppy love. It’s a deep fulfilling love story.”
Another romance story immediately started “talking” to me and so, this fall, another romance novel is on its way to you.
What I’ve noticed about myself now that I’m writing romance, is that I have more scented candles in the house, I now have flowery bed sheets, I wear lacey tops (NEVER would I have done that before), my playlists I listen to while writing are love songs from all ages and cultures, and I seek quieter spots to sit alone or with a small group of family and friends.
The other delight is how many men, of all ages, have said things to me like, “I’ve never read romance and didn’t know I needed it!”
Maybe we all need a little more romance in our lives.
Let Me Crawl If I Can’t Walk
It finally happened, my friend, and ninety-four year old neighbor, fell… and hasn’t walked again.
It didn’t have to be that way. His loving family was startled by how much he complained about his leg hurting. He never complains. It was a deep bruise and would need time to heal.
The family and the doctor, however, immediately flipped him from being someone in his home who had a housekeeper, physical therapist twice and week and a nurse check-in once a week ,to being a man told “not to try and get up because you’ll fall again.” He has literally been pushed down in his chair.
Overnight his bed was switched to a hospital, his walker was switched to a wheelchair and 24/7 caretakers added to the day.
He looked at me early in this process and said, “I guess they just want me to sit here, get old, rot and die.”
His 24/7 caretakers and I know he could have walked again. Not now. It’s been too many weeks and now morphine has been added “so he’s never in pain.”
My family has had the conversations about medical power of attorney, end of life procedures, wills, etc. Now we have had the conversation about the “just before” stage when my husband and I can and want to push ourselves as much as we can to keep moving and functioning.
I told them, let me crawl if I can’t walk.
Each Day
I must touch/
the bark of a tree/
or the blade of grass/
or stare into the folds of a flower/
each day/
to reignite/
the mystery/
of life.
Whoa-man!
I never imagined that reading, writing and watching romance would have such a powerful affect on my appreciation of WOMAN in the world.
We need this balance of the female more than ever. In fact, I believe the world is in the mess it is because we have not honored the Female the way way we honor the Male.
We need both. Balance.
Separate AND equal energies for creating a world wwhere we treat everyone and everything with kindness and respect.
So be it.
Inspiring Senior Fitness: Euel’s Story and Daily Squats
So Euel told me one day this week on one of our daily walks that he’s been falling, a lot. He fell in the back yard and couldn’t pull himself up because he wasn’t near anything. He said it took almost an hour but he crawled to him back door and was able to grab the door handle and get up.
I already sit on the floor at home rather than in a chair to stay nimble, but I’ve now added daily squats to the routine.
Of course I already know all these things, but being with someone everyday who is adversely impacted because he can’t do certain things has encouraged me to do more…and do it more consistently.
Be sure and check out my writer’s website for poems, short fiction and links to my new novel “Under The Autumn Moon”:
Valuable Life Lessons from a 94-Year-Old Neighbor
Last spring, my 94 year old nextdoor neighbor, Euel, voluntarily turned in his car keys. “I’m concerned I’ll hurt someone or myself and I don’t want to risk that.”
Euel has been a widower about six years, but remained active driving to Denny’s each morning to see the “regulars” at breakfast, bowling with his long-time team and chairing the local Coca Cola Club meetings.
All that stopped when he quit driving.
It took a couple of weeks of his car not being parked in front of his house for me to realize something had changed. He told me he had made arrangements with a grand niece (the only relative in the state) to take him grocery shopping, the doctors and other errands. She was only coming by once a week though.
I take multiple short walks daily and so started knocking on his door once a day asking, “Do you want to take a walk?”
he was unsteady at first I decided it was the cane his doctor told him to use. Not sure who’s idea it was to put people on a cane for balance when the cane actually causes one to lean over.
So I went to REI and bought Euel trekking poles. He immediately stood straight and had much better balance. We walk not once, but twice a day now. He always says “yes” when I knock on the door.
He knows more about current events than most anyone you’ll meet, but we agreed we have to limit those talks because we are both horrified at what our country has become. So he tells stories and I listen to clues about what he wished he’d done to be better prepared to be ninety-four.
His first lesson: Keep Up With Technology. Euel has not. He has an old computer and basically can only look at existing files. he’s not updated the program and so can’t view most of what he searches.
He has a flip phone and struggles to see who’s calling and how to return the call.
He can’t order Uber or Lyft or Door Dash.
In short, he is radically dependent upon others for everything. He knows that not such a good thing.
Other neighbors have noticed I take walks with Euel and their reactions have been interesting:
-One said, “You’re making us look bad, Betheny.”
-Another said, “I don’t really know what to do around old people.”
-A third has started taking him to the market with her each week and asks him to walk on the days when I’m out of town.
I remember Euel’s Lesson #1 : Keep Up With Technology each time I want to be lazy and have my husband or son do something on the computer for me because I can’t figure it out.
Ugh, but good for my future.
My Unexpected Adventure at a Small Book Fair
I thought I was signing up for a different book fair held on the same day in my community so I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I realized I was heading to a small town I’d never heard of to participate in my first ever book fair at a new bookstore I’d never heard of.
The place was overflowing with vendors so Leather and Bound Bookbar had to set us up in the adjacent cross fit gym. It was unheated and the side garage doors were open showcasing the vibrant sunset.
I relaxed into my new adventure and had a GREAT TIME!
The people were warm, kind, fun and genuine.
Venders supported one another with conversation, professional advice and manning one another’s table if needed.
And I sold several books.
What was so fulfilling about the sales was that my future readers wanted to talk with me about the book. Several have already started following me on socials, giving sweet shoutouts.
What started as an uncertain journey ended up a meaningful adventure.
@leatherandboundbookbar Fate, Texas
BethenyReid 