Pamper Myself Month

August is  here.

The buzz of the insects in the woods and the shadows' change in slant are telling signs to me that fall will be here before we know it. The cool mornings draw me out to sit on my deck and "live in the moment" which I am trying very hard to do now.

The coming week will be busy for me. I have begun physical therapy twice a week and I hope it will help me regain strength and use of my leg and hip. I am doing much better now and can go up and down the stairs with little worry. I don't think I'm  "done" yet.

I am excited about my writing class at Tri-County Community College which begins Tuesday. We have some beginning writers who are champing at the bit to get their words on paper and have some constructive feedback. Who knows what will happen in their lives once they start to put their thoughts and ideas out there for others to read?

I advocate for some things that are very important to me. Writing is one of them. Writing is the best way I know to improve focus when we feel scattered. When I wake up and feel overwhelmed with all the tasks and chores that lie ahead of  me, I calm myself by writing it all down. Make a list and see what can be postponed until tomorrow. Often that is all  I really need to do. Prioritize my to do list.

When I find myself unable to sleep or concentrate because of some problem or matter, I find that if I write about it, both sides of the issue, a solution will come to me. If I am pondering a decision, I make two lists. One is the Pro list and  one is the Con list.

The solution might be to let go of this for awhile and revisit it later. My husband gave me good advice when he saw me fretting over something. "Just forget about it for now. It probably won't happen or if it does, it won't be as bad as you think it  will." He was usually right. 

I've read that good writers don't like to  think of writing as therapy. I believe that writing is great therapy. Recently, after a long tiring day, I came home and sat down to the computer. For months I've had to set a  timer and  be sure I didn't sit for more than fifteen or twenty minutes without getting up and walking around. This time I forgot to set the timer. I forgot everything, even my long hard day, and for almost three hours I wrote about a period of my life that I have not touched on in the past. When I finished I checked the word count of my document. It was over 4000 words. 

My feeling of satisfaction went deep but I was amazed that I could  sit there for that long pouring out all those words without the normally resulting pain in every muscle and joint.  An Aha Moment for  sure. Losing myself in writing affected my entire body. It took away my pain and lifted my spirits higher than any medicine could have done. As author, Maren Mitchell, says in her book,  Beat Chronic Pain, An Insider’s Guide,  distraction helps chronic pain,  but I think this therapy went even deeper. The subject matter transported me back to a very  happy time in my life and for those hours of writing I escaped from here and now. Writing was the time machine that transported me back to when I was nineteen and twenty years old, innocent of tragedies and losses of my present life.  

Just the right time

This happened at a most opportune time as I have just declared August to be Pamper Myself Month.

I gifted myself with a dozen roses, and interspersed with baby's breath, they sit on my table where I see them all day long. The roses are a reminder that I am worthy, I am viable and I love myself.  

Please leave your comments below or email me: gcbmountaingirl@gmail.com