“Imagine we are linked, not ranked.”
~~ Gloria Steinem
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/03/23/one-liner-wednesday-its-als-fault/ Enjoy our badge by nearlywes.com.
Blog – Top of JC’s Mind
Re-jiggering
Friend to bloggers everywhere, Opinionated Man of HarsH ReaLiTy and A Good Blog is Hard to Find, both of which I highly recommend you follow if you aren’t already, has long advocated splitting blogging time in thirds, one third each for writing, reading, and commenting.
It’s a good idea, although not one that I have been able to follow very meticulously.
Lately, though, things have gotten unbalanced, even for me.
I have been spending tons of time reading, liking, and commenting, but not so much time writing. I also have (many) tons of in-person commitments coming up this spring, so I’ve decided to re-jigger my blogging priorities a bit.
Step One: I’ve separated my blog email from my personal email.
I’m hoping this will make my personal inbox easier to handle, with less likelihood of personal notes, poetry notifications, and, oh, bills and statements, getting lost in the shuffle.
Step Two: I will also try to spend more time with posting, even though that will mean less time for reading and commenting.
Which is sad, but necessary at this point.
One of the things I am making time for in the coming weeks is my first ever MOOC, Psychology of Political Activism: Women Changing the World, from my alma mater, Smith College. I’m hoping it will generate some posts here at Top of JC’s Mind.
Stay tuned!
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SoCS: watching eggs
On the news this week, there have been several features about eggs.
Specifically, a pair of bald eagle eggs in a nest in the National Arboretum in Washington, DC.
One of them has hatched and the eaglet has enjoyed its first meal. The second is expected to hatch over the weekend.
There is a camera for people to watch a live feed of the nest: http://www.eagles.org/dceaglecam/
The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States. It was almost killed by DDT, which bioaccumulated in the adult birds and caused its eggs to be so fragile that they could not withstand the weight of the parent when they were being incubated in the nest.
Since the banning of DDT, the population has slowly recovered. Locally, from our area in the Northeast US, we do sometimes spot bald eagles, which would have been incredibly rare twenty or thirty years ago.
Will the second egg hatch? Will both eaglets survive? We can keep a lookout via the camera and find out.
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Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “egg.” Join us! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/03/18/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-1916/
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Fridays are Magical: First Grade Poetry Workshops
This evening, in the adult version of Binghamton Poetry Project, I wrote my first tanka. Here, I am sharing the precious post about some of the first grade poets who are loving, learning, and creating with the BPP.
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InterSpiritual: Delving Into Sacred Wells to Stir the Heart Awake
My friend Jamie shares another post about interspirituality. We met in person at a local interspirituality conference and it is definitely a way of being that draws my heart.
Underwater cave in a tropical coral reef. Public domain photo courtesy 4freephotos.
Here’s another lovely musing from fellow mystic-writer (etc.) Mirabai Starr.
I recently shared a perspective from her on the Feminine Mystic.
This one is how she describes her own experience of walking the InterSpiritual Way.
Different from interspiritual or multi-faith, Interspirituality is the path of exploring the commonalities and underlying wisdom that can be found at the mystic-heart of many traditions … religious, spiritual, indigenous-ancestral.
Here’s how Mirabai Starr responding to one question in an interview with Tami Simon of Sounds True. You’ll find the link to the full interview just below.
“Brother Wayne Teasdale coined the term Interspirituality, and it refers to the interconnectedness of all the spiritual ways of the world.
The Interspiritual movement is much more about sharing prayer, sharing spiritual practice, sharing those heart-opening and spirit transforming experiences of the Divine that…
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One-Liner Wednesday: Abigail Adams
“I long to hear that you have declared an independancy—and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.”
~~ Abigail Adams in a letter to her husband John Adams, March 31, 1776
This One-Liner Wednesday quote is in honor of Women’s History Month.
Come join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/03/16/one-liner-wednesday-much-ado/
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Warm February
This article on the warmest February on record does a good job of explaining how much of the warmth was attributable to El Niño and how much to climate change. Hint: It’s mostly climate change.
As the scientific evidence mounts, we need more articles like this one to explain to people the gravity of the situation and spur them to action.
Please read and share!
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inscrutable stats
WordPress stats can be weird.
At the moment, for today I have 29 views, 20 visitors, 43 likes, and 3 comments.
It seems strange to have more likes than views.
I’m guessing that means that some of the likes are through the reader or through people who get instant email messages of new posts.
Maybe there are reasons I don’t pay that much attention to my stats page…
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beyond the “like” button
Last July, I wrote this post about the need for an empathy button on social media.
Amazingly enough, Facebook has recently implemented an expanded menu of option beyond the old “like” button.
Yay!
I realize this has nothing to do with my little post, which did not go viral and lead to a social media wave demanding a change.
Still, I’m hoping that other social media will follow suit.
Okay, WordPress. Your turn.
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waiting is hard work
I haven’t been posting much this week because I have been busy helping my dad, known here as Paco, and my mom, aka Nana.
Paco’s doctors had been keeping an eye on a partial blockage in one of his carotid arteries and his last ultrasound revealed that it had reached 70%, which is considered time to intervene.
So, on Wednesday, I brought my parents to the hospital for Paco to have carotid angioplasty with possible stenting.
After a morning of doing bloodwork, starting IVs, and asking more questions than you would think possible, the team was ready to begin.
Nana and I waited in the coronary care waiting room because Paco’s procedure was taking place in the same kind of catheterization lab that is used for heart vessel procedures.
Not my particular favorite place to be.
After an hour, a nurse came out to tell us that a stent would be needed, which would take another hour.
So, we waited some more…
I was using the hospital’s wi fi to read email and such to keep occupied. A rejection notice came through from a submission that I had sent for expedited review. I should have heard back over two weeks ago and had been anxiously awaiting hearing from the journal. Under other circumstances, I might have been upset by the rejection, but, current priorities and perspective definitely put my reaction in its proper place.
We waited for the second hour we expected – and for most of the next hour, too. Nana was very anxious that something had gone wrong. I tried to be reassuring, knowing that things often take more time than anticipated and that informing the family takes a back seat to caring for the patient, but I don’t think I was very successful.
Happily, a nurse came out and said that he was all set and doing well. We got to see him for a moment in the hall before they took him to his room in the ICU, which is best equipped to monitor the heart and other vital signs after these kinds of procedures. They were supposed to come get us after they got him settled.
After a few more minutes, the doctor came out to speak to us and explain some details.
Then, we waited and waited and waited some more.
When we could finally visit in his room, we waited for his nurse to get back to go over more paperwork and for other practicalities like ordering Paco some dinner.
When Nana and I finally left after having been at the hospital almost eight hours, we were both exhausted.
Waiting is hard work.
Postscript: Paco stayed overnight and was released around 1 PM the next day. We are all still tired and trying to get back on track. And we have to change the clocks for daylight savings time tonight. Goody.
