Category: blogging

One-Liner Wednesday: Richard Rohr on myth, poetry, and art

“Rather than orient you toward solving a problem, they [myth, poetry, and art] turn your focus toward naked being itself, that deeper level of meaning, purpose, and inner vitality–that deep well from which we draw all our enduring energies.”
– Richard Rohr, from his Daily Meditation, September 27, 2015

This post is part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays. Join us! Find out how here:  http://lindaghill.com/2015/10/07/one-liner-wednesday-think-positive/

PS Apologies to all who follow my blog by email. Technical glitches are probably causing this to show up two or three times instead of once…

SoCS: both expected and unexpected

This past week’s calendar was filled with lots of expected tasks and commitments, with fall activities back in full swing after summer hiatus. Of course, the unexpected has a way of springing in. Here are some of the unexpected things that cropped up this past week.

  • One evening I got back from an activity and put on my Chromebook to see an instant message from my daughter warning me that her hair was now purple. She wanted me to know before I saw it on Facebook. This led to a Skype call so I could see it better than in the photo – and also so we could visit as she is thousands of miles away. Her hair looks nice purple, but it is not a long-time commitment as it will fade out in six weeks or so. This is helpful as her hair is quite long, so a permanent color would take a very long time to grow out.
  • I had expected to have an appointment for a flu vaccine study that I had agreed to participate in, but it got cancelled so I got to attend an excellent lecture on climate change and its impacts in our state instead. This also gave me material for a poem that I wrote from a prompt at Binghamton Poetry Project this week. Serendipity strikes again!
  • My spouse B had an unexpected day off on Friday. Upper management gave them the day off to reward them for the release of a recent product, so we scooted off to Oneonta to attend the opening of an art exhibit that featured works of a college friend of mine. I had not told her that we would be there – and we almost missed her as we arrived early and she had had quite a drive after work to reach the reception – but it was fun to see the look of surprise on her face when we connected.
  • Unfortunately, this week also afforded the both expected and unexpected news of yet another mass shooting here in the US. The details and timing are unexpected, shocking, and tragic. That it will happen again is sadly expected. And disturbing. And tragic. I can’t understand how the interpretation of the Second Amendment to our Constitution has become so warped that some people think it means that anyone can have a gun anytime, anywhere. These people totally ignore the first clause of the amendment, which talks about a “well-regulated militia” and sets the context for the part that follows about the right to bear arms. At the time, the United States did not have a standing army, so the defense of the country was left to state militias. The men who made up the militias were not professional soldiers, but farmers or tradesmen or whatever, so they had to have guns available in case they were called on to defend their town, state, or country. The amendment didn’t intend that any person could have any weapon anywhere anytime. The mass shootings get attention, which masks the smaller scale tragedies of gun violence that happen every day across the country, and nothing happens to reign in the problems. Definitely, people who hunt or target shoot or have guns for legitimate needs should be able to have them, but we need to get them out of the hands of the mentally disturbed and those intent on killing people, whether strangers or family or neighbors.  [I can’t bring myself to write any more than this about mass shootings, but I will provide this link to a piece that I wrote about a mass shooting in my area and how it relates to other similar-but-different tragedies.]

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This post is part of Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturdays. This week’s prompt was “expect/unexpected.” Please come join us!  Find out how here:  http://lindaghill.com/2015/10/02/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-315/

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One-Liner Wednesday: Maya Angelou quote

“I can be changed by what happens to me but I refused to be reduced by it.”
– Maya Angelou

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out how here:  http://lindaghill.com/2015/09/30/one-liner-wednesday-tastes-like-steve/

IC September

I am not only an eclectic blogger, but also an eclectic follower and reader of blogs. While I follow other eclectic blogs, I also follow blogs focused on travel, food, photography, poetry, the environment, and many other topics.

I follow several blogs where people write of dealing with illness, particularly invisible illnesses, such as fibromyalgia. I do sometimes write here about being the parent of a child with fibromyalgia, but what I haven’t written about is dealing with invisible illnesses of my own. Today, in observance of Invisible Illness Awareness Week  and the close of IC Awareness Month, I have decided to write about interstitial cystitis, which has been part of my life for many years.

Part of the reason I don’t tend to write about having some hidden medical conditions is that I feel fortunate that I do not have the more severe symptoms that some others endure, although, if I am honest, I have to admit that my symptoms, especially when I am having a bad flare, do interfere with what I am able to do and where I am able to go. Again, I am lucky that my personal schedule is usually fairly flexible, so that I can arrange to stay home if I am uncomfortable or tired from being kept awake by symptoms. I am acutely aware that others have it so much worse and I am writing this not as a complaint but in an effort to share some information about a condition which, although relatively common, many people are unaware.

What is interstitial cystitis (IC)? 
Interstitial cystitis, also called bladder pain syndrome, is a condition that can cause recurring bladder and pelvic pressure or pain and increased urinary frequency and urgency.  The bladder lining often bleeds and, in more severe forms, develops a kind of ulceration called Hunner’s lesions. It is more common in adult women but can and does affect children and men, too. The symptoms often vary over time, with more severe flares cropping up from the baseline level.

What causes IC?
Researchers don’t know for sure. They think that some trigger event damages the lining of the bladder, with particles in the urine then further damaging the lining and causing chronic nerve pain. It is believed that the bladder lining is unable to repair itself because IC patients produce a protein that prevents the repair.

How is it treated?
Because the cause is undetermined, treatment centers on trying to alleviate symptoms and prevent flares. One of the most important things people with IC need to do is control acids in their diet. (For me, drinking soda or undiluted fruit juice is the equivalent of pouring lemon juice on a cut.) There are a few oral medications that help some people. Physical therapy can be prescribed. When the condition is more severe, there are medications that are delivered directly into the bladder, surgical treatment for Hunner’s lesions, and use of electrical nerve stimulators.

And for more fun and games…
IC often appears alongside other conditions, many of which are also poorly understood as to causation. People with IC often have allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, and sensitive skin. (Check, check, and check for me.) Other conditions that may occur alongside IC are vulvodynia, fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome, and lupus. I’ve actually taken part in research looking into genetic predisposition in IC patients, which is interesting as I have family history with some of the related conditions besides my own diagnosis.

For anyone who would like to learn more about IC, I recommend this site:  http://www.ichelp.org which is full of helpful information and links to more resources.

Please remember…
There are many, many people who deal with hidden medical conditions. Many of these cause chronic pain. And many of these people do not look “sick.” Please, have compassion. Be understanding. Don’t blame them if they have to change plans at the last minute or aren’t able to go out of the house because they are having a bad day – or an exhausted day because they had a bad night before. Remember that you are lucky to be having a good day and realize that a day may come when you need the same kind of support and caring that your friend or family member needs now.

– JC

SoCS: really now, peat?

Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “-eat.” She says, “Use the word ‘eat’ or add letters to it to make a different word.”  So, in true stream of consciousness fashion, I am starting off with the word “peat.”

Which probably seems like an odd word for my brain to settle upon, but I was listening to the radio the other day and they were talking about peat and permafrost and how they are such massive carbon sinks for the world and how, if the permafrost melts and all that carbon gets released into the atmosphere, the planet will heat so much that, well, it will be really bad for humanity.

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that this was where my mind went. After all, writing/thinking/reading/discussing carbon emissions and climate change has been part of my daily life (or almost daily life) for several years now.

It started with joining the fight to keep high-volume hydraulic fracturing of shale formations out of New York State and inevitably led to educating about the broader problems with carbon emissions and global warming and increases in severe weather, droughts, fires, etc., sea level rise, melting land and sea ice, and the increasingly urgent need to end reliance on fossil fuels and convert to renewable energy sources, especially those that are no/low carbon emitting.

I could – and have – gone on and on about this, but I will spare you today!

I will, though, send my thanks out to Pope Francis, currently 200+ miles to my south in Philadelphia, PA, for spreading the message around the world about the urgency of fighting climate change and the effects it has on the planet and the human community, particularly the most vulnerable people. His solution is to develop an “integral ecology” that serves to both protect the environment and ensure the dignity and needs of all people are met.

We are all in this together. Let’s clasp hands and forge ahead with the work needed to save the planet and ourselves.
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This post is part of Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturdays.  Join us! Find out how here:   http://lindaghill.com/2015/09/25/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-2615/

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SoCS: Pope Francis

I heard this morning that Pope Francis is en route to Cuba, where he will spend a few days before arriving in the US.

His route here will take him to Washington, New York City, and Philadelphia. There will be high profile speeches to the US Congress, UN General Assembly, and at a conference on the family in Philadelphia. There will also be several public Masses with attendance in the thousands for the indoors ones and hundreds of thousands when outdoors.

I have been eagerly anticipating his arrival and plan to watch the coverage, including a group “watch party” for the Congressional address.

I was reading an article by Father Tom Reese in NCR the other day, asking if people would really hear what Francis has to say while he is in the US.  I know that I will be listening carefully. I also know that, while I will agree with many of the Pope’s points, I will disagree with others. For example, Francis, though he means well, does not understand women’s lives. While he is wonderful about acknowledging social justice issues with those in poverty or on the margins, he fails to notice that this group is disproportionately female and that sexism and sexual violence/exploitation play a large role in their plight.

I am especially interested in how the Congress, many of whose leaders are Catholic, will react to what is sure to be a challenging speech to them, probably on the grounds of climate change, militarism, lack of care for the country’s and the world’s most vulnerable, rampant consumerism, and greed.

I am hopeful that Pope Francis’s voice on environmental issues and systemic marginalization of those with the least economic resources, especially in the global South, will spark conversation that will lead to a strong US voice for the climate and environment and for justice, for “integral ecology” as the Pope terms it, so that there will be a strong international accord coming out to the Paris climate talks at the end of the year with full US participation in the implementation.

That sounds like I’m asking for a miracle.

Maybe I am.

But I think there is hope through Francis, who speaks not only to Catholics but to “all those of good will” and maybe even may reach those who are not especially “of good will.”

Godspeed, Francis. May you have a safe and fruitful journey.
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This is part of Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturdays. This week’s prompt is route/root.  Join us! Find out how here:    http://lindaghill.com/2015/09/18/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-1915/  SoCS badge 2015

Reaching Out to the World Again

Jay Dee is still on the hunt for visitors from more countries around the world. This new post links back to his original post where he is keeping track. ( I have already re-blogged and shared that post a couple of times, so I decided to re-blog this new one today.) Please visit and share!
– JC

Jay Dee's avatarI Read Encyclopedias for Fun

I just checked out which countries my blog’s visitors have come from since country stats started to be recorded. Here’s the map.

world_visitorsThere are some interesting places that aren’t included. No Paraguay. A lot of Africa is absent. A bit of central Asia.

So, time to reach out to the world again! Please go to this post and follow the instructions. I want to know where you’re from. Let me know in the comments on that post, and I’ll add your country to the list. And please share that post so we can get word out to more people! Thank you.

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Candles of Hope

People who often visit Top of JC’s Mind know that I tend to write excited, squealing posts any time a poem gets accepted and again when it is actually published.

This past spring, however, I did not post when the Candles of Hope anthology, to which I am a contributor, became available in print.

It’s complicated.

The subtitle of the anthology is “A Collection of Cancer Poetry” and it was edited by Wendy Lawrence of GWL Publishing to raise funds for Topic of Cancer, a UK charity.

The poem I submitted can be found here.  I had written it late one night and posted it without giving any thought that it might one day be published in print. Wendy had put out a call for poems about cancer for the anthology several months later and my poem was accepted. Last October, when I was writing the note that accompanies the poem in the anthology, I was happy to report that K was in remission.

This spring, as the book was released, we found out that K was having a recurrence.

I couldn’t bring myself to publicly celebrate a publication, knowing that K was facing difficult treatment decisions, especially as the chemo that achieved the remission last year very nearly killed her.

I decided to share the news and the link today because K, while still under treatment, seems to be doing quite well. She is able to be out and about and able to attend some events at church.

I would like to ask everyone who reads this to send prayers, healing thoughts, good energy, or whatever fits with your own belief system for K.

With thanks,
JC

SoCS: tempted by Stephen Colbert

I am tempted to stay up late so I can watch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert when it actually airs, as opposed to recording it with a DVR and watching it the next evening. Even though this is the first week, there are clips of it on the morning news every morning.

I am so glad that the show is off to a great start. I loved Stephen on The Daily Show and watched the entire run of The Colbert Report (the T is silent!) with B, always on delay by DVR.

Despite the temptation to stay up late, 11:35 is way past my 10 PM bedtime, so Stephen will just have to wait inside our little black DVR box until the next evening when we get to see what everyone else was laughing about the night before.

It’s not all laughing, of course. While Stephen is a comedian, he is also a very philosophical and intellectual person. That can come out much more readily in his new show, where he gets to be (somewhat) more himself, as opposed to his former idiot-pundit persona on The Colbert Report. It must be a relief, especially when dealing with such sensitive topics as losing a son, as in the case of the interview with Joe Biden. Stephen lost his father and two brothers to a plane crash when he was ten, so he knows a lot about loss. It’s good that he can let that human side show, now that he doesn’t have to be in character all the time.

How about you all? Are you watching Stephen late at night, on delay, or not at all? Of course, this applies to US folks more than those in other countries, unless you can view it on the web.

For anyone who wishes to watch the Biden interview, CBS has it posted in two segments:  http://www.cbs.com/shows/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/video/Pc4LDUqN8wMyGkYP2ngp3WWQpNLfXpRz/vice-president-joe-biden-interview-part-1/
http://www.cbs.com/shows/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/video/E73677BA-3D99-0881-3FC2-BA98560FCC49/vice-president-joe-biden-interview-part-2/
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Linda’s prompt for this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “temp.”  Join us! Find out how here:   http://lindaghill.com/2015/09/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-1215/ 

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header

I just updated my header image, partly because Jay Dee of “I Read Encyclopedias for Fun” is doing a series where he writes about blogs of those who comment on his blog frequently. Which I do. And I’m trying to not be totally embarrassed when he has to say that my cover image is grainy and doesn’t appear to be anything recognizable.

Anyone who visits here knows that I am not good with images, despite my attempts to improve. I have trouble taking photos, enhancing, cropping, sending them to the right site, and more, but I was determined to at least get a new header image that was clearer, so I grab my iPad and went in search of a spot to take a close-up of the top of my head.  I chose an art quilt that hangs on my living room wall as a backdrop, and took several shots, not the easiest thing to do when you are purposely holding your device above eye level.

Then, the fun of customizing began. I like my theme and don’t want to change it, but the header image is recommended to be 1600×220, which is difficult for me to get to from an image that is 640×480. (I can hear all you photographers out there chuckling.) After several attempts, I did manage to get a new header image saved. It’s…okay. I wish my tagline showed up better, but at least the image itself is clearer – and perhaps even recognizable as the top of my silver-haired head.

At the very least, I know I didn’t violate anyone’s copyright by sharing their image when I shouldn’t have.

Please comment with any opinions,advice , or encouragement you want to share.

– JC with the silver hair

Update:  I managed to finally put a header image on the Top of JC’s Mind Facebook page. It is similar to the one here, but not the same shot. Check it out (and consider liking my page if you haven’t already)!