On a Limb with Claudia

Happy Thanksgiving!

This was created by the fabulous Emma Hand.  

May your day and year be filled with the blessings of love, charity and peace of mind, each of which grows three fold when given.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Be yourself.

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken" - Oscar Wilde

Happy Monday, again!

Gorgeous creatures.

This video is five minutes long. “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” --Jonathon Swift

May your week be filled with seeing the gorgeous creatures around you!

Happy Monday

Thursday Thirteen : All about Claudia

I was tagged by the CEO at the Morning Meeting to do six uninteresting things about me.  THEN I was tagged by Kara to do five uninteresting things about me.

Clearly, these people know how truly uninteresting I am. Thus, I will share with you eleven uninteresting things about Claudia plus one.

And hopefully, you will share something of uninterest about you in the comments. I'll add it to the post and we will join in uninteresting qualities!

Thursday Thirteen #51 : All about Claudia

1.  I am fairly slutty when it comes to social networks. I let anyone be my friend.

2.   While I let anyone be my social network friend, I do not hesitate to defriend, block or stop following.

3.  I am the only person in my biological family that does not take psychotropic medication, mood stabilizers and/or doesn't self medicate with alcohol and/or drugs.

4.  I love my Magic 8 ball.

5. I sit on a swiss ball at my desk.  My buddy, Perpetual Student, inspired me with her green ball chair.

6.  I am tall, 5' 10".

<---Tag One Over-->

7.  Prior to being a therapist, I never held a conversation with anyone who wasn't about my height.

8.  Like a lot of tall people, I think short people are up to something. This fact has been confirmed to me by my buddy Tommie, Perpetual Student and other short bloggers.

9.  I learned to knit when I was seventeen and have knit ever since then. I love to knit. I love all the bits that go with knitting - yarn, needles, pins, etc.  I do not love finishing the collar on sweaters. It's a sickness.

10.  I have life long insomnia which seems to be abating due to SleepTracks.com. (I'm not an affiliate, just a fan).

11.  A psychic told me recently that my fictional characters were real people at one time. This is why I feel like they write their own stories.  (READ: Claudia's a lazy writer!)

<---Tag Two Complete-->

12. I laugh all the time. All. The. Time.

13. Now it's your turn - leave a random and/or uninteresting fact about yourself in the comments and I'll add it here.

• "I absolutely hate being photographed wearing my glasses." Nicholas at a Gentleman's Domain


• "You’re on to me - short people are always up to something!" Perpstu at Popping Bubbles


• "While I cannot stand mushrooms of any kind, I find the term “sauteed mushrooms” to be the most appetizing food words in the English language, my mouth waters at the mere mention of it… 42 years in to this little experiment called life and I cannot figure this out." Soren J at Puntiglio


• "I am another one of those short people who is up to something and as soon as I know what that is promise to tell you. However, I speak to people of all shapes and sizes and I am not a therapist! I am also a knitter, however I have only been knitting a few years, but likewise I love it - moist especially all things wool. I am also such a fiber fanatic, I have taken to spinning my own yarn!! Zen meditation has nothing on spinning, I promise you." Kat at As Kat Knits


• "Uninterestingly, my given initials (no … Rupe isn’t one of my given names, you Brainiac!) are an abbreviation for “mountain”." Ruprecht at Frolickery


• "Sue loves seafood (I just had it for dinner)" Sue at the Urban Zoo


• "How bout I love to saute mushrooms after midnight, and horde them all to myself. I read in the tub. I was born left handed, but baby sitter converted me to right handed." Eric S at Small Town Mountain Boy


• "Tall chicks rule. Well, at least they do at our house (LOL)." Lori at Lori D Johnson


• "I will not eat celery or raisins. Under any circumstances." Sandy Carlson at Writing in Faith


• "I could create a complete outfit, including making the pattern from scratch." Adelle Laudan


• "I used to eat sweet pickle and Wonder bread sandwiches." Pop Art Diva


• "I am really the Mother of all fairies. Check it out. Dana is the mother of all fairies….not only that, I’m a fire fairy. hot, hot I is, I is." Dana at Awareness. (I'm fairly certain this is true about Dana)


• " I went to school (university) on a scholarship….PIF for the four years I was there…I often wonder if it was a waste since I am now a SAHM. I keep my nails short for a reason…..betcha can’t guess why?" Tommie at Tuesday Update


• "I do have an Etch-a-sketch and a slinky." Colleen at Loose Leaf Notes


• "I have high wicks underneath some of my toenails, on the third and fourth toes of both feet." David Bridger at How to get your novel published


• "I find myself buying plants and putting them in the ground and tending them. I just bought some new tulip bulbs that are red, white and blue. Hmm." Brenda at the Other World Diner


• "I’d rather be home on a Friday night just hanging with the BF than out at a social event. BORING!" Carmen at Gone to Plaid


• "I hate having my picture taken with my glasses on ! Oh and I LOVE my Magic 8 ball too." Jenn at Feeling Geeky


• "I can’t stand people touching their teeth. It makes my skin crawl, my mouth feel dry, and my teeth ache." Jaime at the PQNation


• "I think chickens are better than prozac and completely necessary for my personal happiness!" Jaydee in the Lost world


• "I love all vegetables except okra." Darla at Nichtszusagen


• "I am a person who keeps my friends in small numbers because I tend to keep people at arms length as a protection to myself. No clue what I am afraid of." Nina at Juggling Mama


• "I’m one inch shorter than Claudia" Ivanhoe


• "I like to play with the rubik cube when I’m stuck writing." Tempest Knight


• "I love to cook, but my meals always turn out better when I throw them together than when I plan them out carefully." Devyl at Devyl Gyrl


• "A psychic told me that one day all I’d do is write. No more day job, yay!" Nicole Austin (YAY indeed!)


• "I have belly button lint. And it smells." Court at Kaiya's laughter heal


• "I was a cheerleader my junior year of high school. I quit senior year because I was too self-conscious about my body to keep wearing the uniform out in public." Los Angelista


• " How about the fact that I could eat rice every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it?" Julia from Mind over matters


• "I have long nurtured an unsatisfied craving to try a certain Filipino dish called balut." East Coast Dweller

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Simply Kind Tuesdays : Week 3 - Compassion.

This is a little more than 20 minutes, but well worth your time.

I could add more words, but she says what I cannot.

"Do unto other what you would have done to you."

Adversity.

"By trying we can easily endure adversity. Another man's, I mean." --Mark Twain

My back decided to rebel this weekend.

All of those heal-your-back strategies that I suggest to Furious Ball and the Walking Mark?  They are easier to endure when THEY have to stretch, ice, heat, and use the foam roller.

I'm on the mend. With any luck, I'll be up to my old tricks in no time.

Happy Monday!

How did the Depression affect us?

In an effort to research Colorado for a novel and the Denver Cereal, I've been reading "Western Voices, 125 years of Colorado Writing."  The book is a compilation of essays about Colorado collected by the Colorado HIstorical Society magazine.

I read this essay yesterday and knew I needed share some of it with you:

"I was ten months old when the stock market crashed in 1929, the start of the Great Depression, followed by the Drought and then the Dust Bowl. I called them the three Big Ds. There were suicides related to one or all of the Big Ds. Men did abandon their families when they could not find work.  Families did disappear overnight, never heard from again.  Women did have nervous breakdowns due to the wind, the constant never-ending wind.  Do you know what it's like to be in the wind that never, ever stops?

"Young boys did a man's work and our generation learned the value of a penny - disregard a dollar.  People were hungry but proud, and one cannot eat pride. Banks went broke; ours did in Sharon Springs.  We had one dollar and forty-seven cents to last two weeks.

"How did the Depression affect us, trying to survive?

"My dad was out of a job. Our local bank in Sharon Springs went broke.  There was no money. Even the schoolteachers were paid by warrants pledging that if there were ever money again, they would get some.  The principal real property taxes that were being collected in eastern Colorado and western Kansas were from the Union Pacific. The few banks still open refused to loan. When my uncle moved to Cheyenne County in Colorado there were thirty-three famillies on his mail route; this was in 1922. When he sold out in 1965 there were three. Where did these people go? I don't know. I remember children in my first grade class in Sharon Springs who were in school on Friday and gone on Monday; the year was 1934. They simply disappeared. There were no food stamps and a lot of people were on relief. That meant they could get food staples free but many were too proud. In Sharon Springs, when our hometown physician Doc Nelson passed away, his daughter found over $100,000 in accounts receivable in his large rolltop desk." --Keith A Cook, A Whiskey Train and a Doughnut day: Coming of Age on the Colorado Plains

This was only one generation ago - a little less than 80 years ago.

My father was two when the stock market crashed.  When asked about the Depression, he mostly shrugged.  When I pressed him, he said that everyone was poor. No one thought they'd get rich and no one knew a rich person. Everyone you knew was as poor as you were.

My grandfather would only say, "There wasn't anything Great about the Great Depression."

While I've been broke, and very poor, I've never lived without money. I remember the first money I earned baby sitting at eight years old. I was eleven years old when someone said, "Can I write you a check?" for the first time.  I received my first credit card when I was seventeen years old and bought my first house when I was thirty-two years old.

I have been tremendously, incredibly, unbelievably lucky live in such incredibly prosperous time.

As people around me talk of coming Depressions and economic downturns, I know that they, like me, have no idea what that means.

I'd love to hear your stories, memories or your families story from the Great Depession. Leave them in the comments and I'll add them to the post with a link.

In remembering, we learn to appreciate all that we still have.

• "My mother was forced to quit school at 14 to help support her family. The next year, when her parents wanted her sister to do so as well, my mother stood up to them and all her siblings were allowed to finish school, eventually becoming a college professor and two medical doctors. My mother finally got her GED and went to college in her 70’s, getting her degree at 79. 

"My father put himself through night law school, working as an interpreter on the NYC docks in several languages he had taught himself. Many of his early clients paid him in home grown chickens, eggs and vegetables because nobody had any money.

"My older brother was very sick and there was no medical insurance, so my birth when he was six was unplanned. Somehow they always managed to take care of us and provide what we needed." --Heart in San Francisco
 

"My grandfather having been a street urchin in Edinburgh before emigrating to Canada had know privation. Orphaned at an early age he learned what it took to feed his belly. Work.

"As the depression kicked into high gear, the plant foremen in charge of hiring day labor at the Detroit auto plants were willing to overlook his union affiliation button and bring him in regularly because he knew how to work.

"He gave my grandmother ten dollars with the instruction that if any of the neighbors came looking for a loan to tide them over she was to give it them out of the ten. He told her never to look at it as a loan but rather when necessary they would find a way to replenish it out of his wages."As expected the neighbors did come looking for a quarter or a dollar because there was no milk or beans on the table. Granny would quietly hand out what they asked for.

"From what my mom told me, that ten never had to be replaced. Every single time some was lent out it was repaid. People knew, it seemed that everyone would make it through if they worked together."
--the Walking Man Mark

Thursday Thirteen - Climbing Difficult Mountains

It seems like everyone is experiencing challenges right now. When I feel really stretched, I read this book.

Move your cursor over the book - to turn pages, click the bottom right corner. It's 12 pages but very short.

13. What do you do when you feel challenged? Leave it in the comments and I'll post it here with a link to your site.

• " I find music to be soothing" - Adelle Laudan


• "I listen to “stressful and disturbing heavy metal,” which I’m blogging about right now. That’s how I gather my strength and courage when I’m discouraged, stressed, or frustrated. Unless my kids are involved…" - Susan Helen Gottfried


• "I pray and mediate on scripture." - Lazy Daisy


• "I tend to get stubborn when challenged. Sometimes that’s useful, others…well, let’s just say I have a few battle scars" - Tobias


• "I turn to the Tao." - Sandy Carlson


• "When I do start to feel stress. I usually start to shut down. I take care of those closest to me and forget about pretty much everthing else. If I start to focus on the single most important things around me, then everything else starts to fall into place little by little." - Tommie at Tuesday Update


• "When I’m stressed…arggh I all the things I shouldn’t…overeat, drink, sleep, watch TV…just veg." - Yasmin at Apoo Books


• "When I feel challenged I work, relax with a good movie, play with my grandkids - always keep a positive outlook and share my love of life and sense of humor with others." Bernie at Planksconstant


• "When I feel challenged, I try to take a deep breath and a step back so I can re-evaluate what I am doing and make sure it is the right thing for me…" Perpstu at Popping Bubbles


• "Well, honestly, I sometimes throw a fit like a 5 year old. And then I breathe." Carmen


• "When I’m challenged, I usually try to take a step back and do something to take my mind off things…It gives me a chance to come back to the challenge with a fresh eye." PQNation


• "When I’m challenged I’m easy with myself, understanding the the steps are a process and that I am in the first steps. I try to stay calm and wait till guidance comes. When I get guidance I usually know the way I know when a poem speaks to me. It has a different voice and I have learned to respect it. With guidance behind me I usually stream ahead." Colleen at Loose Leaf Notes


• "I too use music when I’m overly stressed to work through whatever needs to be done." Sue at the Urban Zoo


• "what I do when I’m challenged: take it one step at a time." Darla at Nichtszusagen


• "When I reach a challenge, I usually procrastinate til it HAS to be met, and then I tackle it head-on. Maybe not the best of management ideas, but it works for me usually!" Devyl at Devyl Gyrl


• "I usually sit down and take a deep breath. Than I debate it with my hubby. And than I sleep on it. They say that every morning is wiser then previous night…" Ivanhoe


• "i drink." Jayevee


• "I listen to the oldies. Especially while in the shower. There’s something about singing along with a one-hit wonder (like “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest) while shampooing my hair that leaves me more prepared to face the world." The Gal Herself


• "I take a day off work and play hooky… I pamper myself, laze in the sunshine pouring into my house, read, listen to music, blog, chat with friends, do some painting and other things that nourish my soul." Jo from Majority of Two


• "Stress out, then pray/go for a walk/drink soothing tea/write a blog post about it." Celtic Librarian


• "I try hard to not let life stress me, but when it does I stop, change my frame of mind, play some music, and meditate on the issue. I have also been known to pick up knitting needles as well!" Kat


• "Today I got a hug and a perceptive pep talk from my husband. And I managed to get a bit more writing done. Hugs and pep talks. I give them to everyone else, and when I need them, my husband gives them to me. Did I mention I love him?" Julia at Mind over matter


• "I seek out and listen to the omens." Dana at Awareness

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Simply Kind Tuesday, Week 2 : Kind words.

It happened again.

I said, "this" and they heard "that."  They were so upset that they worried about it all night.

I was lucky. They trusted me enough to tell me they were upset.  Gratefully, we cleared up the matter fairly easily.

Still, imagine my chagrin!  I was heart broken to learn that I had so egregiously offended someone - on accident.

As I venture into the Internet stream, I strive to practice kind words.  Sometimes, I delete a comment rather than potentially be misunderstood.  Often, I focus on what is true and supportive about a blog post, person or email interaction. I am not afraid to apologize as well.

When in doubt, I pick up the telephone.

Even with all this effort, miscommunication happens.  In fact, did you know that words only account for 6 percent of the information translated in a conversation? 6 percent!  It's not suprising that we misinterpret the tone of internet communication over half of the time. Add a 140 character limit in plurk, twitter or facebook and you're bound to have miscommunication.

What do you do to keep your internet interactions kind and friendly?

Responsibility lies with each of us.

"Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us." --HH the Dalai Lama

Let's get to work making our worlds what we long for.

Happy Monday!