Day 295 Happiness

September 30, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

About 15 years ago, American and Japanese students participated in a project: What makes me happy. It was one component of my doctoral project. Every once in a while, I answer this question for myself too. Ten things I need in my life for happiness:

1.      CREATIVITY:  I have opportunities for this through writing and photography/designing.

2.      LOVE:  I need to love and be loved. I need the spiritual love of one person reaching and connecting with another as well as the emotional love that allows me to make myself vulnerable in a relationship. I also need to touch and be touched physically and to make love emotionally and physically.

3.      ADVENTURE:  I need adventure in my life—adventure of discovering new places and people through traveling. I need to have some of my life punctured by the unexpected. And I need the adventure of new ideas and imagination.

4.      SOLITUDE:  I need time and space to be with and by myself to write, think, dream, fantasize, read, walk and meander. I need to vegetate and have down time during this solitude because that is when the mind makes connections that normally wouldn’t be made.

5.      CONNECTIONS:  I need to connect with nature, people and my spiritual self: nature through the use of my senses, people through sharing myself, and spirit through opening my soul.

6.      LEARNING: I need to learn through study, both formal and informal, meeting people and exploring on my own (such as on the computer or reading).

7.      HEALTH: I need reasonable health in order to have a balance in my life to pursue all of the above-mentioned things. (Of course, this is likely to change…)

8.      ORDER/BALANCE:  I need stability in finances and relationships and in the choices I make.

9.      SELF-ESTEEM: Self-esteem lays the building blocks for future accomplishments. I need success in my activities, career, relationships, etc., in order for me to continue to reach high.

10.   INDEPENDENCE/A DEGREE OF AUTONOMY:  Although my connections with people are very important, I must also be totally myself. After all, although there are people along the way, ultimately we enter and leave this world alone. . 

My gift today is another day to be happy.

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Day 296: ROYGBIV

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 294 Bam

September 29, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

Ideas are exciting and I find them at Ignite Baltimore events. Last night I attended with friend Shirley in Baltimore. There was a social hour with drinks and appetizers in the foyer that buzzed with animated conversations. Then, in the auditorium, 16 speakers presented ideas and shared their hopes and dreams for Baltimore. Among other inspiring speakers, Artist Michael Owen of the Baltimore Love Project talked and so did WYPR’s Aaron Henkin who is embarking on a fascinating Baltimore project, “Out of the Blocks.”

On the way to the event, however, after just stopping at a red light, I was surprised with a sudden bam from the rear of my car. Another car had hit my new 2015 Toyota Yaris. Alas, my Yaris is no longer a virgin. On his way to a yoga group, the other driver had probably not used extra caution needed in the beginning rain and hydroplaned into my new car. Luckily, no one was hurt, we exchanged information and I continued to our event—a little later than planned.

After talking with other friends who attended Ignite Baltimore, hearing inspirational 5-minute talks, and driving Shirley back to her place, I began a knuckle-white drive home in a torrential downpour. With limited visibility and necessary moves around deepening water accumulation in some areas, I was on high alert for any potential situations that could cause a second accident of the night. After a harrowing drive home with no further incidents, I pulled into my driveway with a sigh of relief. Tomorrow I will deal with insurance and car repairs.

My gift today is a safe drive home tonight.

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More about Ignite Baltimore: http://www.ignitebaltimore.com

> Day 295 Happiness

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 293 Dancer

September 28, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

An almost invisible thread holds this leaf.

Today was good for a walk in Downs Park, just a few miles from my house. I have always loved to walk. I know that kinetic activity connects with the mind; there is evidence that it enhances the mood and improves cognitive function. Sometimes, I write poetry while walking. Often I notice things I’ve never noticed before and make new cognitive connections. There is no doubt that daily walks helped me while teaching and working on my doctorate.

I walked three miles today, mostly in the park and stopped to watch a curled dancing brown leaf. It appeared to be twirling about midair as if it were alive. The truth is that there was a slender, almost invisible thread holding it from an overhead branch and it moved in a slight breeze. I was an audience of one, mesmerized with a ballet accompanied by sounds of chickadees and waves lapping the shore. I blew on the leaf, changing the dance with my breath. If I return tomorrow to the same spot, the slender thread will probably have released the dancer to mingle with oblivion.

Maybe like the leaf, I too dance midlife, connected by an invisible thread of awareness that compels me to be in the present. I have freedom to interact and create new motion with the air around me. I breathe and alter my movement but my awareness is ultimately limited by how far the slender thread can swing. 

My gift today is a slender thread.

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You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 292 Looking Up

September 27, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

Some days bring many gifts and this is one. After sitting and healing from surgery, David felt better and stronger today and we managed to go to the Baltimore Book Festival for a short time. It was long enough to hear three readers from the New Mercury readings and to catch the end of a Q&A with one of my favorite writers, Laura Lippman, on her latest book, “Hush Hush.” Then we heard an interview that friend Bob Timburg did with Senator McCain. I did videos for the New Mercury readings, took some snapshots of Laura smiling as she signed books, and did a selfie of David and me with McCain. As McCain shook hands with some of us in the front row, he stepped on David’s foot and said, “Sorry.” David replied, “It’s okay. I’ve got another one.” McCain chuckled. It felt so good to be doing some normal activities again.

At home tonight, we looked in the sky for the aligning of the sun, Earth and moon. The super blood moon is a rare occurrence, happening only five times since 1900, and we were lucky that clouds parted long enough for us to see part of the eclipse tonight. A confluence so far away connects the human family as we share celestial awe with people from all around the world. 

The next super blood moon eclipse is due in 2033 in approximately 6,575 days. I look forward to seeing it again when I am 88, maybe with a longer lens. And maybe with fewer global conflicts.

My gift today is a super blood moon eclipse.

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> Day 293: Dancer

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 291 Picnic at Home

September 26, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

David and I were cheered by a surprise visit today from my youngest sister and her husband this afternoon after our friend Jeremy left in the morning. I don’t see my two sisters very much these days. After the death of our father last year, we’ve returned to our own lives, trying to catch up with our own medical appointments and home maintenance issues. After David’s major surgery and slow recovery, when our days have been turned upside down and inside out, it feels good to be returning to a more normal life. 

Last week, Nancy brought food. Today Jaymie brought lunch supplies and we provided the ambience as we ate outside. The hummingbirds have not left our area yet, although I read that they usually migrate in September and return in April. Our conversational flow was sometimes interrupted when a hummingbird hovered at the feeder and then zipped away sideways like a helicopter. The black-capped chickadees also came by chirping their greetings. Tall loblollies swayed in the breeze and wind chimes became our background music. 

We were in harmony with one another and the creatures and sounds around us. People and nature bring a welcome balance to the day. 

My gift today is a visit from my sister.

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> Day 291: Looking Up

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html