Day Five

Does leaping out of bed count for Leap Day? I want to leap for joy, leap from laughing, leap with good news, leap for the stars. A good walk would work. It’s dark, wet, and windy. I guess February will leap into March on water wings. I know I’m feeling better. Maybe my body has worn out the aftereffects of the beta blocker. I’m going to leap into physical therapy next week and get my groove back!

Day Two

Thoughts about time and aging. Time is weird stuff. I know I’m 77 when I look in the mirror. Until then I don’t have an age. I simply have right now. The 3 AM thoughts are fast forward snapshots that have no time line and I wonder why these memories and why now. What emerges is an appreciation of the wide experiences I have pursued and gratitude for allowing myself to travel both geographically, mentally, and spiritually.

Day Four

There is a note of optimism this morning. I have music back after the demise of my old stereo. The splurge is worth the money. My house is full of lovely sounds. Progress. I love it. I will tackle the blog problem and get my feet under me about the process. I want to do it well, worthwhile, and interesting. The record of daily life gives me a sense of where I’ve been and where I’m going..

Day Three

Hit the wall and didn’t bounce back this time. I’m ready to give up. In the learning curve crucible, confusion comes just before clarity. Maybe with a push. Today I will make a concerted effort to find a tutor and do the work of writing down the process so I don’t forget. In the small hours I realized that I want to have a blog. So, I’ll do it. I like a morning discipline. I like learning.

PS 

The cookie fortune read: Wisdom is acquired by experience, not just by age.

My aspiration is to display the wisdom that I have grown up believing was a natural consequence of aging.  I want to be the Star Wars mentor, Yoda.  He just pops out those pithy one-liners loaded with everything anyone needs to know about how the world works and how to be a good person.

My problem is that I have noticed that some of my elders seem to have not become wise at all, only older. That has not stopped some of them from using their age to become tyrants when the only discernible right they have to give orders is the number of candles on their birthday cakes.  They give one-liners, yes they do.  Unlike Yoda, these philosophers give a narrow, simplistic view, often accompanied by a forward thrust lower jaw, and a stance that defies one to ignore the gray hair and wrinkles.

 I know how I want to be perceived.  I want to proclaim practical bits of information on getting along on the adventure known as life.  I want a sort of compendium of recipes for dealing with the daily wear and tear that result from the tumbling in the real world.

Successful sages are the ones who listen intently, refrain from interrupting, and give respect to others.  I have witnessed conversations that are really dual monologues or platforms for personal judgments.  I want to refrain from using trite and predictable terms.  For example, nothing elicits a tight face and a sigh from the other person as fast as “When I was your age____”, followed closely by “You should _____”, and the old favorite, “Why don’t you____.”  Yoda doesn’t use that language.  He doesn’t “should” on anyone.

I study the changes in society.  I don’t wish for the simpler, safer, more predictable days.  They no longer exist.  I list to current music, watch the movies, read the magazines, hear the slang, ask questions, and in the hopes of becoming useful to younger folks. I want to FaceBook and blog to be relevant and active in the present.

I want to be a person of the day backed by all the experiences, mistakes, successes, interests, risks, disappointments, learning, and enthusiasm I have for life and love and people. That is the patience and compassion I wish to copy from Yoda.  May the force be with me!

Day One

Not a great start for the new year. Egg shell in my breakfast. I didn't notice it until I bit it. What else should I be noticing? I'm feeling undone, unready, scrambling for my place in the Universe. I have lived all these years and tell myself I should be self-confident. Instead, I keep adding activites that push me into  territory that leaves me feeling uncertain about my ability to  keep up with the times.. Better tomorrow.

Recap of Year 76

This is my New Year’s Eve and I will review my year and see how I used it. I volunteered 150 times, museum, gallery, 2^nd grade, senior center, and senior news. 65 days were called Good Days, 65 were called Poor or Sick days. The rest were OK, blah or failed to designate. I donated my 100^th pint of blood.

Those are statistics that I found in my daily log. The commentaries on those days are in my journal. A good day means I enjoyed the people, was doing something interesting and fun, and didn’t get too tired. Poor or sick days mean low energy flat days, and maybe boredom too. Many restless days looking for motivation to do something even if it was cleaning up the kitchen.

Hello

I'm working my way around here feeling lost and then I find a way to keep going. I'm sure that as I get some ease with the blogging experience I can concentrate on the writing rather than the process.
In 2005 one of my collective journey friends described a prompt that involved writing to a theme using the number of words in ones age. The first prompt was People. I enjoyed the morning write and the discipline. Since then I had written daily not always to a theme. One year I used journal cards, once I used runes, once I used tarot cards. The 76 word prompts were mainly commentaries on my daily routine. I have never shared my morning thoughts and this is a step I didn't anticipate until recently. It is my intention to publish a daily 77 words, thus the title. And if it works out, who knows, there may be a 78 words next year.