Month: February 2025

Home is where….

February 14th, 2025

Write about your dream home.

Like so many other things, i find myself caught between opposing sides of myself, each with wildly different ideals.

On one hand, i want a small, cozy house full of nooks and mysteries. A root cellar and an attic crawl space where roly-polys and spiders lurk in the shadows and tell each other secrets. A kitchen just big enough to move about in freely but not so big that you can’t get from one side to the other in two or three steps. Rustic, dark fixtures – lighting, plumbing, decorative. A fireplace in the living room hugged on either side by bookshelves. Windows with dark shutters and warm, dim lighting or candles throughout. A backyard with a soft hill, and a stream behind the house.

On the other hand, I want a spacious ranch type house with lots of natural light. Large kitchen with a butcher block, hanging pots and pans rack, and a short breakfast bar with stools to one side. Stainless steel appliances and fixtures, complimented with darker counters and floors. Instead of standalone bookshelves, this house would have a library in a separate room, with a big, cushy armchair for reading. Skylights. A large bay window with a daybed overlooking the back yard, which is edged by forest.

These things that i’ve described are just the houses – structures with particular aesthetics. What really makes a home is the love that dwells there. For that, i would need two things, regardless of style. Dogs and an art/writing studio. I can’t say which, because I dream of each at different times, but these are my dream homes.
RTotD – 2/13/25

February 13th, 2025

Fanciful understanding certainly knows only fleeting freedom.
Hobbies

February 12th, 2025

Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrown or lost interest in over time?

Since I was a kid? Riding bikes. Roller coasters. Catching frogs, toads and tadpoles. Painting rocks. Having tea parties with my imaginary friends…. Growing up can have that effect, i suppose.

As an adult, the answer is a bit more complex, because though I cycle through different topics, i have never outgrown my love of learning. And i didn’t lose interest in drawing, but I did let it fall off my top priority list.

Like many other things, the day to day nonsense can crowd out the things that make your heart sing… if you let it, that is.
RTotD – 2/12/25

February 12th, 2025

Why do most people listen more to others than their own heart?
RTotD – 2/11/25

February 11th, 2025

What if…?
RTotD – 2/10/25

February 10th, 2025

Sometimes, it’s hilarious when people underestimate you, especially when you realize they set the bar based on themselves.
Challenges

February 6th, 2025
This started as an answer to a prompt, but i started it, got distracted and never finished. So, here it is… The prompt was “What are your biggest challenges?”

For the record, some of these prompts sound kinda like interview questions. Fun to think about and answer, because there’s no pressure, but still. Just sayin’.
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There are so many ways to approach answering this. I think about the different categories of challenge - professional, personal, mental/physical/emotional, fiscal, spiritual/metaphysical, philosophical. I mean, the list goes on and on, and I find myself considering the cause of each of the challenges that fly through my mind as I think about each of these areas. A symptom of chronic problem solver syndrome I suppose.
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In any case, if I had to list my biggest challenges, I would say that the following list is not at all in order of importance or significance, simply in order of occurrence in my mind. That said, here goes….

I struggle walking.

I struggle with expressing certain emotions.

I struggle with knowing what my place/purpose is in this lifetime.

I struggle with putting myself first when it counts.

I struggle with being kind instead of being nice. (There is a big difference!)

I struggle with not becoming temporarily obsessed with a given topic and learning as much as i can about it. (I honestly don’t know if this is a struggle i want to resolve, for the record. it is fun and interesting!)

I struggle with honoring my limits – personally, professionally, and physically.

I struggle with the fact that I literally cannot know or understand everything, though i desperately want to.

And that’s about it. i mean, i have daily struggles and challenges, just like anyone, but those are different. Biting your tongue when someone says something silly or stupid is not quite in the realm of “biggest challenges”.
White hot

February 6th, 2025

Why is it that rage, which most people think of as the epitome of anger, is so often accompanied by or followed by tears, which are usually associated with sadness?

I think it has to do with the brain (or actually, the mind) experiencing some sort of pain and when tears don’t seem to be a viable option, it turns to anger which then escalates to rage. But it’s kinda like getting rid of dandelions in your yard. If you don’t pull up that root and deal with it, they will come back. And in this metaphor, sadness is the root, which is why tears are the unofficial wingman for rage.

I have known a couple of people who burst into tears when they are angry. This one chick was absolutely livid, about ready to put her fist through someone’s face, and yet she was sobbing uncontrollably. It was the strangest thing, but also one of the most honest emotional expressions I have ever witnessed.

Next time you’re angry, maybe ask yourself what is making you sad. You might be able to deal with that root and get rid of the emotional dandelion.
RTotD – 2/6/25

February 6th, 2025

If people really thought things through before saying or doing something, I think they would save themselves a shit ton of trouble.
RTotD – 2/5/25

February 5th, 2025

Is sleeping position preference a partially genetic thing? or is it all environment based?