Friday, September 5, 2014

The Way the Light Falls... a Practice in Self Loving.

When do I love my body best?

I love my body best early in the morning:

When the silver, feathered strokes of dawn,
 Touch softly on my skin,
Softening my rounds and sharpening my curves,

Painting me as a black and white photograph,

Luscious and smooth and flawless,
Quiet, still and graceful,
Carefully composed and still warm with sleep.

I love my body best in the afternoon:

When the crisp air chills my skin pleasantly,
 Sending goose-bump trails across its surface,
Standing out my shape and framing me with gray sky,

Colouring me in striking and vibrant tones,

Deep and dark and rich,
Brilliant, saturated and clear,
Daringly drawn and rosy with rain.

I love my body best in the quick evening:

When the sparkling sunset seeps through into night,
 And my skin glows as the light leaves earth,
Wrapping around my form with shadows and shades,

Highlighting me with the fading gold,

Full and fair and delicious,
Cool, open and honest,
Elegantly etched and breathless with joy.


I love my body best at midnight:

When the moonlight bathes my skin in liquid silver,
 And contrasts it against the dark,
Shaping my hourglass with fine ink and quill,

Casting me as the goddess beneath stars,

Radiant, fluid and strong,
Seamless, mysterious and fiery,
Freely focused and dancing with power.


North, South, East and West:
shall love my body best,

Promise this, I, to myself,
Gathering the strength of health,

Never will escape my lips,
Words to banish, balk or quip,

I see me, mine own in flesh,
Composed, drawn, cast and etched.

Perfectly, with imperfection,
Sacred despite self-selection,

Faults affect and make me real,
Love, thine own, is what I'll feel,

Only positively read,
Blessings be upon my head.

--------------------------------------------


Thursday, September 4, 2014

Our MASTER Plan! MWAHAHAHAHA! HA!

   "You're crazy. It'll never work."

   "Are you all poor? Are they?"

   "Won't you argue about how to raise your kids?"

   "Is one of you paying the other rent?"

   "How will you have your own space?"

   "Aren't you adults? Why would you want to do that?"

   "How can the benefits outweigh the headaches?"

------------------------------------------

J and I have a master plan.

We came up with it after having a discussion about families and support systems. We discussed how parents, grandparents, siblings and cousins affect a person throughout their lifetime.

He and I both agreed that  having good relationships and stellar communication skills are essential to being a fully functional and happy adult. Learning about respect, compromise and compassion is fundamental to having a happy existence.

So, we came up with the plan: to surround our children with love, support, life experience and the potential to have as many helpful adults around as possible.

We have decided to purchase a house and move in together with my folks.

Yes, you read that correctly.

We are all deciding to move in together; not because of monetary issues, health failings or economic difficulties, but because we want to further value, work on and retain loving relationships. We want to build a support system for our children and we want them to know that family means taking care of each other.

My family is spread out: I have cousins all over the place and friends across the continental U.S.
J lost his mum when he was 17, and his dad not so long ago. His brother and extended family (step sisters, etc... whom we count as REAL sisters) are near us now.

Family and extended family are important to us.

My folks are also on-board with this master plan, because why should we wait until someone dies to appreciate each other? Why should things have to be in dire straights and difficult before an elderly parent moves in to share a home? Why not learn how to get along together now as adults and reshape our relationships by choice, rather than necessity?

We want to make decisions together as a family that don't involve waiting for death to be a factor which dictates necessity of life. We also think that my folks should get to enjoy their retirement while they're living.

My folks want to enjoy their grandchildren too. We want them to be a part of our kids' lives because it's important to us that they understand that age and experience matter. My Mimi (mother's mother) helped raise me. She was a source of wisdom, love and insight. My grandparents meant a lot to me.

Life is short and we want to live it together! We want to strengthen our relationships now, so that should difficulties arise in the years ahead, we can be happy and grateful that we've made these choices.

I don't think having a multigenerational home is the right decision for everyone; indeed, probably not for most people.

It IS the right decision for us.

  "You're crazy. It'll never work." -- That's just like, your opinion, Man. Besides, we'll never know unless we try. Worst case scenario, either we or my folks purchase another house and move out. We're doing this by choice, not being forced into anything, so we have that luxury should things prove too difficult.

   "Has something happened to your money? Are your parents all right?" -- No one is poor or destitute. We are choosing to do this now and enjoy our time together, rather than be forced into a co-habitation situation later because of tragedy. It's empowering rather than unfortunate.

   "Won't you argue about how to raise your kids?" -- J and I are S's parents; end of story. My folks are his grandparents (and he has another set of grandparents too). We have agreed to have discussions about who enforces what, how and when. We know our roles and we've set up good lines of communication. It's no different than if we lived across town from each other. If we disagree about something, we will calmly and rationally go over the boundaries.

Nothing is perfect, and if someone thinks it is, they're lying to themselves.

   "Is one of you paying the other rent?" -- No. This is a joint venture that we're CHOOSING. We're trying to keep things 50% - 50% in the power and responsibility balance.

   "How will you have your own space?" -- The new house we've chosen is (we hope) big enough for everyone to have their own area(s) and not feel put upon or cramped, without being a ridiculously enormous mansion. If need be we have an entire basement (with a separate entrance) that can be re-finished to create different apartments. We also have space above the garage that could be a studio apartment or guest house space.

   "Aren't you adults? Why would you want to do that?" -- We are adults and we believe that it takes a village to raise a child. We are also looking at this as an opportunity to improve our communication with each other and to help each other out. Together we can afford and handle more than we could separately. More resources equal more possibilities!

Also, multigenerational homes used to be the rule, not the exception. We believe in a more even-keeled and balanced power/responsibility arrangement, as opposed to the supremely matriarchal or patriarchal societal set-up that was the norm in the past.

   "How can the benefits outweigh the headaches?" -- Nothing worth having is gotten easily. J and I feel that giving our children (and ourselves and my parents) such a support system is worth the work it takes to make the venture successful.

We count the benefits as enormous blessings:

 Two extra adults to help with childcare. I can continue to work from home without having to pay for daycare.

My folks have extra support and help immediately, should they require it.

J and I are able to give back in time, money, energy, cooking, cleaning and love and so are my parents.

For vacations we have live-in house and pet sitters!

Scheduling is an easy task we can do as needed without awkward phone calls about summer break and Holiday vacation!

We have enough guest rooms for friends and family to visit independently of our two sub family schedules.

We are better able to communicate and share joys and sorrows as a family; to grow stronger and improve our relationships now, instead of later.

Will there be arguments, discussions and hardships? Absolutely. We all going to have some strategic counseling sessions before we move in together to try and learn how not to step on each others toes.

In my opinion, part of being an adult is mending things that are broken or dysfunctional; working to improve oneself always. I want to have a good relationship with my kiddos, my husband, my family and my friends, so it makes sense that I try to further improve my already loving relationship with my own parents because the way I interact with them is going to affect my children no matter what.

I never thought, come hell or high-water that I would consider sharing a home with my folks; once I'd moved out for University, I vowed "never again," because I love my independence. I love making my own decisions.

As my adult life has continued, I learned how to be alone. How to live on my own and handle things by myself. I can do it. I'm glad I have learned that about myself. I prefer though, to have loved ones near me. I learned when I began dating J and when we got married and had S that marriage is really all about compromise and learning (yet again) how to pick and choose your battles.

I want to take care of my parents when they need me to; hopefully much later on in our lives. Why then, are we moving in together now?

Simply because we want to enjoy each other and love each other while we can. We don't want our lives to fly by having only seen each other occasionally during the holidays. I want my son (and any other babies we have) to have what I had as a kid: a wise and doting grandparent (or two, or four) whom they can rely on. I don't want S to grow up only knowing my folks (and J's step-mum) as those formal and distant people that he must obey at Yuletide supper. We want him to have a warm set of adults (besides us) who care about him unconditionally.

I want my folks too, to know that they can never be a burden -- I want to help them as they have helped me to understand throughout my life so far:

I'm here for you. I love you. No matter what happens, I will do my best to support you.

J and I want to give back and share the love before we're called upon to do so, not after.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Ha! "Well I guess it doesn't matter any more..." - Buddy Holly

Clean.

Clean out the crevices that are encrusted with patronizing dust.
Clean up my mind of insecurities and hurt from old associations.
Clean sweep the cupboards of painful nonsense that is hiding in the corners.
Clean off the old wounds and see the soft and healthy new skin underneath.
Clean clear my heart from the cares and attachments that only cause pinching pain.
Clean the house of all ridiculous false remedies.

Done.

Done with bullshit.
Done pretending.
Done listening to lies.
Done in assuming the best-case scenario.
Done dealing with people who can't get over their own stupid shit.
Done trying to diffuse a silly blame-game that isn't real anyway.

Time.

Time to stop trying.
Time that you let go of being courteous; it's not appreciated.
Time you appreciate the people currently in your life who are honest, open, loving and true.
Time is there for the taking.
Time for a time-out from the destructive emotional crap that keeps bringing brought up.
Time lost to forgetting how long I've been trying to help situations that don't want help.

Throw.

Throw caution to the wind and dump the crappy feelings after it.
Throw out the thoughtful garbage I've been carrying around.
Throw forcefully, the silly notions that I am responsible for anyone's feelings excepting mine own.
Throw to the heavens any left-over remnants of useless clutter.
Throw up the partially digested emotional matter that DOESN'T MATTER.
Throw through the crumbling boundaries that never worked and weren't strong anyway.

Shout.

Shout forth all the feelings that are being felt strongly and haven't been acknowledged.
Shout to the earth, sky and sea that it's finally over.
Shout that the facts are that it never mattered as much as it was supposed to.
Shout the eggshells to dust, that I've been carefully walking on.
Shout over the floating debris of hurt feelings that aren't mine, that it's all a matter of perspective.
Shout clean down to my toes that I'm relieved of duty.

Stomp.

Stomp through the reeds of self doubt.
Stomp up the poor-me-mentality that things can't be helped.
Stomp to bits the web of blame that's been woven out of delusion.
Stomp viciously the false flowers of friendship that weren't real.
Stomp high and low for any escaped misconceptions.
Stomp delicately through the mud of the demolished feelings until they're thoroughly ground up.

Stop.

Stop everything and breathe until it's all passed through your system.
Stop worrying and enjoy the release of the burden.
Stop wishing you could fix things; you're free and you were never broken to begin with.
Stop thinking about any of it.
Stop trying to preserve anyone's feelings, but your own.
Stop and give thanks that you're FINISHED!