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Showing posts from 2019

Tapping Away the Anxiety

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In today's modern, high-tech world, we are watching our kids becoming more and more stressed out about life in general, and we are realizing that it is affecting their overall health. Our children dread going to school and it breaks our hearts. Learning should be a natural, enjoyable endeavor, not a stressful one. It shouldn't be about standardized tests, getting into college and later getting the really good job that we all know college doesn't guarantee. We don't want them to feel as anxious about school as many of us did. I was anxious in kindergarten! I'm 59 years old now and in the last few years have become aware of the concept of mindfulness -- paying attention to what's happening in the present, without judgement. I'm learning to deal with my anxiety in natural, healthy ways like meditating. I wish I had known about all of this when I was in elementary school, painfully shy kid that I was. If I had learned the mindful techniques I share

Main Street Moriarty

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Since moving to the small town two and a half years ago, I've come to appreciate living in Moriarty, New Mexico, in many ways. Sure, there are issues, as with any town no matter the size. But the good outweighs the bad. Here are some of the things I've noticed about Moriarty. Some are trivial, others more consequential. Moriarty has more storage rental places than any other small town I've ever seen. Seriously. There is a storage facility on almost every street seems like. On one street, there are two different ones right next to each other! It's ridiculous...or maybe it's not. Maybe there's a demand. The sky is amazing. I take thousands of photos of the clouds that are shaped and molded by the sometimes mild, sometimes mighty wind. Rt. 66 is the town's main street but business is bad and there are lots of abandoned buildings due to the fact that I-40 exists. You can tell it was once a hustling, bustling road. The town is located about 30 miles from Al

Spiritual New Mexico

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I was feeling the need to blog but didn't have a topic that inspired me. So I waited and I listened for messages, which is the one thing I've been working on -- listening to the messages. We all get them. Sure enough, after a few days, I was researching "lightworker" and realized that perhaps that is what I am. It inspired me to blog. I'm a lightworker. I'm not unique. There are a lot of lightworkers in this world. The majority are unrecognized as such, I'm sure, but if we gave it a little thought, we would all be able to point out the lightworkers in our communities. They are: the healthcare workers at the hospital who treat everyone with kindness and respect the parents who hug their kids and help them learn to live mindful lives  the people who make your life a little brighter and more positive somehow just through your interaction with them the people who help you heal in some way, quite often spiritually. I just read an excellent article lis

Discovering Talent in our Schools

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This is an old post, updated, but today I'm asking you -- do you know a student artist whose work could be highlighted in this blog? Let me know and we'll get started! Daniel has been cleaning out the mobile home of a neighbor who just moved out, and he has been finding some interesting things that were left behind, most of it very imaginative artwork done by one of the residents of the home, a  young autistic man, 19 years old. When I sat on my porch many days over a period of two years, he would be out in his front yard stimming -- humming, hand flapping, and walking up and down the yard. I found it comforting in a way. Turns out, this young man, Shaun, is quite an artist. Danny is finding his work all over the home as he cleans it. It is mostly ceramics/pottery. Showcasing student art The art that this young man produced was done in art class at school. This got me thinking. I would like to showcase other student work, too.  We could highlight a New Mexico student artis

The Disconnected American Kid

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April honors military brats, the kids of those who serve in the armed forces. A distinct lifestyle, in fact, classified a subculture, the life of the military brat is unique, with both bad and good qualities that shape kids in both good and bad ways. Researching this topic, I found so much more information than I had expected, starting with the origins of the term "military brat" and leading on to a related term, "third culture kid". I decided to look at what these two types of subcultures have in common. Brat or TCK? First, let's talk about the military brat. It's a common misconception that this term was one given by outsiders to the children of those serving in the armed forces and that it has negative connotations. The truth is that the term is one the brats chose for themselves and they hold it dear. The TCK, or third culture kid, is a child who lives in a different culture from the one of their parents or the one of the country listed on thei

Energy and the Spiritual

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I'm pretty sure I've blogged before about energy and how, once I thought of the world in its terms, life started to make sense to me, and I was able to shake off much of my anxiety and depression that had plagued me for so long. I have no idea if my ideas are correct but thinking about energy and how it affects me helps me deal. That's all. I thought I'd share my thoughts again in the hopes others might find it helpful. I will keep it simple. Everything and everyone carries energy within them.  There's negative energy. There's positive energy.  Energy is everywhere around us, in different forms. Not only are we prone to the whims of our own energy, we can also carry and be affected by other people's or things' energy. Outside energy can pass through us. When I started to realize these things, I started to think further. What if those anxious thoughts, those depressed moods I used to experience and wonder why, were not my own thoughts and moods

Redefining the "Stay-at-Home" Parent

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I'd like to talk about my dad for a moment. My memories of him and Mom fuel much of my writing. My dad was very proud of the writer his daughter was becoming. Love you, Dad. Dad was a computer scientist at Los Alamos National Lab (LANL). He loved his work there but he also liked to play and rest. He was a hard worker but not a workaholic in any way. He lived a balanced life. He was pretty happy. He was an amazing dad. In his spare time, my dad loved flea markets, garage sales, and later on, selling/trading on the Internet. He did it as a hobby but these days, hobbies like his could become jobs for those who would like to stay home to raise their kids and still make money. I am thinking of Dad while I write about my son, Daniel, and the way he is approaching parenthood as he and Mariah wait for their first little munchkin to arrive in the world. Channeling Grandpa So let's move on to Danny and talk a little about what he's doing as he prepares for a growing famil

Starting a Family -- Then and Now

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I've recently received the joyous news that both of my kids and their significant others are expecting babies this year. Wow! And it's gotten me thinking... I was older when my husband (now ex) and I decided to start a family. Well, we didn't really decide. I forgot my birth control pill one day, after ten+ years of not forgetting, and immediately got pregnant. I was 30 years old. After the first, my son Daniel, I wanted another. The decision made, I again immediately got pregnant. It was meant to be. I had Kelsey, my daughter, 18 months later. In that day and age, we both had to work to make ends meet, especially after kids. We couldn't afford a babysitter so my husband worked graveyard shift and I worked days. Work, work, work. I did, though, take my kids to see me on the job whenever I could, especially when I loved my work. I wanted them to see their mom doing something meaningful that made her happy. My kids are doing it differently. They want to be more invo