Reply To: Wannabefree’s Friday night Blog…
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Hi Friends… We’ve through another week, Maybe only just, But We’ve made it through another day.
Today, We are going to look at the subject of ‘Calm’. Pause for a moment, and concentrate on feeling ‘Calm’.
It doesn’t come naturally, does it! Maybe because our lives don’t revolve around calm as much as being stressed. I the workplace it is said that stress makes us perform better. Well Yes, maybe to a point, But…
We all need the physical oasis of just being ‘Calm’ sometimes. Some more than others, If we are being honest with ourselves.
So, Let’s try and just be ‘Calm’ for a moment. Really Calm…
We can perhaps do this in basically in most situations of reasonable safety. The ‘one gentle breath at a time’ technique. The human heart actually takes a total ‘break’ or ‘Rest’, between heartbeats. Can we do something similar? Perhaps between breaths, for instance. Some people say’Keep calm and carry on’, through whatever we are faced with in life. Another saying is ‘Life is a roller coaster… You either put your head down and scream, Or lift up your arms and squeal with delight!
I think there is a religious song with the line, ‘Oh still small voice of calm’.
I listen a lot to music… Melodic stuff, it tends to be more positive in them. I see ‘Rap’ as brilliant poetry, but it does tend to dwell on the negatives in society at the mo.
So… Do you have favourite music/singers etc? Youtube, on a mobile phone, and in-ear headphones. No one else can hear it as well as you can, and it transports you to another world…
If you are hearing challenged, An art gallery, or taking photo’s of your own, again, a mobile phone can have a pretty good camera on it. As you are on here, I presume that you have internet… It is often possible to download stuff to do later, for when you have no internet signal.
In a park or recreation area, trees make sound in the wind. Different trees make different noises… A writer calls that ‘Tree-music’.
In the library, we can get ‘talking books’. Alongside printed books. As a child I was transported to faroff places by Richmal Crompton, Enid Blyton, Captain W.E. Johns, amongst others. We didn’t have even colour TV then…
Maybe have a go at Writing? Your own stories, Your own characters… You choose the journey… Go with friends…
On the Open University website they have a section called ‘Open learn’. It is free to join, and there are lot’s of mini courses you can do in your own time, on anything that interests you. No commitment, but you can earn ‘digital’ certificate you print out yourself. If I remember rightly, you can chat with tutors on line too. If you feel academic, go for a qualification with a student loan, they can arrange all that for you. And there are some fascinating subjects available.
Where does this relate to OCD? Well, I guess it can be said that us OCD’ers have a lot of thinking time on our hands…
Any favourite pastime can help to alleviate that at least a bit… Give us that metaphorical ‘Rest between heartbeats.’
Let’s have a go at that then… Maybe? I will try if you will…
As I write, I’m reminded of AEsops fable about the battle between the sun and the rain, trying to get someone to take their coat off. I Had an LP, music by Ed Welch, and narration by the late Arthur Lowe. It is a beautiful story.
Rainbows are beautiful to look at, but we have to have rain first. The not so good times seem to be there to accentuate the good times, however few they are…
October and November are especially difficult for me, not helped by the darkening evenings. My first nervous Breakdown occurred in an October some years ago. Likewise, Christmas day… I always have a tree of some sort, with a few brightly coloured lights on, just to please the senses, anything to brighten the day a bit.
I intend to watch on youtube ‘Andre Rieu in Sydney’, cos the words will be in English for me to understand. I will have in-ear headphones on, so that I can immerse myself in the performance. O still small voice of calm… Oh still small voice of calm… It works in any philosophy or faith or culture, cos it’s a human thing. As much a part of us as breathing itself.
Right now, I choose not to get angry… I’ve been waiting for urgent email enquiries to be resolved. But with a lot of business sites, it seems that they are ready to take payment for things, but actually fulfilling their end of the deal, Well…
And some of this stuff has literally taken years, many years. I don’t mind waiting… But sometime this year would be nice!
Tonight I will be cooking the evening meal for myself and my caree. Will I get it right? Well I do more often than not. The cooker is still a bit of a mystery to me, but I slow a lot of stuff down… Do it at ‘My pace’. To be fair, as long as the result is edible, Who cares?!
A nice biscuit… A slice of bread with nice butter/spread on it. Even Marmite, if you happen to like the stuff!
A small glass of favourite wine/juice, a favourite sweet or desert or cake. Just one… A little bit of calm…
Next week, We’ll be looking at the subject of ‘Sleep’, and hopefully getting sufficient… Now that’s a real biggee that one, I have a notorius sleep condition, but more about that next week.
So, Let’s be careful out there, grab a bit of calm whenever we can, and I’ll be back with you next Friday 24 November at about the same time.
Wannabe