The Story Behind My Name

Daily writing prompt
Where did your name come from?
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My mom named me after the woman who sponsored my family to come to the US in the late 1950s. This woman was married to a man who owned an oil company. They had four boys, the youngest one was about the same age as my brother who was three years old at the time. They needed live in help to manage the boys and their mansion.

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Traditionally, my mom would have named me after herself. My brother is named after our father. However, my mother felt that if she named me after her, her “bad luck” would follow me. She went through a lot in Cuba, and she viewed her trials as bad luck. She did not want me connected to her past.

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As it happens, I was born in the US about 10 years later. My mother felt that there was more opportunity for me being an American citizen by birth. (I am using a pseudonym for this blog and do not wish at this time to reveal my real name.) However, the meaning of my name is noble woman. This was hard to live up to especially during my childhood and adolescent years. Now as I am all grown up, it is a little easier. At least I aim to be noble on purpose.

Assess and Renew

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The back-to-school season is quickly approaching us in many regions of the United States. This brings a brand-new start for some students and a continuation for others. I am told by a friend that this is the month of Elul, the last month of the Jewish year. It is a time for reflection of one’s spiritual growth. It is in preparation for the Jewish new year, Rosh HaShannah. I am drawn to the shared elements of this season.

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What I like about this season of back to school that coincides with Elul is the opportunity to see how far we have grown throughout the year. For me this is the perfect time to reflect on my goals and celebrate growth. I can also modify what is not working and look forward to new experiences. I am inspired that Rosh Hashanah is in September, the same month when the school year begins.

Summer for some is a season for relaxation and vacation. For others, it is a season to learn new skills and hone the old ones. This summer I did a bit of both. My work schedule is more flexible this time of year. I visited friends and family, read a few books, explored new places and restaurants, and took short trips. Now as I prepare for the fall, and the back-to-school season, my focus is renewed, and I am looking forward to learning new things.

What types of renewal do you participate in? Leave a comment below.

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Reading for Pleasure

Daily writing prompt
Describe one habit that brings you joy.
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One habit that I enjoy daily is reading for pleasure. During the course of the day, I read quite a bit. For school, there is obligatory reading which I mostly enjoy. Then during my study breaks, I read for fun.

This summer, I am participating in an adult reading list, sponsored by our local library. I remember as children we would get a summer reading list and I would be so excited. That joy has not dwindled at all.

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So far this summer, I have read a wide variety of books.

My reading list completed so far:

Alexander McCall Smith: The Second Worst Restaurant in France, and My Italian Bulldozer

Lauren Beukes: The Shining Girls

Charles M. Sheldon: In His Steps What Would Jesus Do? The Original Classic

Lisa Genova: Still Alice

Stephen King: Fairy Tale

Currently reading:

Cecilia Ahern: Roar

Jhumpa Lahiri: Interpreter of Maladies

On deck to read are:

Louise Penny: All the Devils Are Here

Jhumpa Lahiri: The Lowlands

Do you have any books you are currently reading? Have you read any on this list? Feel free to share in the comment section below.

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Detours

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We have perhaps come across the familiar scenario: we are heading to our destination, when a detour appears in life. “Hey, I was going that way, what gives?”

Detours are perfect for novels. Our main character goes about their routine when, wham! Something different takes place. The entire story is about them chasing an elusive goal.

We are of course happy when our protagonist is victorious. It can be hard to adjust our perspective in our personal lives when we face detours.

Photo by Ivan Bertolazzi on Pexels.com Neon lighting “Think about things differently” The word differently is upside down.

In Alexander McCall Smith’s book, “The Second Worst Restaurant in France,” the main character, Paul Stuart had his plans changed. His location and ambition both changed throughout the book. Of course, in fiction, this is enjoyable when it happens to someone else, and everything turns out for the better.

However, personally, things do not happen so neatly. My location has changed to a place I never saw myself living in. My ambitions have changed, and my career is morphing into something new and exciting. Was it a neat path? No. Did I know what was going to happen along the way? No. If you told me I would be where I am today, when I was in my early 20s, I would not have believed you. This is not the end. The path still bends.

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How do you handle life’s detours? Leave a comment below.

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A Daily Swim

Daily writing prompt
What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?
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Every morning, after meditation and gentle stretching, I head over to our local indoor pool. I enjoy my morning swim and seeing familiar faces. There are a few of us “regulars” who come every day about the same time. We share the same theory; it is best to do exercise first thing in the morning. It is a wonderful start to the day.

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Of course, there is a day out of the week where I shorten my swim and do weight bearing exercises and free weights. I enjoy mixing things up sometimes.

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And following a great workout is my most favorite meal of the day, breakfast! I currently enjoy making smoothies out of the fresh summer fruits and greens that I have on hand. This is a nice change to my menu during these hot summer days.

Transitions

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Transitions are everywhere. Embraced by cultures across the world. Traditions for celebrating changes. A new birth, adolescence, oncoming adulthood. Marriages, new families, a move to a new place. A new school, a new job or a new career. A retirement.

Every living being changes and grows. From tadpole, to froglet, from roe to fish. From kitten to cat, puppy to dog. Everything around us transitions. Seasons change. Music changes, fads and styles merge and reemerge. Friendships and relationships change. 

Seasons taking us through
Every point of life.
Appearing 
Scientific yet
Only 
Nonsense to 
Some.
Change
Happens
All around us.
Never ending,
Grabbing us and begging us to 
Explore

Such are the seasons of life.

Made by Adversity

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Recently I visited my local library and happened upon a couple of rock collections. But not just any rock collection, a mineral and geological specimens’ collection. These had been donated to the library in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

There was a lot of granite, there was rose quartz, and even malachite. As I gazed at the collection, I considered how rocks are formed over millions of years. Violent occasions such as volcanoes and earthquakes turn up these beauties.

Sometimes the outside of the rock does little to let us know what is inside. Amethyst is like this. I began to reflect on humanity. Are we not like these rocks in theory?

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For example, things that make us grow are not easy. Like working out. By challenging our muscles to do a little more each time, we get stronger. By going through that trial, we learn more. By facing our adversities, we become. We become who we are today.

How has adversity made you who you are today?

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No More Alarms

Daily writing prompt
What time do you go to bed and wake up currently?
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I have stopped using an alarm clock for about nine years now. In answering today’s daily prompt, I currently go to bed between 8pm and 9:30pm during the weekdays. The exception is Sunday night when I go to bed around 12am if I have not yet finished my homework. I wake up about 7 hours later unless I have to be up earlier.

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There was a time in my life when I woke up at 4:00am for work. At that time, I was going to bed around 10pm. Then there was the age of insomnia when I could not fall asleep at all. I was staying up until 1:00am, then waking up naturally at 4:00am.

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Over time, there were changes in my career and in my lifestyle. I noticed I began to fall into a rhythm where I would naturally wake up 7 to 8 hours after I went to sleep. It was like having an inner alarm clock. I noticed I was waking up before my alarm would ring. It was a horrid sound that I hated. This annoyance was so loud I would not sleep through it.

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It was the type of alarm that if you did not turn it off, your neighbors across the street would be upset. And to ensure myself that I would wake up; it was positioned so I would have to get out of bed to turn it off. Yes, it was that loud. And believe it or not, I actually slept through it a couple of times. However, now, without using the alarm, I wake up when I have finished sleeping. Usually, a good 7 to 8 hours later.

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However, the caveat is travel. That disrupts my sleep pattern. Then is when I use the alarm to calm anxieties.

The Value of Being Still

For several months now, I have been practicing being still. As soon as I am awake, I sit still and just listen. I listen to the birds singing. I listen to the quiet of the morning. I listen to the loud bursts of bustling. No matter what I hear, I lay still and just listen. It took a while for me to harness my racing thoughts.

We can easily get caught up in the daily whirlwind of life and obligations. What I have learned from this experience is tasks will wait for me to complete them. I have learned to enjoy my moment of stillness.

The video below brings some insight into meditation. I can relate to a lot of what Andy Puddicombe shares.

I have recently been studying cognition and attention and what I have been surprised to learn is that we are overstimulated rather than overwhelmed (Goldstein, 2019). Our surroundings are teeming with distractions. Many things vie for our attention.

As I recall my parents telling me about their lives in Cuba, lunch was three hours long. You ate a meal. Not a sandwich, a real dinner meal. You took a nap. Then you went back to school or work. I have learned that this is also the case in Spain and Greece (Hansen, 2021).

Listen to the silence.

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References:

Goldstein, B. E. (2019). Cognitive psychology. Cengage, https://ng.cengage.com/

Hansen, K. (March 30, 2021). Six countries with the longest lunch breaks in the world. Reader’s Digest,

TED. (January 11, 2013). All it takes is ten mindful minutes, Andy Puddicombe, [Video]. You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzR62JJCMBQ.

How do you disconnect from distractions?

The Culture of Legacy

We all want our lives to have impact. We want posterity to remember us fondly. We can leave behind a financial inheritance, the remnants of kindness, or the imprint of unconditional love.

I remember our sixth-grade class had a tradition to leave a “last will and testament” for the fifth graders soon to take our spot. This was a fun way to make your mark so to speak. We would leave behind a variety of items. Old lockers, books, a tough teacher, you name it.

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This was a gentle introduction to our mortality. Something very far from our young minds in the sixth grade back then. You may be familiar with the phrase, “life is but a mist.” It is so fragile and fleeting.

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My family has a saying, “los muertos no huelen las flores.” This means the dead do not smell the flowers. The sentiment is to tell people how much they mean to you while they are here and can appreciate it.