Weekend Coffee Share, Looking on the Brightside

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Allison at Eclectic Ali. I had a nice morning sitting outside with the dog with my coffee, then a little exercise to follow.  I am reflecting on my health today, my personal improvement progress, and my writing journey.  Grab your favorite beverage of choice and pull up a chair!

You can see Bixby loves the fresh air and hearing the breeze and trees!

In book news, Malachi, Ruse Master, my latest book, got a 5 star review and seal from Reader’s Favorite. It is a sort of cross-genre, and while it certainly fits the Young Adult genre, it would be well-love by readers of any age from teen and up.  See reviews details at my earlier blog post:  https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/2020/05/07/malachi-ruse-master-earns-a-readers-favorite-5-star-review/

 

Limiting words and thoughts: Hmmm, like pain, stress, anxiety, tired. I am not a sufferer, but rather, victorious and resilient. I know I can do this even when I falter. I am still working on it, a work in progress , we could say.

On the topic of health, mental and physical, I have finished the Prednisone medication for my shoulder (rotator cuff impingement) and received an x-ray order. I will go in the next two weeks. At the start of this week, I was feeling so weary and pained, and the medication he gave me along with a higher dose NSAID made me feel loopy. Afternoon naps were necessary on Monday and Tuesday.   It was slightly better at the end of the weekm though.  I am still working on the mind/body connection when it comes to chronic pain and just finished reading a book on the subject.  It really involves looking inward at your stresses, pressures, or past negative emotions. It is called The Mind Body Prescription by Sarno.  I am sure to read more books on the subject.  It encouraged me to make a list on the things that bother me. I now have another book on the subject but can’t recall the title. I will share as I start reading.

All is well with my family, and I am still teaching online.  There are just short of three weeks left now.  A lot of students sent me kind messages in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, and I loved it.  I miss seeing them.  The computer is not the same, but we will all grow this this, and I hope they know I am still there.  

I do hope you all will enjoy Mother’s Day tomorrow!  Mom, my son, and I are planning on having a seafood meal and perhaps a walk in the park, not too close to any crowds.  Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

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Weekend Coffee Share: Paint me Strong and Free.

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Allison at Eclectic Ali.

This week, I have seen the past two years of writing and story building come to fruition. I hit publish on the Malachi, Ruse Master paperback last night, and the e-book has been put on pre-order this past week.  This book is an extension of Malachi, and intriguing character from Detours in Time, Book 2, and follows him through his story and his intersection with Milt from the Detours in Time series. Through 4/22, you can get the Malachi, Ruse Master Kindle e-book for just .99 on pre-order here:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086VYJYZX

Today,  I am tired and my arm hurts. I’m surviving, since living in my head suits me fine, and I can’t imagine adjusting well to a regular schedule again. I’m enjoying online teaching and the interaction with the kids who do show up, and I try to find ways to streamline my work.  Today is arm day; it will be long and drawn out at my own pace.

I’m publishing a book but can barely find the focus to write and read these days. I think I’ll just record my thoughts. What do you think? It’s about a girl who escapes painful, difficult situations by flying around the room.

“Come back down here now!”

“No.”

The best, safest state of mind is a mix between reality and imagination. Take what you like of reality and paint it in the colors you would wish to see, like a starry night sky, like me swimming through the cosmos. Take what you don’t like, and paint yourself conquering it.  I wanted to create this scene with play-doh, but it will take a month to arrive from Amazon.  Hmmm, maybe I’ll still do it. 🙂

I have lost nothing in this pandemic but the old routine, and I have gained more time to look inside myself and examine my old habits and coping mechanisms, something that could help me to change for the better.  Or, it could all help me decide to change my surroundings.  This time has led me to embrace myself, thorns and all.  May you all gain something out of this time confined to your homes.  I extend my warmest thoughts to those who are experiencing loss.  I’d also love to hear if you all have ideas coming forward for you with all of your extra time.  I don’t feel I can put them into action yet, but tomorrow could be different!

Our mayor opened the beaches here in North Florida yesterday evening, and I see the crowds of people on the news. I envy them, yet I cringe. I could never forgive myself if I brought home this virus to my 78-year-old mother.  So, I am staying put.  Maybe I’ll walk the dog later.

Have a peaceful week!

Weekend Coffee Share, Processing as I Go

 

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Allison at Eclecti Ali.

My online course is winding down!  Work keeps me busy as ever, but I missed a day and a half this last week due to sinus/allergy problems or a cold.  I needed the rest, but it seems many of my students missed me, which makes me feel good!

My son is becoming an adult, working steadily and learning new things, and I have no one to take care of but…myself.  Last night, he said, “I sometimes wish I was on my own, but you all (his grandma and I) keep me out of trouble.”  What a wonderful acknowledgment!  So I am taking care of myself now, per the request of my brain and body.  I’m going to pilates this morning and having a massage this afternoon.  It takes a village to keep my mind/body straight and work out my knots.  I am willing to accept help and have sought it. I also have a friend meeting me at pilates, so there may be a coffee chat for us afterward as well, since I only had half of a half-caff (can you do the Math? 🙂

I finally finished editing and processing my physical therapy journey and what I’ve learned and still am learning on pain’s connection to the brain.  You can read it here:    Pain, Growth, and Making a Truce with My Brain  Let me know if you are not able to read it all.  It is a different blogging site for me, as I am branching out.  However, hardly anyone knows me there.

I am also considering a new post in a series I used to do called “My Exercise Evolution.” I may be able to get a post out this coming week.  Then, within two weeks, I will be a novelist again, editing and proofing the Malachi manuscript!  Woohoo!  it is like a mother who misses her grown child.  At least I see the light at the end of the tunnel…

I hope the weather is nice where you are; I know I have enjoyed having dog snuggles the last few nights, as it was in the thirties last night.  *shivers*

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you have a great weekend!

My Exercise Evolution. What it does for me, Intro…Stream of Consciousness.Pt 1

I’ve run the gamut with exercises.  Aerobics, to kickboxing, to weights, to Zumba, to yoga.  I’m planning to start a regular blog series, weekly or bi-weekly, time will tell, that is focused on the benefits I get from exercise. So, yes, my exercise of choice keeps evolving.  I’ll start here with Zumba.  One day I had a discussion with my students about releasing aggression.  At that time, Zumba was my go to.  That discussion spawned this stream of consciousness that occurred during Zumba class. * They say exercise is good for the brain….

Yoga has, at times been a great outlet for me.  It is more like hypnotizing.  Nothing else matters but the moment, so I leave it all behind.  I still use this one at times.  But what works so well for me in releasing aggression, besides the calming medicine for my overactive colon,  is a mixture of two things.  And I guess I could share this with my students but I didn’t.  Because I get pretty tired of all the sugar-coating.

Right now, the first method of releasing my aggression is my obsession with “Breaking Bad.”  It is a go-to since I can even do this if I’m sick.  I get to watch a meek, down-on-his-luck fellow totally buck the system, come up against some really bad villains, and succeed.  Man, this show is violent.  I myself am even surprised I got hooked, but you know, it makes you care about the characters.  It’s not just the violence, there also are some excellent story-telling elements like flashback and foreshadowing.  Similarly, I have, for a long time, been totally hooked on “Fringe”, which is also pretty violent and ominous.  But I can put myself in the place of their unstoppable female heroine, Olivia, who,yes, always wins, even escaping captivity after countless times.  These are great ways of escape for me.  Life can’t be all about work and cooking dinner, you know?

Then there is Zumba.  Last year I had told some students that I do Zumba and their eyes got wide.  They probably know about the snake (which I don’t do unless I want to laugh at myself).  Well, I stay away for a while and then go back and it’s like returning to a lost lover.  It is so good for me.  Not to mention I love to dance and this is my only dance right now.  So there’s the expression element.  But it’s not just dance.  It’s Zumba.  You move your hips and do some fancy footwork and, oh, so many chances to wave your hands!  Just to make sure you move your hips, they always play at least one or two songs by Pitbull, that hottie from Cuba with the goatee.  His voice is unmistakable.  Deep.  Raw.  What a perfect example of channeling aggression.  And that fits so well with Zumba.  He has been touted as a misogynist.  That’s beside the fact.  They play him for the aggression in his voice.

It is okay to shake it and you are really Zumba-ing the more you shake your hips (which is a side-effect of the Pitbull songs for me).  I think it is ALL about channeling aggression, expressing it, and not being ashamed.  Oh, Lordie, I grew up with lots of shame so this is SO freeing to me.  His lyrics are also pretty aggressive.  In fact, on the radio, it sounds like they are bleeping a few words out of every one of his songs I have ever heard.  But, ah.  That voice.  Yep.  Zumba works for me.  Anyone who ever made me feel inadequate doesn’t see me letting loose my inhibitions, dancing out my demons and feeling like an island princess.  I can close my eyes and make believe I’m Rihanna.  I have the right class, with women of mixed ages and backgrounds all there for the same reason.   My son was embarrassed at first about me going to Zumba, since he goes to the same gym and works the weights while I am in class.  He seems more supportive, though, maybe because he likes the Latino girls.  Whatever.  Doesn’t bother me…….I am no longer too old, too shy, too judgmental, or too inadequate to dance.    Nor am I overly concerned with my mothering or teaching techniques when I am in there listening to Pitbull and getting the Spanish lyrics wrong (one song sounds like “Happy Drunk.”  To me anyway.)  And that releases all manner of tension, aggression, and inhibition.

That is the goal, after all.  Release the aggression.  Don’t just swallow it and don’t deny it.  We are human.  We are of this earth.  Imperfect.  That is what made us survive as long as we have.  I love to listen to the jungle rhythms in Zumba and imagine myself there.  Yes, I am of this earth.  I have something that works for me.  I wasn’t sure if the kids asked me the other day what my answer would be, but it all came to me in Zumba class. 🙂

*The gym where I had regularly attended Zumba class has since shut down, and I have moved on to a new exercise of choice.  Such will be the subject of my next Exercise Evolution blog post!