Autumn approaches

 

2013 SummergrassesI have been kind of losing my way in blogland over this summer. I am not sure exactly why……  Perhaps it is because I have been stopping, standing and watching things like the summer grasses and the summer skies. Perhaps the time taking to heal my ankle has made me lazy and introspective…….  Perhaps the loss of my googlereader link has cut me off from the world of bloggers.  I installed feedly, but frankly I cannot find my away around it properly. And I am missing my old routines.

There is another problem with sharing my thoughts and feelings on my blog. Much of the way I have been reacting to news and life in general has been negative. In other words I have been getting extremely cross and down-hearted. I cannot believe what has been happening in many people’s attitudes towards the poor and vulnerable in our society. And that is 0ften extended towards asylum-seekers and the disabled. Thus, there has been less good news, less humour and too much a sense of helplessness within me.

Today, as I sit here and write I question why we blog. Yes, I like to simply know about people and their lives, but I also like to be cheered up and I think it is important to share what it is like to be an elderperson at this time in the 21st Century. So maybe, just maybe I am writing myself back into being a more regular blogger. After all, a blog is a legacy. However there must be some changes. It is not comfortable to be out on a limb, but unless there is a degree of honesty there is little point.  I am not sure if my tendency to avoid confrontation comes from years of being a mother or years of being a Minister. But maybe I need to think where my fears originate. And maybe, that will give a purpose to this next stage of What’s the Story.

Join in if you have any ideas or comments.  I almost want to say but remember I am vulnerable, so that, if anything, gives a clue of my lazy, hazy, summer during the time when I am approaching 70. How can that be? – – – 70? Inside I am still the child, the teenager, the young woman, the rushing-around-always-busy woman and now I suppose I must be the getting-old woman.

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9 Responses to Autumn approaches

  1. LC says:

    Your post certainly resonates with me. I have been having toe problems since spring in spite of multiple visits to the podiatrist. And I, too, have been struggling about achieving a blogging balance between the challenges of daily life and the joys. Not that my negatives are anywhere near the magnitude of the struggles of so many young and old who are trying to simply stay stay alive and in one piece another day.

    A post has been rumbling around in my head and your thoughts encourage me to give thought to purpose and meaning in my blogging efforts..

  2. Sheila says:

    I haven’t been blogging much either nor have I been reading yours. Sorry for that. So I am secretly glad I didn’t miss much. Loved seeing baby Matthew, baby birds and your campervan and Misty driving. So don’t stop. Recently I came across a Mark Twain quote in an article for and about seniors…”Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” The gyst of the article was that no matter how old you are, or what your limitations are, you can still “Seize the Day.” I like that.

  3. ernestine says:

    Understand so much you share.
    I love to write
    and guess it is a way to keep in touch
    with 4 children and 5 grandchildren.
    Feel they no me better since we do not get to visit often.
    On aging
    oh yes it is a continual process
    but inside
    I feel much younger then the number 🙂

  4. Tamarika says:

    This post resonates with me too. I often wonder why I blog, and always feel so much younger within than I am externally, physically. Some days are so much better than others. Our vulnerability is what makes us human, and what better time to share it but NOW!
    Many smiles.

  5. Riverwatch says:

    It’s nice to meet somebody who is staring at 70 as I am. My last year in my 60’s!!
    FYI, I go out on a limb all the time. It is breezy, but honesty is where it is at.
    I want to follow your blog, so please don’t stop.
    Later, Riverwatch
    PS I am from Utah

  6. I hit 71 in May, and I underwent several medical procedures this year. It felt odd to keep repeating my birthdate and age over and over. Reaching 71 is no achievement in my family, or for most people in these days of high tech medicine. All this brings on the question of “what’s the point of it all.”

    Given my current effort to overcome hip-joint replacement surgery, it is difficult to refrain from tears at my sorry state. I know self pity gets me no where, and I am trying to focus on the positives in life. This is difficult some days as I watch my children reaching and passing age 50, and grandchildren living their lives in ways I might not have chosen for them. A very sobering experience this year for all for all of us.

    I try to stay focused on nature and the beautiful world around us, but not a day passes without some gloomy news from elephants slaughtered in Africa by no doubt starving ivory poachers, to relics stolen in Egypt by other desperate poor, to melting dog sled runs in the Arctic. Some good news comes from the ‘sustainable agriculture’ movement across the world and the enthusiasm of youngsters who still believe they can make the world a better place environmentally.

    My higher power has placed some very good people in my life during this difficult time, including a Benedictine monk who gave me a rosary made of rose petals by sisters at Lourdes. I have almost forgotten the words to some of the prayers. However, the words of the nineteenth century poet Walt Whitman who witnessed the awful Civil War here in the US come to mind, “Oh my brothers, God exists.”

  7. freda says:

    At long last I come back to the blog and load up the latest comments. Thanks to everyone for words of wisdom and encouragement. Perhaps I shall just stop worrying about being boring and simply have a go at writing the things of the day or week.

    blessings to everyone

  8. Liz Gibson says:

    As you know “Do not worry” is a bit of a mantra for me at the moment. But whatever worries you have please don’t include any that you might be boring! You can and do make a difference. I do hope you continue writing and I shall try to look more often, or better still find out how to follow and get you appearing in my inbox.

  9. freda says:

    Thanks, Liz, your encouragement is much valued. I have been told that the best way to continue with blogging is to write something – ie write anything – every day for 3 weeks. So I guess I shall try!

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