I think, therefore I exercise

One of the blogs I follow, The Seekers Dungeon, posted this exercise (I’ve taken some editing liberties):

Simply sit still with your spine as straight as possible.  Close your eyes and slowly count backwards from 10 to 1 while following your breath.  After you reach 1, continue to watch your breath.  You will notice thoughts coming and going but try not to be bothered by them, just keep coming back to the breath. If you are like 99% of the population,  after sometime you will have forgotten that you are meditating at all as you become lost in thought on some specific matter.  tell us about the thought that you got lost in.  What is the story behind it?  The person behind it?  The emotion behind it.

After you are finished writing, don’t hit publish right away.  Take your post as a continuation of your meditation and breathe through it.  Is every word correct?  Are you clear in what you are trying to say? When you feel that you’ve completely fleshed out your ideas then hit publish, sit back, and relax.  Good job!

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Inspiration Engine 14 – Art Journaling & Writing

This is a weekly post I do about blogs or posts that have inspired me in some way this week!

1. I have been thinking a lot begun thinking about hosting an Art Journaling event on wordpress. It wouldn’t begin until after the Renaissance Faire ends in June, so I’m using this time to prepare for that. There is one blogger in particular who helped me when thinking about this: The Frugal blogger. She has a number of different techniques and materials, along with corresponding videos.  It helps to see someone else’s process of creating art.

Question for you readers: Would you be interested in creating some art journal pages with me?  I have begun thinking about hosting a monthly art journaling event on Creo Somnium, partly to help me achieve my 36/36 goal, and also to get inspired by the imagination of others!

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Don’t be scurred

When I do something scary or stressful, as was asked by today’s Daily Prompt, I like to do it alone.   I love my family and friends, of course, and I like knowing that they’re supporting me, but beyond that, I’d prefer to be alone.

In a tense or stressful moment, I am building up as much strength inside me as I can and I don’t want to be distracted by other people. Like, if I’m upset, I want to be alone to cry ugly without worrying about bring judged (which I would and do – it’s called cry ugly for a reason.)

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Dining tips… From a cat?

One of my dear friends, Lindsey, is a farmer and a sustainability director for a large dining company. The energy and love she infuses with cooking is remarkable, and it’s in her name that I talk about this project tonight.

Historically, I’ve had a pretty casual relationship with food. I liked it, it liked me. When I got in my 30s, my thyroid started processing food differently, and though I still like it, I needed to like it in a way that was still good for me. Now my metabolism is jacked and I don’t want to make it harder.  The thing is, it’s hard as hell to find a good “diet” for hypothyroidism – has anybody found anything?

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No Hollaback Girl Here- 11 Tips for Fighting Street Harassers

Like many women, I get shit on the street. I get harassed and leered at, and it makes me uncomfortable.  It’s quite disempowering, because I don’t want that attention, but there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. I hate it. Sometimes it happens among my clients at work, a homeless day program where I have a little more leverage and can tell people to knock it off. On the street, I have to be a little more…. careful.

I was going to write an open letter to street oglers, things that I wish I could say to them. But there’s nothing I could say that they would hear. There are only things I can do right in that minute.  Things that would not be aggressive or even perceived as aggressive. (‘Cause that can lead to threats.)

So I took to Google, hoping I would find some suggestions, and curated some favorites from here and here.  I would love your opinions on them.

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Pay it Forward – Liebster Award

Hello friends!  It is with joy that I’m writing you today to inform that my newest blogging BFF has nominated me for the Liebster Award, an unofficial recognition offered among the blogging community

It is believed that the Liebster Award began 2010 in Germany, hence the German name.  “Liebster” is a German word for things like favorite, sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. It was originally, according to some sources, for newer blogs with less than 3.000 followers, but has somehow morphed into those with less than 200 followers. It is meant to create new connections and an environment of a appreciation for the experience and skill of other writers around us.

And here at Creo Somnium, we love creation. 🙂

The rules of the Liebster Award are as follows:

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Inspiration Engine 13 – Flash Fiction and Art

This is a weekly post I do to highlight blogs or bloggers who have inspired me in some way during this week – another car on my imagination train!

1. The first entry on this week’s Inspiration Engine is from this post from The Smallest Forest showed some postcards and organic art that they created for a friends/wordpress postcard swap, and it really got me into a place to work on my art journal.

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Squeezing My Arms Around… Flash Fiction

This is my first attempt – ever – at writing flash fiction.

“Oh, shut up! You wouldn’t know a fucking thing about how to beat these guys, pretty boy.” Lorali snarled to the boy on the stairs – I still didn’t know his name.  He looked at his friends and laughed. “I don’t owe you shit, boy,” she continued, “and I’m never gonna finish squeezin’ my arms around the truth.”

I was struck by the last expression as I remembered where I’d heard it before.

I moved closer to Lorali and whispered to her, the first time I’d dared get so close. “He’s the one that did that to you.” She looked at me in surprise and didn’t have time to cover the pain in her eyes. Suddenly her cruel features were made soft.

How did I do?