Hope for Hope and Where I could Find It

         I asked a question of a Zebra (rare conditions) group of which I'm a member: how do they manage to have hope for the future?

Some General, Gentle, Grounding of Grief

        I've a lot of friends and whanau who have lost much, this past while. So since it's on my mind, I'll share something with you.

        Take this as you will.

Boundaries for Those who Feel with No Bounds

Dear empath friend:

        Allow me to teach you something very important you must learn in order to survive. I had to learn it the hard way, and you probably have been learning it, too, but might not realize it.

From Memes, to Memories, to Meanings

        Sometimes I struggle as one who serves in the "inspirational" genre, especially on social media.  It can be hard to be a struggling empath with a quirky, sometimes sarcastic and/or dark sense of humor when trying to balance honesty, inspiration, light, and syrup: oh those memes, quotes, misquotes, plagiarism, and one of the worst: cliches!

Pseudo-Zen, and My Choice to Embrace What Is

I call it, "pseudo-Zen."

Chrysalises and Ashes in the River of Change

Recently, I found a quote that has had me thinking, and I wanted to share it with you. 

Will you value it?  I have no idea.  It might totally bore you.  But hey, at least it entertained me!

Weaknesses and Our Own, White Knights

It isn't until we've been shown our greatest weakness that we face it;

we see ourselves at our most vulnerable, and have to make a choice.

Lessons of a Lifetime in a Year

        As we find ourselves winding toward the end of another year, I have to take a moment to think about what that means, and for me in particular.  So if you'd like to come along, I'm happy to take you along with me.  Maybe something I end up saying will have something meaningful for you; if possible, perhaps for us both.

From the Pages of My Mind

        On the PB Community Facebook Page, we often discuss ways and means of finding the ability to get through and move forward after our more challenging situations we've had to face; since the most basic premise of the PB Project has been to allow people to feel they are not alone in their struggles, I have always felt it to only be fair that I share whatever I feel would help in that effort.  This week, I thought I'd share a little of my inner thought processes; this time, part of it comes not from posts I've shared elsewhere, but actually from working through things in my journal.  Perhaps it can help demonstrate some of what I've meant when discussing that topic.

A Relatively Short Moment of Truth

        I posted this earlier this week in a more personal spot on social media, and was encouraged to share it, here.  Inasmuch as this is actually something that really does resonate with me - lately, in particular - I figure I might as well, since that's why we're here.  So, here:

Over, Under, Around, and Through!

This is a post to break into, and break out of, the recent, slowed pace, here.

Might as well do that once in a while, I think; don't you?

So I guess we'll just do that, because it's about time.

Positive Spins and Nudgings of Change

        A couple of weeks ago I pinned an archived post to the top of the PB Facebook Community Page, again, and the experience I had while searching for it had me thinking of something which I ended up sharing along with the actual, shared link.  After typing out that whole thing, I realized it would just as well work for a blog post, but I was too tired to try to make that work right then, so I decided to just copy it, paste it into a new post on the blog, wiggle around with it, and ta da!  New post! Then last week happened, and I pushed it off again, and this week I'm just gonna do it!  With slight apologies to those who might remember much of it.  Here's how it went:

A Letter to a Grieving Friend

        I had another post ready for this week, but then my feeds became inundated with grieving friends and notifications of great amounts of loss in the world, and so things changed regarding my plans for this week, and you get this, instead.

Just a Little Moment of Your Lifetime!

        This is one of those times when I take an opportunity to take advantage of something I shared elsewhere, recently, and use it as the foundation for a post.  Because I feel like actually publishing one this week, and I think this topic is as good as any.  I hope you agree!

I Write... Because...

        This week, I'm going to write about... my writing.  I'd more or less been floating around a topic for this week's post, and came across something which resonated so purely with me, it dropped all the other thoughts I'd had, and had me riveted.  This post is unlikely to be as riveting as her message was to me, but it might at least touch someone, in some way, hopefully positive, and that is all it is meant to be.  My heart speaking to someone else's.  So, here we go.

It's Okay.

Okay, so maybe it all isn't really okay.  But that's okay, too.

Maybe just take some slow, deep breaths while you read this post,

and let it help you come back to center.

You might just found it was just what you needed.

You wouldn't be the only one, I promise.

The Power of the Human Phoenix

        I've been thinking about phoenixes, this past week.  I suppose that is appropriate, given the title of this project, but I've found a lot more references to butterflies than to phoenixes, in the areas of the internet I tend to go.  Go figure!  So my mind tends to wander along the thought of "transformation", rather than "rebirth", and while I'm not exactly sure why the idea of a phoenix feels more appropriate this week, I'm going to just roll with it and see what falls out of my head.  Feel free to join me!

Still Thinking, Therefore Still Being, I Suppose?

        We're going to be doing things a bit differently this week, my friends.  Whether we like it or not!

        Due to some circumstances out of my control, I was unable to solidify permission to use information for the post I'd been preparing, so I've been left to wander the archives, once again.  But this time, I found one on which I'd like to comment, as well, so here we go: a post about a post!

The Strength that is Weakness

        Been a bit since I was able to post, though I've been sharing some posts from the archives on the PB Facebook Community Page.  Been working on recovering from the consequences of a clash between a flu bug and a distracted immune system!  But hopefully I'm back, and since I've had some interesting observations, lately, and though they do come up from time to time, I thought I'd share some insights from my own perspective.

The Story of The Traveler's Hope

I'd like to tell you a story.

I hope you'd like to have me do that, for you.

If not, my apologies, but I'm going to tell you, anyway.