So long, 2021, and thanks for all the strength!

Hello, Reader.  It's been a while, hasn't it?  To be precise, it’s been thirteen months and seventeen days since my last post. It’s been quite an interesting time of things, to be sure. I’ve been really struggling to get my creative voice back, but it’s not been easy.

As 2021 wraps up, I can’t help but think how long this year seems to have been. This isn’t the first attempt at writing this post, but I want to just address a few things.

Separation: We're not the only ones who experience the pain of that chasm!

Separation.  This word came to me loud and clear Saturday evening during Holy Communion.  Last week was rough.  My dog was attacked by another dog and I’ve been a wreck trying to process it all.  My dog is okay, thankfully, he’s got a puncture wound in the back of his neck just above his shoulders, but my friend and I took him to the vet Saturday morning who cleaned out that wound and put him on some strong antibiotics and pain meds.  He’s currently dozing next to me on his bed as I write this.  My reaction to this whole situation wasn’t the kindest, and I’ve felt absolutely terrible about it, so I knew that I needed to go to Confession before I was able to be comfortable with receiving Holy Communion.  So, when our Lord was being administered to those of us in attendance, I quietly shook my head as one of the Eucharistic Ministers walked by where I was sitting, letting this person know I’m not receiving our Beloved Lord.  I needed to talk to Him first to apologize to Him for my actions.  As I was sitting there in my seat, I was crying and apologizing to my Jesus for how disgusting my response was to my dog’s attack and how I’d allowed my rage to take over rather than hand it to Him.

Lockdown thoughts and babblings... and gratitude for the blessing of friendship!

Show of hands, who's having a hard time with this lockdown?

COME ON, DON'T BE SHY, WE'RE ALL COOL HERE. Anyone? I know I am. My main issue is the place I WANT to be, I CANNOT be. I haven't left my flat in ... what's it been now... three days. I normally try to go for walks every day. Just once a day sometimes more. To clear my head. I decided no, I'm staying home and doing some actual work on my writing, and .. well... I will say THIS much for this lockdown: it's done WONDERS for my writing! It's really improved! ^_^ So, silver lining, yes?

So... tonight. Oh, tonight. BLEH. Took a brain break from writing. Had a panic attack. Stupid mental hellhounds, man., barking up a storm in my head! I'm okay now, though, I promise. Cabin fever and I don't get on well, I can tell you with ALL sincerity! Grateful for the amazing friends I have solid connections with for keeping me company throughout the day yesterday (uhh... what day was that? Oh, yeah. Saturday. LOL!) and for the conversations with people tonight that I'm only peripherally connected with, but grateful to have had the company in PM with them as a more than welcome distraction!

Triduum Thoughts 9 April 2020 - Holy Thursday Night.

Sitting during Mass this evening, I was listening to the Readings, and then Deacon Tim's homily and got to thinking about a lot.  Sometimes my thoughts come at me like drinking from a fire hydrant.  Other times, it's barely trickle of anything out of a frozen tap.

Tonight, I want to share with you something that came to me, and I would love your honest opinion.  It's my hope that this draws you ever-nearer to our Sweet, Beloved Lord and what He has done for us.

...and breathe...?

Good morning, Reader! Happy Thursday.

...Can you tell the coffee kicked in… 

And there’s another reason for my good mood: I don’t remember how much I’ve written about this in the past, but over a year ago, I started on an adventure. I decided to sign up – at the encouragement of a few close friends – for a Creative Writing Specialization online. I had no idea where it would take me, and I certainly didn’t think it would take this long to get this far. But, as the saying goes, ‘If you wanna make God laugh, tell Him your plans!’

Lent: It's NOT About Us!

How is your Lent going, Reader? I hope things are going well, and you’re drawing ever-nearer to our Beloved Lord!

Something that I wanted to address is how we approach Lent. I know that two posts ago, I mentioned some ideas of what to do as penances this year to do, some suggestions. Here’s the thing, I wanted to reach out and discuss a little something about Lent a bit further than I did last week: HOW are you approaching Lent? I don’t just mean, ‘are you praying more?’ or ‘are you fasting more?’ I certainly hope these things are happening, of course, but… No. I want to take some time to share a little something with you that I just learnt about: 2 Samuel 7.1-7:

After the king had taken up residence in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from his enemies on every side, the king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘Here I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent!’ Nathan answered the king, ‘What ever is in your heart, go and do, for the Lord is with you.’ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ‘Go and tell David My servant, Thus says the Lord: Is it you who would build Me a house to dwell in? I have never dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up from Egypt to this day, but I have been going about in a tent or a tabernacle. As long as I have wandered about among the Israelites, did I ever say a word to any of the judges whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’

Christmas 2019: All of the Because.

Firstly, I want to say Happy Christmas, everyone. :) I hope that things have been well for you all, that time with loved ones was joyful and fun! You know… It’s been years since I’ve celebrated Christmas on purpose. ...

Nemo dat quod non habet.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been taking apart the Readings for the First and Second Sundays and Wednesdays of Advent and sharing my thoughts with you on here. Today, Reader, I am going to take a small break and address something...

We must pray for our priests.

I'm weird.  I love being Catholic.  I love the fact that my Jesus wants so desperately to be with me, He went to all the lengths necessary to do so.  I love that He also gave a way for me to be with Him, too, this side of Heaven.  I'm grateful He gave the sacrament of Confession so that we could connect each Mass.  A friend said that 'Sin isn't dirt on one's soul, and people need to stop seeing it as such.  Sin is a WOUND.'  My friend is one of the wisest people I know and I really look up to this person quite a bit.  It's why I enjoy talking with and spending time with them so much.  I learn a lot each time.  I continue to learn things and I'm given a listening ear when I'm trying to process something I don't understand quite fully or something that I don't like but need to because it's necessary for my salvation.

The Pros and Cons of Technology

Recently, my nephew (he’s in his mid-20s) and I were out adventuring around town (we ended up at Walmart, which seems always the ‘it’ place for my friends and me to end up when we’re bored haha), and on our way back, we were listening to music and we were talking about technology.

Self-improvement - what I'd like to work on...

Now,  I don't want this to come across as one of those 'self-help-y' posts, but ... I mean, let's be honest here.  I have two idea banks, and I couldn't decide on something to write about.  What's a writer to do?  Well, I grabbed a decent-sized handful of ideas I'd written on popsicle sticks and closed my eyes, shuffled them about and... this one was the one I grabbed.  So, here we are.

Bear with me.

Life isn't about having what we want, but appreciating what we already have!

I saw something earlier in my e-mail that prompted me to write this article.

The subject? It was about appreciating what we have. That gave me pause and I thought, 'Hm. I do that. I wonder how many others do, too?'

Comfort - not just something physical!

Hey, so I want to talk about comfort.  It comes in so many different forms, as we're all aware, and as a species, doesn't matter if it's animal, human, or even plant, comfort is a thing we all yearn for.

My dog, she's most comfortable wherever I am that she can touch me.  If we're sitting on the couch watching a movie, she's right next to me, right at my hip, usually under her blanket (she's a Dachshund, and Dachshunds are known burrow-dogs).  My cats, they're fairly comfortable wherever they decide to be.  Sometimes on my lap, sometimes on the back of the couch, my bed, wherever they feel like being that they know is within their permissible boundaries to be.

Personally, I'm comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt, barefoot, running around in the sunshine.  If it's cold, I'm happiest indoors, of course.  If I HAVE to go out, then I want a silly hat and usually, I can get by with a hoodie.

But, I didn't decide to write this about physical comfort.  No.  I want to talk about comfort that goes deeper than the surface.

Random actual update. :)

Happy New Year, y'all!  I hope you had as great a time welcoming the new year as much as I did.  Welcome, 2019!  You were anticipated!

Good-bye, 2018. You won't be missed. Not entirely.

I'm going to share something incredibly real and raw with you all.  I don't think being vulnerable is necessarily a BAD thing, but it is not something that I'M entirely comfortable with, so bear with me.

As 2018 comes to a close, I have done a LOT of reflection on how things went.  The ebb and flow of life, as a whole.

Recommitting to my art, to myself.

I love books. I love the texture of paper in my hands, I love the sound of opening a brand new hardcover and hearing that satisfying crack of the spine, like it’s waking up and saying, ‘Oh, hello there!’ I love words, I love that we can take 26 letters and arrange them in such a way they make words, and words can be strung together to make a sentence.

It's preview time. :)

To make it up to you about the sad state of things at present - my constant absentee-ism... - I'm going to share something with you that if I don't do it NOW, I'll NEVER do it, so here we are.

I ask for three things:
1 - you do not judge too harshly.  This is my first-ever attempt at writing in this genre.  This is also a RAW copy.  As in, it is not edited yet, and this is just right off the cuff.  Well, I had started hand-writing it, but I want to share it, so I had to type it out.
2 - DO NOT pirate this.  I will find you, and it will not bode well for you!
3 - If you share it, understand that this is INTELLECTUAL COPYRIGHT TO ME, as it is MY brainchild.

Ya gotta have goals, kid!

Recently, my friend, Rebeka, mentioned to me that she’s wanting to make a plan for her writing, plotting her novel and making things easier to write.

Well, Rebeka, and of course anyone else reading this, I really can’t help much in that department, but I can help with something else on that front: Making sure you have a way to make a goal for yourself to at least write something.

Being a rainbow when everything's black and white.

Recently, I had someone come to me and ask for advice on how to survive. Specifically, how to come ‘out’ to the family about their sexual orientation. This person has expressed concern about having been previously treated as a pariah, sending this person – not compassionately – to counseling as a way to ‘purge’ this information from this person.

This… is a delicate matter. There are a lot of people who don’t agree with this lifestyle, and there are a lot who do. It’s been a constant source of contention for many, many years, probably centuries. But, sticking with the modern era, and with some of the crusty old political types trying to force us back into the 1950s, well, I can see the concern as being quite valid.

Love hurts when it ends. But, why?

Love. There are varying definitions of that word, but I want to talk about romantic love, and specifically, why does it hurt so much when a relationship ends?

My niece asked me to try to answer this question. I told her I would do my best. I won’t go into the specifics behind her reason, but I will say that there’s not been one person I know who HASN’T gone through the blistering heartache of a breakup. We all have, regardless of how amicable (and in some cases, toxic) it was.

Alright, so here we go.