Siggy’s Blurbs

It is so hard to retrace your steps.  I can’t tell you the year but I do precisely remember visiting some relatives.  They were both artists.  And for the first time someone did not tell me what to do, what to believe.  I felt accepted and listened to for the first time.

When you are a child, whatever your particular reality, it is yours.  My parents were dysfunctional (and I know every family is) but I was used to being told how I should be.  All the time.  To them, there was only one way to do something–their way.

My visit was a turning point.  There was another way.  I was not even aware of it.  Later, I only felt free walking Greenwich Village.  Then later still– the journey took years– I felt free every where but I still remember that first time.  It was a turning point.  There was another way to be.  It became okay to be me and different.

Tags: another way to be, artists, being told how to be, child, dysfunctional parents, felt accepted, felt free, felt listened to, Greenwich Village, okay to be different, okay to be me, relatives, retrace your steps, tell me what to do, turning point, your reality is yours
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People are housed in different prisons.  Sometimes it is their circumstances or attitudes that can imprison them.  Let’s just talk about the first.

I have a friend who can not easily leave the house.  His wife needs around the clock care and she gets very anxious when he is not not there.

How many people think nothing of stepping out of their house and getting a burger, maybe, at the nearby McDonald’s and shopping at their local supermarket?

It is a simple freedom yet there are those that are home bound that can not partake of them so easily for different reasons.

His wife would do any thing in the whole world if she could do something as simple as give someone a hug.  And people, sometimes, complain about washing dishes.  She can’t do either:  she is paralyzed.

Sometimes you really do not know what you’ve got until you lose it.  And if you can get that simple freedom back you suddenly appreciate it more.  And sometimes you can’t go back.  It is lost forever and all you can do is mourn its loss.

Tags: anxiety, appreciate, around the clock care, don't know what you've got until you lose it, give a hug, home-bound, lost forever, McDonald's, mourn its loss, our attitudes, our circumstances as prisons, paralyzed, simple freedoms, supermarket, wash dishes, we live in different prisons, you can't go back
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I still like watching my plants.  Of course, right now it is in the middle of winter so I am only looking at my indoor plants although sometimes the primrose under the tree bloom.  They like the cold.

Each day I go around my house and give all of them a quick glance.  My snake plant which is very slow growing I love.  It is over two feet high and I am admiring its tall leaves which are fringed yellow.  It is our latest acquisition.

My office has several plants over the book case facing the window:  several different type of cactus and succulents.

A week ago I noticed new growth out of the jade plant there.  It was a small discovery but it gave me joy.  Each day I look at it and see if I could note the change in size.  It seems to be growing very quickly.

To me it is all a mystery.  Why some grow or not or even die.  And I like the unknown and mysteries.  I do my best to place the plant in the right light and remember to properly water it when it needs it but still it is all a mystery to me.

The plants are like my little kids.  You never know exactly how they are going to turn out.  You just do your best tending and taking care of them.  And then rest and accept the results.  And do what you can, when you can.  And rest again.

Tags: accept the results, bookcase, cactus, do what you can when you can, growing quickly, I like the unknown, indoor plants, it is all a mystery, jade plant, middle of winter, my house plants, my office, never know how plant will turn out, new growth, place plant in right light, plants are like my little kids, primrose, rest and accept, snake plant, succulents, tall leaves, tending and taking care of plants, watching plants, water plant properly
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I try not to take anything for granted, even the shower I take.  For fifteen years the house I lived in had no shower.  I still remember that back then the big thing about staying in a motel was it would have a shower.

It is so easy to take your most basic freedoms for granted until you are in a situation when you lose them.  It happen in jails (which I never was in) or in hospitals.

I still remember although it was almost forty years ago I needed permission for almost everything.  To make a telephone call, to take a shower to take a walk, almost everything.

So I cherish my simple freedoms a little more although there are times I forget this.  Everything is by grace.  I keep coming back to this.  Everything is by grace.

Tags: basic freedoms, cherish simple freedoms, don't take anything for granted, everything-is-by-grace, forty years ago, hospital, jail, motel, need permission to make a telephone call, take a walk, taking a shower
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