Body Heal Thy Self mode…

It’s a quiet Sunday morning, here.

Currently, I’m laying low and allowing my system some serious down time, if that makes any sense. I realize that I said body heal thy self, but it’s a bit more than that. While my mode wishes it to be so, I’ve placed myself in the hands of a rather competent physician, opting for a compromise in the “do it myself” department.

Careful selection of medications paired with a radical change in diet should hopefully allow my body to do some internal repair and restoration. I’d like to say that I was an iron clad warrior through our little sojourn in the wilderness, but it wasn’t exactly like that. Sadly, no muscle bound wild woman roared out of the darkness, but rather, a very exhausted, sick, and humble grandmother of six literally limped into this apartment. Can you believe it’s been two months already? Well, something like that… I’ve honestly lost track of time.

One of the medications I’m currently on is used for repairing the lining of my stomach. It must be taken four times a day for at least a month, possibly longer. The struggle has been to take the prescribed four doses without eating for several hours on either side of each dose. Add to that, my diet now restricts lactose, gluten, and…………… caffeine! Nooooooooooooooooooooo!

Yes!

It’s actually not so bad, now that I’m used to decaf with non-dairy creamer mixed with oat milk. So far, so good, right?!

This last rough patch simply took more out of me than I wanted to admit. My mom had several strokes, a heart attack, due to both a history of high cholesterol and high blood pressure. She was also a diabetic. The woman oozed bad health for the entirety of her life, eventually passing from Dementia. This last set of bloodwork really made me pay attention to this history. I did a bunch of reading on the relationship between cholesterol and blood pressure, and I don’t want to follow my mother’s health journey. I’ve got a new grandbaby due in November, you guys. I need to be on deck!

So, until things start going in the right direction, health wise, I focus on nothing more than sleep, medication, reading, working on my final read through of a manuscript, and eating like a bird. Honestly, I don’t even mind eating sparsely right now, what with all that medication in my stomach. Not much of anything sounds good, aside from oatmeal and bananas.

The good side of this seclusion is that my imagination is on fire!

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying myself with adventures on the high seas, along with wrapping up this first novel. It’s time to begin the second volume. What better way to prep for it than to read the first story again, so it’s fresh in my mind.

Just because I’m turning lemons into lemonade Wiwohka style, it doesn’t mean that I’d recommend such a radical shift in lifestyle to anyone. This has been my modes operandum for a lifetime… feast or famine… highs and lows… joy and grief! Nothing in life worth having comes without cost, nor can we always have what we want without the cost taking it’s toll. I wanted to smoke cigarettes’ as a kid and it took me 40 years to quit! I wanted children and lost five babies in the attempt to bear the three beautiful girls I’ve got! I wanted my freedom from my first husband and it cost me the relationships I had with all three of my children! So many lessons in life have taught me how entwined the good is with the bad. No matter how hard we try, we cannot seem to have one without the other.

Maybe that’s the whole balance thing…

Maybe…

How I’m feeling this morning can be summed up in the video below. The song is called Maybe It’s Ok, by We Are Messengers:

I shall be quite transparent for this next bit…

Currently, this child’s body is somewhat broken inside both medically and emotionally. Never fear though, as my spirit is stronger than ever… well, it’s His spirit that brings this girl so much strength. I did say that I was going to be very honest about things.

Our time in the wilderness, so to speak, has taken a bit more out of me than I’d first thought. What I’d assumed was just my IBS trying to readjust to things, has become something else. Now, it’s possibly just my ability to handle my health on my own any longer, which is where the emotional turmoil is coming from. I went down this route before and it didn’t end well… hence, the last 4 years of self-care. It hasn’t helped that nobody seems that concerned about my survival aside from God and my husband.

That is until this new doctor!

Not only did she surprise me with prayer during our first visit, but I think she actually listened to the words I spoke… I mean really heard me! And, she took the time to follow all of my test results, adjusting and selecting my meds and treatment. The downside to this new kind of medical care is that I can’t get away with anything. This means taking medications that are no longer an option… they are required! The first is a medication for my Cholesterol, which is off the charts, and has been for years. It doesn’t even matter if I eat like a bird… oh yeah, I already do! No change! The other is for my blood pressure, as it has gone off the reservation and it won’t come back down. That too has been something I was withholding from the doctor… that is, until recently.

In the last month my health has been systematically shutting down, in areas that I really kind of need. Well, I’ll need em if I’m to bring these stories to the little ones they’re meant for, ya know?! Little ones aside, I’m not done baking cookies… not in the slightest!

I’ve been writing on this blog steadily for nearly three years of this journey through the wilderness, and I’m not about to get to the gates of the Cities of Men, just to drop dead of exhaustion… and I don’t believe it’s God’s plan for me, either! I still believe that God led me to WordPress so that I could find you… each and every one of you!

Why?

Honestly, the answer will be different for each of you, as we’ve all grown closer together in different ways, and for different reasons. I know some of you better than others, but care for each and every soul that enters this lobby! I love you with the love of my God, my Savior, and the Holy Spirit that dwells in this vessel. Why else do you think I share so much with you, try to make you laugh, seek to make you think, and challenge you to eat my cookies? It’s love…

I know that most of my subscribers are adults, though I often write of adventures requiring you to find your inner child… so why do I do it?

Why don’t I write deep and passionate poetry?

Why not great theological teachings that might impress?

Why on earth do I always make you leave reality and push the boundaries of truth and/or fiction?

What’s in those cookies I feed you guys, anyways?

Some of you may think that I’m just a Jesus Freak that’s trying to shove God flavored cookies down your throats… well, ok, you got me there!

Some of you may think that I’m an oversharer lookin for sympathy andl/or attention. In truth… if that’s all you’ve seen then you should start reading between all those lines, friends. There’s so much more there…

Face it guys and gals, WordPress has become my family! With that being said and understood clearly, here, right now, it’s time we all start acting like it! I’ve been asking myself, of late, why I haven’t wanted to write for my family? Honestly, sometimes it feels like if I don’t give you something juicy and exciting (usually my journey junk)… I get nothin!

Now, before you start thinking that this is going to be another one of those articles complaining about a lack of likes, shares, and follows… stop it!

You come to this table as a family member… not a subscriber or follower, savvy?!

As a family, we are having a discussion about family dynamics, if that’s alright with everyone at the table. Do family members take the time to call or write each other, or do they just mail each other a gold star? As I’m just as guilty as you are, in this respect, let’s start making some healthy changes, here in the lobby. If you are busy, or not in the mood, don’t feel pressured to visit or leave me that gold star. It’s not like I get any money for it… it simply lets me know that you stopped by. If you do stop in and read, possibly grabbing a cookie, try leaving me a message, as well. Here’s the crazy part… your comment doesn’t have to have ANYTHING to do with what I wrote. Instead, try things like, “Hey, how are you?” or “I saw something the other day that made me think of you”. One of you actually wrote this to me, not too long ago… thank you, love.

There is nothing in the WordPress bylaws that states we cannot simply use the comment button to simply communicate with each other… you know, like friends and family should. Notice how I said should? Sadly, I realize that there are families that don’t do this… but honestly, it’s so very important! How else do you give love to those nearest your heart?

So, in the spirit of positivity, I am going to begin sending you messages in your comment box that may or may not have anything to do with what you wrote… ok?

No, I’m not going to try passing phone numbers or hookin up, if you get my meaning, here! I think that so often, we simply want to know that we’ve been seen, that someone noticed our passing.

If we all began seeking to give love to another, rather than seeking to receive for ourselves, wouldn’t we all become filled with needed love simply by proxy? Kind of like a happy accident or positive side effect?

Well, it can’t hurt to try, right?!

Take your pick…

Daily writing prompt
If humans had taglines, what would yours be?

When I first saw this mornings prompt I thought it was going to be a walk in the park. However, once I sat down to answer the question it became clear that it wasn’t going to be such a simple task.

You see, I don’t really know what I would give as my tagline. At first, I was going to come up with a snappy add-on to Wiwohka, but it became apparent that what I came up with wasn’t a tagline, at all! All I was getting accomplished was to give myself a rhyming last name… not what I think that the prompt was asking us. So, I did a quick check on Google for a clear definition of what a tagline actually looks like.

After looking at the examples of some taglines, I again tried to select an appropriate phrase that captures what others might think of when they hear the name Wiwohka. I’ve now sat in this chair for over an hour, going back and forth on several different ideas. Who’d of thought a WordPress prompt would cause such an uproar?

I tell stories, I bake virtual cookies, I overshare my personal business far too often, and I’m quick to talk about Jesus or the bible or God’s forgiveness or love or grace or mercy. According to the definition of tagline, the answer to the prompt shouldn’t be more than two or three words… huh? That’s entirely unfair, I think. Are they really asking me, the oversharing, novel length explanation giver, to choose only two or three words to describe myself… sheesh!

Ok, fine! Let’s give this a try…

I’m going to settle on something simple like, oh, I don’t know,

Journey With Me

Don’t forget your cookie..

Beginning, Again…

Reaching land after being at sea for such a long time can be like standing upon the sand, as the sea pulls the waters back into the depths. It feels like you’re moving while standing still, as the sand moves beneath your feet. I stand upon the shore of a new land (sort of), having nowhere to go, but forward into the unknown. It feels both exciting and confusing, as you’ve no idea what’s beyond your vision, or where the path will lead.

We’ve spent the last five years living in the same small space, climbing over one another, and putting one foot in front of the other… adrift in uncharted waters!

We’d forgotten how to live without constant and immense pressure, pushing at us from all directions; often forcing us to move fast, while leaving everything behind! When you live for so long with little on hand, you become accustomed to letting things go, and/or making due. I am a bit shocked at how much that was lost along the way to this particular shore. For goodness sake, I haven’t had a vacuum cleaner for five years, let alone a working oven, or a working toilet (that was only in the last year and a half). I guess, my point here would be that I feel a bit lost and out of sorts, when it comes to living like a normal person.

I will be taking another week off from writing, in order to focus on rest and recovery from a very costly time at sea. The physical toll it has taken on us this time has been costly, so rest and recovery are the priority, at the moment. Spring quarter will begin for my husband in less than 2 weeks, so he’s going to be getting his first taste of college without the pressure of homelessness and loss hanging over his head all the time, thank goodness! He’s nearly there, with only spring and summer left on this degree. It’s incredible how well he has done in the midst of such turmoil, and I’m so very proud of his commitment to finish… and finish well!

Me? I have another book to write, but first, it’s time to put the first one out there…

It’s time, wouldn’t you agree? If God deems it time, then I’ve no doubt that it will be done. I shall enter this new part of the journey with the grace, faith and confidence given my by my Creator, going wherever I’m called to go. I’ve always loved a good adventure, how about you?!

F.Y.I. , these new shores are quite beautiful from where I’m standing!

Let’s explore together…

Sometimes…

Daily writing prompt
Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?

Sometimes…

Sometimes, it’s the way he looks at me and smiles.

Then there are times where he doesn’t even have to smile or anything… I can see it in his eyes.

Sometimes, it’s the way he laughs at the silly things I say.

But there are still those moments when things aren’t so funny… he won’t laugh or say anything at all, really. He just rests his shoulder against mine to let me know that he’s there.

Sometimes, it’s the little things he does… like bringing me that first cup of coffee in the morning, or surprising me with my favorite candy bar. It’s not even about receiving a gift, it’s about the planning or forethought, if you will. It makes me feel so loved that he was thinking about me, even when I wasn’t with him. You know, sometimes I’ll wake up from the sensation of him tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear… he’d been lying there watching me, as I slept. Isn’t that so adorable!

I could go on and on about all the sometimes that I have felt loved… and these examples are about my husband. I haven’t even gotten to God, yet! If I could share with you all the times that I have felt God’s love, it would fill a book… oh yeah, I already did that!

Let’s just leave it at this:

With enough examples gathered together, one might say that I always feel loved! But, since it was very hard to pick just one time to tell you about, I opted for a handful of my sometimes.

Don’t forget your cookie…

Lemme Think…

Daily writing prompt
Describe a family member.

What a question to consider, so early on in the morning…

Seriously, I’m only halfway through my second cup of coffee. Normally, my prompt answers are accompanied by no less than a three cup caffeine buzz!

Not so, this morning!

The question jarred me from my blissfulness, as I realized that I was faced with a painful prompt question that I’d refused to answer when it came up last year, this time.

How does she know the question wasn’t answered last year, you ask yourselves? Because, the first thing I tried to do, in order to avoid this prompt, was to copy last years answer. When I found it, the only response given was that I didn’t want to share anything. Great! Now what?

In the response I’d given back then, aside from refusing to answer the question, I made mention about needing to heal more, before trying to tackle a personal and very painful question. While I can see from my reaction to the prompt this morning that I’m still not ready to reply to this particular question… I recognize that I AM healing, though maybe not as fast as I’d hoped.

The adage, time heals all wounds, is rather ambiguous about the actual length of TIME involved in the process of healing. Every soul is different, every hurt processed from a different angle, and at varying speeds.

In some regards, I am far stronger and happier than I was just a year ago… but the pain is still there, and the reality of the loss is still felt within the depths of my soul.

With that being said, as I mentioned a moment ago, I AM healing! The fact that I’m able to hold myself to this keyboard and write a response to the prompt, bears the truth of my journey, thus far.

As of yet, I’m still not ready to write a heartfelt answer for this prompt. But, what I have been able to do is share a song from Lady and The Tramp,

See, I can do this!

Here, have a cookie…

Don’t Confuse Me…

Daily writing prompt
Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?

This is rather confusing to my brain, first being told that it IS a lazy day… and then asking if one feels restful OR unproductive?

I wanna ask Google…

According to Oxford, the definition of lazy is “unwilling to work or use energy.” The example given was, “he was too lazy to cook”, so there’s that!

I suspect that if we go with the ACTUAL definition here, won’t we feel both rested AND unproductive? And, shouldn’t that be what we are aiming for?

Just askin…

Anyway, if you read my regular post this morning, you would already know that my brain is visiting a Nothing Box, today. I borrowed my husband’s box, since he doesn’t use it while he’s busy studying.

And yes, you could call today a LAZY day, so I have every intention of feeling both rested… AND unproductive!

Here, grab a cookie before you go. You didn’t think I would forget that? Not even on a lazy day…