Happy Spring-Cleaning....

Today is Thursday, 11 August 2016 and the start of go through each room and clear out what we have not used in  12 months :-) 

Starting with easy room for me--the bathroom.  It is now complete.  Feels great to throw out old meds or bath stuff I can't remember when last used!

Happy clearing!

A self-compassionate person is....

A self-compassionate person recognises the problem,

addresses it if possible,

deals with it emotionally,

and moves on

without making a dramatic production out of it.

Unknown Author

Photos I Took In Cuba....

And this is link to the rest of the photos I took in Cuba! En-Joy!

Doing Something Differently (plus a lesson learned from a broken finger)

It's Friday, July 9, 2016...and since my post about "deviate from routine".....well, Life has/is giving me ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  At least one planned and one un-planned....

All Good! say I.

Traveling gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  And my planned trip last month to Cuba (June 5 to June 18) was no exception.  The cultural program through City College of San Francisco was great.  And I highly recommend it.  Greg Landau the program instructor was fabulous.  He is a wealth of Cuban and Latin American history.  Plus his personal stories from traveling to Cuba since he was 6 as well as playing and producing music are interesting to hear.  The music I heard, the dancing I saw, the people I met along the way.  All memorable and wonderful!  And it was a joy to take a break from cooking.  From eating what I eat at home.  From making the bed.  From cleaning.  To have others serve me.  To have others offer to help me.  It also mixes the brain up....to hear a different language being spoken around me.  To see different things.  See my other post for the essay I turned in for my assignment.

Breaking a bone gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  And I did that by accident - because no one I have heard of, intentionally breaks a bone :-)  On the evening of June 9 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, the toe of my shoe caught the lip of a driveway.  In an instant, I went from talking with a travel colleague to face-down on the sidewalk.  No slo-mo on this fall.  When I fell forward, my forehead landed on the left open-palmed hand which in turn landed on the concrete sidewalk.  At the moment, I believed I sprained my ring and little finger.  An x-ray a few hours later showed what I had hoped was not  - a fractured ring finger bone --the break was just above the knuckle.  Grateful then and now that my fingers took the fall instead of my forehead and my teeth.  Regardless, having my fingers and hand in a cast gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  Asking for help with carrying something.  Or cutting up food.  Or preparing something to eat.  Or opening a jar.  Definitely got me out of my routine of wearing pants, leggings, or underwear (all too difficult when having to use the bathroom).  I know....TMPI.  Meanwhile, dressing in dresses, especially ones that have no zippers, has been different for me.  And I have to admit....FUN. 

And I have come away from these "deviations from routine" (trip to Cuba and broken bone) with doing or being or thinking differently.  And for me that is a great thing.

Update.......
I saw the Kaiser orthopedic physician assistant on Tuesday, July 12.  The bone is healing beautifully per the x-ray.  Thank you bone and body for the amazing job you do!  They removed the cast.

Time to free the ring and pinkie fingers.  These 2 have been constant companions in stillness and immobility, in a cast of one form or another for 32 days.

What I learned from these two after the cast was removed.....If You Don't Use It, You'll Lose It!  So these two have inspired me to keep my body and brain moving.  These two came out of stillness and immobility....stiff, puffy, swollen, afraid to move, not wanting to move, hurting when they did move.  And the thumb, index, and middle fingers are encouraging them to follow the physical therapist instructions.  Telling them they can regain their mobility and flexibility.  And my experience knows this "for sure"!

Stay tuned for my photos from Cuba.  And a left hand with five flexible, mobile fingers.

Meanwhile...I hear the physical therapist's voice in my head....going through the instructions.  Thank goodness, I have done one of the 3 to 5 times for today.

My Cuba Essay 27 June 2016

As part of the 2016 Cuba program, the participants' assignment was to write a 5-page essay or equivalent about my experience or some aspect of my Cuban experience that made an impact on me.

Aquí está....

Disfruta...

Celebrate....A Deviation From Routine....

Take a moment.....

Oh phooey, take a whole day!

And celebrate!

Really bask

In all that is

Blessed,

Good,

Joyous

About your life!

And then tell someone.

Anyone.

Everyone.

What you are

Celebrating!

Spread celebration!

Nina Chong

17 April 2009

It's Saturday, June 4, 2016 and if I learned anything from these past 60 days of celebration....it is that every day, every moment is cause to celebrate (or "to mark (as an anniversary) by festivities or other deviation from routine").  I particularly like the "deviation from routine" part.  Deviating from routine, even the smallest deviation, requires mindfulness.

En-joy your celebrations!

Day 44 of my 60 days of celebration (Saturday, May 14) - Cuba on the brain....

Went to the first of two orientations for my trip to Cuba with City College of San Francisco's (CCSF) Study Abroad Program.

The program is Latin American and Latino/a Cross-Border Social Movements.  The focus is the Cuban Revolution and how it brought on profound changes in Cuban society and impacted much of Latin America.  The program will explore the changes in Cuban culture after the Revolution and the new institutions that emerged.

LOL LOL....as I typed above, I was taken back to middle school....I did not do well in world or american history or geography in middle school :-)  Anywho, I have come a long way since then.  I am no longer interested in making an "A".  Instead interested in the experience.  Thus will be taking the program Pass/No Pass.

Met CCSF's instructor (Greg Landau) on our program.  He has been going to Cuba since he was 5 years old.  His father was a film maker and Greg went there often as a child and now as an adult.  Excited to be going with someone who has connections with the people, music, and culture of Cuba.  And personal experiences.  He'll be taking us off the tourist path and for that I am grateful.

I love traveling off the tourist path as I enjoy seeing how people in another place live day-to-day.  Helps keep my perspective open.

Thus I am grateful to have the time and finances to go on this "planned deviation from routine" next month.

Thank You!