Category: Meandering Musings

Self-Love: The Most Important Gift that We Give to Ourselves

In my last post, I talked about gifts that we give can share with others, the things that make us unique. Today I’m talking about something that many of us have difficulty with: self-love.

There is a saying that you cannot love another person without loving yourself first. But I am capable of loving others, I know that. I have wonderful loving relationships with relatives and friends. And I genuinely feel a deep love for my boyfriend.

When it comes to loving myself, that is another story. Right now, I am constantly criticizing myself for what I consider my faults: indecisiveness, procrastination, making choices and later regretting them, and battling bouts of severe depression and anxiety which prevent me from doing so many things.

My thinking patterns have been chaotic of late and trying to move ahead with this blog has been rough. I have fears of rejection and fears of success created by issues of low self-esteem from childhood that I am still working through. As a result, I have been writing posts but not sharing them. Well, more like not finishing them because I get distracted so often.

I have had things happen in the last year that has set me back further than I ever expected. I thought by now I would be making progress but I feel like a turtle in a world of rapidly moving digitally-oriented people who thrive on the constant changes of the age.

I grew up in an age prior to the World Wide Web, though I have been using Macs as a graphic designer since the early days of Apple and Photoshop. Back then, when I made a change in Photoshop, I would have to wait a while for it to finish processing on the screen. I could go get a coffee and when I came back, the spinning ball of death had stopped.  Or at least I hoped. Boredom drove me crazy back them.

Now everything is instantaneous. There is no time for boredom. It’s nice but it reminds me of how fast time goes by and how much I still have to do.

Our lives are to teach us how to love. We create stories and judgments in our heads of how we think life should be and that does not serve us at all.

I am doing my best to let go of my self-criticisms and it is an ongoing process.

We can be so hard on ourselves, yet we can be more accepting when we see the same behaviors in others.

I have to comfort my little inner child many times a day that everything is alright. I often put my hands on my heart and tell that little one inside who is scared and frightened that she is safe and loved.

If you are going through a rough patch now and dealing with issues of self-love, you are not alone.

Place your hands over your heart and feel it beating. Breathe deeply and picture a golden light within your heart. Continue breathing deeply and feel the light expand outward. Feel its warmth.

That feeling is the love that is you.

Always,
Alice Always

Our Gifts Are Meant To Be Shared

We all have gifts that set us apart from others. Sometimes a gift is obvious, like someone who can fly through the air and slam-dunk a basketball. A certain Chicago Bulls player whose jersey was number 23 comes to mind.

Some people are masters of taking food ingredients and preparing meals that make our taste buds happy.

Some people are compassionate healers, nurturing others back to health.

Some people are great listeners who can help us through situations and find solutions we never thought of.

Some people are dexterous with their hands and able to take materials to make furniture and buildings.

Some people uplift others by playing musical instruments or singing.

Some people excel at cleaning, organizing, assembling, spelling or solving complex mathematical equations.

Some people think of preposterous ideas that change how we think.

Some people invent new technology to make everyone’s life easier.

Some people play characters that we can identify with.

Some people create art that speaks to our soul.

Some people are wonderful at making others feel better with just a smile.

We all have at least one special talent that is unique to us.

No one gift is more important than another because when all gifts are shared, they create a wonderful world.

Because each of us is a different shape and size than the next person, so too our gifts come in different shapes and sizes.

So many of us go through our work days in drudgery just to pay the bills.

Some of us don’t appreciate what we have or use our gifts at all. Some of us don’t even realize that we have them by never taking the time to try something new.

Imagine wrapping a present and never giving it to anyone. That’s what it is like to not appreciate your gift. It stays in the box, unopened.

When I was a kid, we called our unique talents God-given gifts. They are gifts of the spirit and our souls want us to use them.

What if we all shared our gift with at least one other person each day? It would make us happier and that in turn could create a happier world.

Think of it this way:

Our gifts are the presents we get to share.

Always,
Alice Always

I’m On My Way, I Don’t Know Where I’m Going

I wake up and it’s a new month: May! What happened to April? It raced by like a road runner! Where is that adorable cartoon coyote when you need him? I had so much to do last month but I slept through most of it. This blog was originally planned last year for March 20, the Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring. You know, that’s a good time to start something new. Everything is so pretty with all the pastel Easter egg colors. Also, marshmallow Peeps are available in a store near you. Now, if you happen to be reading this in Australia, things are a bit different from here in the good ol’ USA. You know, because you have koala bears and kangaroos and we do not. Not to mention it’s Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.

But I digress. Get use to that phrase as digressing is to me what digesting is to a finished meal – it’s part of an endless cycle or as I like to say, a loop da loop, or with my lousy French accent: loop ze loop. (You may need to imagine an old Pink Panther movie with Inspector Clouseau, if you get my drift.) But I digress. Yet again! I have to tell you. I take digressing to a whole new level! If speaking was a spectator sport, I would win the Olympic Gold Medal of Digression. I could even teach a college course on it. Yes, I digress that much.

I also have a tendency to use words in ways that other people do and sometimes in ways that no one does. In another world, I played the role of a nonconformist English major. I rebelled against the Establishment and used “me and…” instead of “… and I” on a term paper. In my defense, I insisted that if Paul Simon could say “Me and Julio down by the schoolyard”, then I could too. Well, my English professor was not convinced and gave me an extremely low grade. I wonder if e.e. cummings got an F- for not using capital letters.

They have such silly rules in the English language, I don’t know how a non-native English speaker trying to learn the language could possibly master it. I mean, the language itself is constantly evolving. When I was a kid, yeah, back when “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” was a song played in rotation on radio stations across America, people wore thongs, not flip-flops, on their feet. Now, people wear flip-flops on their feet and thongs as underwears. Yep, I said underwears with a ‘s’ at the end. Get used to it. I like to play with words.

Maybe I should get around to telling you why I’m writing a blog. Well, I have this outrageous idea that through using our imagination, we can create a peaceful and loving world. I intend to explore various topics such as creativity and reality in a playful manner that expresses my personality. Hopefully, I’ll make some sense or a great deal of nonsense. I want to inspire people and show them how to use their imagination to transform themselves and in doing so, help to transform the world into a joyful place.

As Alice, I bring the sense wonder that is Wonderland to this reality. I may ask you to participate on projects or make up your own. Together we can make a difference while having a lot of fun.

Always,
Alice Always