I just came back from a quick run to the pharmacy and noticed that the lilacs are almost in full bloom. I love the colors and fragrance of these springtime beauties. Deep purple to white and just about every shade in between. I love them all. One spring day a few years ago I picked a nice bouquet of them from the neighbor's bushes (with their consent). I put them a vase and placed them in my bedroom. By the time I went back later in the evening to read, my room was filled with the heady bouquet which relaxed me to sleep that night. Spring is here!
I've been waiting for the opportunity to get a really good case of Spring Fever. I have no alarm clocks to answer to in the morning, no routine or demands except for what I set for myself, and all kinds of time to slip outside and either read in the sunshine or take a short hike to the back side of the wooded lot behind my building and read, there surrounded by my favorite tree,.or should I say trees...six smaller trunks literally exploding from one root source, growing in a semi-circle which makes the perfect seat to let nature embrace me and drown out the din of cars, trucks, dogs, neighborhood kids and life. It's a temporary escape, but so worth the effort.
For six years or more I have enjoyed a relatively enjoyable online experience, starting out with Yahoo 360. I opened a Facebook account about a year later but until my cousins in the southwest came online, it was just something I came around to every now and then. Yahoo eliminated its social forum but by then I was more and more involved with FB so the transition was effortless. Little did I know then that I had been a part of an online experience that would gradually evolve into a super personal social network that not only allowed me to keep in touch with family and friends from Yahoo 360 but offered me an online forum which brought even more opportunities to meet people from my own country and on around the world.
The thrilling part for me is making contact with people who had once been in my life but moved away. Recently a dear online friend who went in another direction when Y360 folded found my comment on the page of a mutual friend and sent me a message. What a beautiful FB reunion, one of many. I also look forward to finding new friends, and this has been my pleasure through the applications/games that have challenged me these past few years. Yes, unless I have plans outside my apartment, my computer is on most of the day while I carry on with my housekeeping, laundry, and meals, but I'm not on seated at my PC the whole time!
While this may seem like a lot of online time, I don't feel that it's something that's out of control in my life. My early mornings and early evenings are often spent journaling my dreams, and later evenings are spent reading. Rarely do I spend more than a half hour at any one activity, as I am easily distracted and once I get up to get more coffee/tea or other necessary activities, I can usually find something else to do before finally remembering what it was that I got up to do in the first place.
However, (yep, here it comes), I have given myself permission to go where the wind blows me, whether it's indoors or out. I've never made a secret of my age and I've finally reached the age where that honest admission often comes with a "Senior Citizens Discount" at restaurants or check-out counters. I allow myself those "Senior Moments" even when they come two or three in the same hour and I reserve the right to change my mind on a moment's notice. I can dote on my grandsons or spend three days in my apartment without going out because I enjoy my own company and also look forward to opportunities to spend time with the people I love.
I never had a career, something I've often regretted; but, I've had quite a few jobs both working for others and as my own boss and I've learned a lot about life, love and lies. I take people for who they are to me, not because of the likes or dislikes of other people. I learned the lessons of life the hard way holding on to hurtful friends while overlooking the honest souls because someone else had a problem with them. Fortunately I was given second chances to correct my errors in judgement, and I learned that because we're all human, we're all here to learn our life lessons and the only way to do that is to take a chance, live life and not be afraid of making mistakes
Where am I going with this? Nowhere! Absolutely nowhere! Isn't that great. Unlike professional writers who have to have a beginning, ending and in-between, bloggers can share their thoughts, express opinions, give their viewpoints or ramble to their heart's content. Blogging is therapeutic and challenging. For me, when I first came to blogging, I was surprised to find that there were people in the world who agreed with me, even more surprised that they enjoyed reading what I wrote. I learned to take constructive criticism and came to enjoy the times when a great debate among friends developed.
Lastly, Knowing where you live, being able to find where you live doesn't assure you of a place to live. That is something you must earn by hard work and sacrifice. See, I told you I wasn't going anywhere...I'm still here!
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