Category: Grateful

Exercising

I read this week that exercising helps prevent dementia and generally helps keep us happier. My question is:  does exercising as slow as I go help?

It seems I’ve reached the magic age (might as well think of it as magic) when everything I do is slower.  I used to exercise at a good pace. Now I am more methodical. (Notice I didn’t say plod.)

I used to be limber. I could do splits and sit-ups. Now, to do a sit-up I have to hook my feet under a table. Forget those modern crunches. And forget the splits.

This is to segue into the fact that I learned this week that my paternal grandfather loved to dance. He lived to be ninety-nine. Maybe I can dance and be ninety-nine, also. Photo from Unsplash

Grateful in the New Year

This is a late in the year post to say I’ve been writing. I am diligently editing the next Nightingale novel.

But, since I’ve been lax in my posts this will serve as my New Year gratefulness blog. In this new year I am grateful for many things, and I just found out that gratitude is good for your health. What happens when you are grateful is a shift in your hormone pathways. Think about that—a practice of gratitude can reduce inflammation that leads to heart, joint, and other diseases. I can’t imagine a better way to begin each day and the new year.

Photo from Unsplash



Sense of Wonder

The most popular books and movies of all time all have one thing in common: They transport audiences better than other books and movies in their genre…..  David Farland in his advice to writer’s column.

The sense of wonder is an amazing thing. I was reminded of this when I went through some books that my grandson was giving away in an effort to clear off his book shelves. Many of the books were about magic and new worlds.

The point I’m making is that really enjoyable books transport the reader to another place. That is done by appealing to one’s emotions. A reader is pulled deep into a book or movie and the reader feels the increased heartbeat, the rush of adrenaline, the hurry through the words to find out what happens to the characters. But, wait, these are not ordinary characters. These people are friends and family—we know them, we care about them.

That’s what I’ve been trying to create in the last scenes of the next Nightingale book. That’s also the reason why I have so many readers when I write about food.

People who read about Southern cooking remember their own meals and family and special moments.

Right now, I’m hungry for cream of wheat (or oatmeal) with brown sugar or maple syrup. That was often the breakfast before going out to get on a cold school bus. The house was cold because the fireplace couldn’t warm up quickly. But with my belly full of warm food and surrounded by love, I could conquer the world—at least for a few minutes.

Photo from Unsplash by Patrick Fore

 

Friends and Family

This getting wiser as one gets older is a bit of a challenge.  Don’t get me wrong:  wiser is good.  But I find myself sometimes thinking of the past with all the hurt that goes with growing up.  I still wish I had hugged my grandparents more.  I really wish I had told my children I loved them more often. I’ve mentioned this to cousins and they may or may not have missed the hugs and affection.

There is more to it, of course.  Families are full of agonies and angst.  Families are about love and hate and all those gritty, unmentionable emotions like lust and greed.  Families are perfect for a writer to explore and write about.  As a matter of fact, most works of fiction have a family somewhere in their pages.  No matter what genre of fiction you choose, families are there.

So, getting wiser took far too long for me.  I wish I’d listened to my grandparents:)

Smart people

 

“Here are three traits I would report from a long trail of meeting and interviewing people who by any reckoning are very intelligent.  

  • They all know it.  
  • Virtually none of them (need to) say it.  
  • They know what they don’t know.  This to me is the most consistent marker of real intelligence.  The more acute someone’s ability to perceive and assess, the more likely that person is to recognize his or her limits.   . . . generally the cliche is true: the clearest mark of intelligence, even ‘genius,’ is awareness of one’s limits and ignorance.”

    — James Mackenzie Fallows, American writer and journalist; from his article, “How Actual Smart People Talk About Themselves,”The Atlantic, January 6, 2018

 

 

 

Meditation

 

I listened to a meditation blog today about prioritizing and how to choose to do the things that are important. The man talking said that one way to prioritize is to ask yourself ‘what would I do if this was my last day on earth’. That is a gloomy thought to me, but it has to be 1) faced, and /or 2) thought about, and/or 3) ignored. If I wrote as much as really great writers, I’d probably decide I needed to finish some great sentence or paragraph, but I think most folks would agree that they would get in touch with their children or siblings or parents if this was their last day. They would focus on someone they love, surely. And they would express their love.

Hibernation

A good friend who teaches yoga told me that December was a good time to slow down and get extra sleep. I like the idea, but I also think this is a good time to stay inside and write. Of course it’s better if the weather is cold and snowy.  This is the time of year to walk the floor thinking of that next scene and what will happen to the protagonist. (In case you didn’t know, I do a lot of walking when I’m figuring out what will happen next.) One also has to think about sequels, but Raymond Chandler said it best.

When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.