Tag: summer

September and a mindful Harvest moon 2018

Thanks to to my  handy dandy Supernatural 2018 calendar (Hello Dean Winchester), I know there will be a full moon on September 24. According to the spiritual people on the internet, this “Harvest Moon” will be mentally challenging as it opposes the Sun. There will be a lot of “out with the old and in with the new” happening in people’s lives. We say goodbye to summer and hello to fall.

Regardless if it’s hocus pocus, tom foolery to some people or a hard truth to others, for me personally, I’ve been working harder to raise my vibrations.  The negative thoughts, those pesky mental zombies that try to get me to worry about things beyond my control, have me meditating, praying or just sitting in silence and listening to my heart beat a lot more than normal. I have been busy writing, editing and submitting my work and I do love the idea that soon we will see the fruits of our labor.  I have two great short stories that I adore, The Price of Salvation and Diane’s Flower.  I hope to self publish them soon.  Is there some truth to the positions of the sun and moon in the sky above and how they affect us?  I’d like to think so.

So far in September, there are two things I’ve found very challenging to my peace of mind. While not earth shattering, these things have been quite bothersome.  The first being the film The Nun. The movie trailers were foreboding and scary. I love horror films and I could hardly wait to be frightened by this ominous character! The creepy nun character definitely scared me with her appearances in other films in the Conjuring universe. If you’ve seen any of them you know what I mean. Holy Moly!

The actual challenge? The movie didn’t scare me. It was just okay. Without revealing too much, in the first few minutes of the film we the viewers have a great idea of who/what the Nun is. The rest of the movie had some spine-chilling and hair-raising moments but overall, this movie would not give me silly nightmares. I even saw it alone in a theater at 11:00pm!

Why am I so disappointed that it didn’t scare me? Why is there even a need to be frightened? For me the idea of something supposedly, possibly challenging my mortality in a make believe world is thrilling, especially if it’s supernatural or paranormal. I attended a writing seminar taught by Tim Waggoner : http://www.timwaggoner.com about fear in books, television and film. One of the many points that I keep in mind that he mentioned is that some of the things that scare us the most are situations where no one, for example not even your parents, can save you from” the monster”. Watch at Jaws or Poltergeist, read Cujo or The Shining and see what mean. I love it!

The Nun is creepy, but in her stand alone movie she doesn’t challenge my mortality in a make believe world.

The second thing in September that challenges me mentally is that one of my favorite holidays, Halloween, is around the corner. What on God’s green earth will I dress up as? I have a charming/saucy pirate costume (I love love love pirates). I have a sexy/spicy witch costume and last year I dressed up as an enchanting Goth Vampire ala Anne Rice Interview with a Vampire style. People that know me joke that on Halloween I simply dress in my natural form. Well now it’s 2018. Do I dress a superhero? One year I dressed as a devil in a blue dress and one year I dressed as Michonne from the Walking Dead. Both costumes were clever but not everyone understood them. I could dress as the Nun, but I bet a dollar I’d have to explain who she is, which is no fun. One should never have to explain too much who they are on Halloween. I’ll just have to see what the Universe thinks I should dress up as.

This harvest moon is got me spinning my mental wheels. I’m giving thanks for my blessings and looking forward to what I will personally Harvest in the near future.

Dear friend, is there something that is challenging you mentally silly or serious in nature? Do you have any costume recommendations for me? Feel free to hit me up on social media.   

I hope all is well with you.

Irrational fears and April Fools April 2018

One day after a grueling shift at work, I dragged myself through my front door.  As I put my belongings down, there was a very loud buzzing sound. Low and behold there was a bee in my apartment! Finding an insect, bug or spider in a living space isn’t unusual; what puzzled me is that my roommates and I live on the top floor of a multi-level apartment building.  No one was home, and all the windows had been closed all day. This situation was unusual!

Terrified, I ran for cover. The beast was not going to get me. Not today, not ever! Waiting for my roommates to come home seemed like an eternity, even if it was only 20 minutes.  As I look back at an evening filled with shrieks, boisterous laughter and a roommate armed with a trusty dusty broom and fencing mask, I realize my fear of bees is mostly, but not entirely irrational.

 It comes from moments when I was much younger, when I wore floral lotion, scents that attracted many a stray bee to land on me. “Hold still, there’s a bee on you” haunts me to this day. I remember being on Summer break, playing outside, when nefarious buzzing broke up our playful shenanigans. I was a hostage to the black and yellow monster (even if it was no bigger than a quarter). I would stand as still as a department store mannequin until the bee flew off to find a flower, or another victim.

My rational side of that fear comes from the fact that to this day (and please note that I’m approximately 297 years old) I have never been stung by a bee.  When I have had the unfortunate luck of getting drained by a mosquito, the bite area swells up and turns red. Antihistamines such as Benadryl and I are best pals. Obviously bees are different from mosquitoes, but the question does arise.  If I’m allergic to a horrendous blood sucking skeeter, how will I react to a bee sting? I don’t plan on finding out any time soon.

As a writer, I do my best to know my characters intimately.  I know their favorite colors, songs that might be played at their funeral, etc.  One way I try to make them interesting or memorable is to give them specific likes or dislikes, intense hopes and fears.  In my novel Gypsy Kisses and Voodoo Wishes, no matter how mean Queen Patia is, she will always love sweets. Another example that will be revealed in a future story is that Grandmother is deathly afraid of frogs!  

So friend, do you have any fears, rational or irrational that you’d like to share?