Keep on keepin’ on …

I saw a terrific movie last Sunday, a documentary — “Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago”. Don’t know if you’re familiar with the Camino Trail — it’s a 700+ km pilgrimage route you can walk from various points in Europe to the city of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.

Yeah, you heard right. You walk it. Seven hundred plus kilometres. About 434.96 miles, give or take a couple of dozen blisters. Callouses. Cases of tendonitis. Bum knees. Tears. Exhaustion.

Everyone has their own reason for doing it. For some it’s simply to know they can. For others it’s to overcome an illness or fear, to find the answer to a question they may not have even yet asked, to find themselves, to come to terms with a loss, to celebrate an event or a milestone, or simply for the sheer fun

On a very short leash …

If you’ve got any four-legged family members living at your house you know very well I’m not talking about me keeping my animals on a tight rein. Absolutely not. Au contraire. In fact it is my two furry little beasts who have me on the leash. And a short one at that. Over a barrel. At their mercy. At their beck and call.

Yes. These two. Bartlett, on the left. Dark grey with the interesting white markings. And Sundance. Ginger and the more svelte of the two. I’m being kind. Bartlett is the size of an adult racoon. He weighs in at more than thirty pounds. Probably much more, but I can’t pick him up to put him on the scale. He’s way too heavy. And much as he loves to cuddle, he does not — I repeat NOT — like being picked up. By anyone. Even me.

I know, they look like butter would melt in their mouths. In all fairness, sometimes it would. “Some” being

A reflective state of mind …

I seem to be doing a lot of thinking lately.  Pondering.  Soul-searching.  Reviewing.  Evaluating.  Looking back.  Reflecting.  Not entirely sure why, to be honest.  Maybe it’s in preparation for a change.  I wouldn’t mind.  I like change.  I crave change.

Life would be awfully boring if we just stayed the same, don’t you think?  Frankly, I’m probably due for a biggie.  I think it’s been in the works for a while, you know.  I’ve had that ‘unsettled’ feeling.  In a good way, not a bad way.  Not scary at all.  Sort of like when you know you’re going to sneeze.  It starts suddenly, with a little tickle.  It builds, and builds until it becomes strong.  Uncontrollable.

And then, ready or not, here it comes!  And what a relief it is.

Exciting, actually.  Changes and transitions, not sneezing.

So if anything, I’m impatient for it.

But ‘change’ isn’t what I want to talk about. Regrets are what’s on my mind at the moment.  It’s only natural

Despite all the gloom and doom …

Last week I wrote about the sorry state of the world. Ironically, at around the same time I was feeling overwhelmed by it all, a ‘gratitude’ challenge was making the rounds on Facebook. It was really interesting, and inspiring, to see what people were sharing.

I’ve been thinking about it ever since — and about the coincidence of the timing — and realize it’s for an important reason; and it carries an important message: No matter how bad or challenging life may seem we must acknowledge the good, what is working, what’s right, what’s positive.

Which doesn’t mean to say we should stop questioning, or paying attention or ignore what’s wrong or never feel sad or turn our backs on those who need our compassion and help. But we do have to learn to be grateful, to thank our lucky stars.

In my case, there’s a lot to be thankful for. Starting with the fact I woke up today. I know that sounds cliche,

Hanging on for dear life …

Me. The poster child for looking on the bright side. Positive thinking. Seeing the glass half full. A true believer in everything working out in the end. Me. That one. That girl. That woman.

Not so much at the moment, though. I’ve got to admit I’m struggling. So much bad news. Everywhere you turn. It’s absolutely unavoidable. We are just in one helluva mess. The whole world. All of us.

So much hatred. So much prejudice. So much anger. So much violence. So much bloodshed. So much death. So much destruction. So much rubble. So much despair. So much unrest. So much imbalance. So much poverty. So much hunger. So much misery. So much suffering. So much fear. So much grief. So many tears. So many scars. So much injustice.

So little hope.

So little respect. For each other. For life. For human rights. For freedom. Maybe even for ourselves.

Such a crisis.

There has to be something we can do. Why aren’t we?

Why aren’t we marching on our Nations’ capitals? Why aren’t we more selective about who we elect? Why don’t we demand more from them? Why don’t we hold