May 31:Writing Prompt #151-Teleport

If you could travel to any location in the universe — where would you travel and why?

As strange as it may sound, I would choose to travel back in time to the locations of my best and worst memories. I would do this so I could see them through new eyes and also write down the memories word for word in order to better share them later on.  I would go back to my days as a young girl with my grandfather when he told me stories of his time in Germany during WWII. I would record his words and ask more questions than I did then.  I would go back to the days spent with my best friends growing up and treasure those moments more fully, writing down the things we did together and the dreams we shared, so I could connect more fully with them today. I would go back and listen to my dad with more intention and with a softer heart, recording those funny and insightful things he said and did when I was a kid.  I would write down exactly how the precious moments when my mom became my friend played out and what it was like to make that cross over so early.  I would take more time to get to know my teachers and to make note of important lessons they taught me, so I could go back and thank them today with specifics. There are so many more of these I could write about, but I think you get the idea. I would go back to those times in order to see them through my older, wiser eyes and appreciate them in ways that I couldn’t at the time.  In the end, it’s the people and experiences you have with them that matter most, not the location in the universe where you visit or choose to live, so teleporting to anywhere else in the world that did not include all my friends and family would not be worth teleporting to.  J What about you? 

May 30: Writing Prompt #150-Fight or Flight

When faced with confrontation, do you head for the hills or walk straight in? Was there ever a time you wished you’d had the opposite reaction?

It depends on how far I have been pushed to put up with the situation before the confrontation occurs. I either back off and do whatever I can to keep the peace or I jump in with hot anger, acid words, and unvarnished opinions.  When it comes to those I am closest to, I will more often walk straight in, such as with my dad or my husband.  I didn’t really think about it so much until now, but the fact that I will more readily put up an argument with those I love means I am most comfortable being myself and having my own independent views around them, and I consider that a good thing. Although, my husband and my dad would probably both say they could do with a little less arguing from me. J  They should just take it as a compliment that means I am my most honest and genuine self with each of them as well as those other friends and family with whom I am not afraid to face in a confrontation.  I have to admit though, occasionally, I wish I had just kept my thoughts to myself in such confrontations with close company because reacting quickly and shooting off argumentative words without much thought behind them can be very hurtful to those receiving my “bullet views.”  It’s kind of a “pick your battles” type deal, and I don’t always pick the right battles at the right time. It’s one of those things I will continue to work on and hopefully have it all perfected once I’m too old to even care about arguing or confrontation anymore. J  Until then, thanks for putting up with me when I walk straight into those confrontations.  I really don’t mean any harm…I just let my own baggage get in the way too much sometimes and react too strongly to the situation before me. 

May 29: Writing Prompt #149-Weaving the Threads

Draft a post with three parts, each unrelated to the other, but create a common thread between them by including the same item — an object, a symbol, a place — in each part.

Today, I did yoga for the first time in a week or two. I was so regular before we left Kwaj and even when we first arrived here in Washington, but I’m still trying to find the right time to fit it in now.  Mornings were always best before, but my schedule at work is totally flip flopped from my island life, and I’m so tired after work that I struggle with wanting to exert the extra energy, even though it makes me feel so much better.  When I do take the time, I prefer to practice in the bonus room of our home, which is on the second story facing the back yard. I open the window (unless it’s just super cold), so I can hear the birds tweet and look out to the green belt of trees and wetland that feel so private despite the fact there are neighbors on either side just a few feet away. BUT, I can’t see any of that from the window while I am in my Warrior 2 position. J I never regret a practice session, NEVER. It is so calming and important for keeping my muscles strong and active (which, I am discovering, is becoming even more and more important as I get older).  I have been practicing yoga since about 2005, so 10 years now….it was introduced to me by a good friend, and I’m so thankful to have that friend and yoga still in my life now!

It came to me gradually, in bits and pieces. We would practice after our water aerobics class at the adult pool with the Pacific Ocean roaring in the background behind us. We’d stand on the side in our swimsuits with the sunshine, wet humidity, and tropical palm trees all around us and put our bodies into positions I had never thought about as a form of exercise and stress relief before yoga.  I especially remember the inverted poses, such as the plow and shoulder stand. My yoga mentor told me that the shoulder stand helped with immunity because it reverses the blood flow momentarily and cleanses your system, particularly if you stay in the position for about a minute. Over the last 10 years, I have found that yoga not only helps me stay healthy, but it keeps me safe (I am able to catch myself in falls that I would not normally), and it makes me stronger mentally and physically (Even running is easier when I’m practicing regularly, and running is not easy for me anymore).  When we weren’t at the pool, we met at her home, which was always so relaxing with candles and incense and soothing music.  It was like I had left my own, at the time, very challenging life and stepped into a new world that renewed and strengthened me for the days ahead, which were to be much tougher than anything I had previously experienced up to that point.  During these years and the years to come before I left that tropical paradise, I also had the pleasure of attending two yoga retreats with my mentor’s sister.  Saluting the sun at sunrise and sunset on the beach or at the Yacht Club couldn’t ever compare to doing yoga anywhere else.  Precious memories of peaceful times….

Just when I thought it get be better, I arrived overtired and without my luggage in Bali, Indonesia for a yoga retreat with my boyfriend.  Even though it started out hectic, sleeping overnight on wooden benches in the Kwaj airport waiting for a working aircraft, then missing our flight to Guam and our first night at the retreat and being rerouted though Tokyo only to arrive without clothes or even a toothbrush (last time that ever happened-I always have one in my carry-on now), the following morning fixed EVERYTHING. Looking out into the tropical jungle standing on an infinity edge type yoga studio, sipping on warm, lemon infused water while waiting on our mats for our first yoga session with Iyan was absolutely incredible!! To go back some day would be heaven like for me. It just reinforced all of what yoga stands for and is to and for me. 

That said, I’ll never forget how it all started, with one enthusiastic yoga practitioner and her friendship to me.   I hope to be able to continue practicing for many, many years to come (I’d love to be an 85+ year old who can still do the pigeon pose to everyone else’s envy. J) And I’d REALLY love to have all my Kwaj yoga friends and yoga retreat teachers come to Bali’s Escape the World Yoga Retreat with me, so we can all share this very special activity together again. Maybe that will be possible someday...who knows what life will bring...as long as yoga and my friends are a part of it, I know it will be good. 

May 28: Writing Prompt #148-Elevator from the Past

You’re stuck in an elevator with a person from your past. Write this scene.

I’m a little stumped on this one. Too tired to think….whose the first person from my past that comes to mind….well, I do often think of those I went to school with or grew up with. Thanks to social media, there’s only a very few left who I don’t know anything about anymore, and if I were to meet one of them in an elevator, I can imagine it would start out with hugs and hellos and questions about where and what we are both up to in our individual lives.  This is kind of what high school reunions are for, right? Unfortunately, for me, my friends not only came from my own high school, but also the one across town that my brothers graduated from and also from my church (several of whom moved away and graduated from other schools in different states), so it would truly be hard for me to ever reunite with all my friends from that time period. 

The area I came from in Alabama is so transient due to the fact that it is home to the Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) and Redstone Arsenal.  In fact, half of the people I met out on Kwajalein live there now (Huntsville) because it’s also home to Kwajalein Range Services (KRS), so it’s not very much like the “South” as all the stereotypes would suggest because families came and go from all over.  They do not all have heavy, lazy southern accents, and they are not all hicks and “country,” but that’s because hardly anyone actually was born and grew up there.  It’s just one of the stops on their journey of life.  Of course, I didn’t realize that it was not like the stereotypical South until I moved away from it, and maybe that’s part of the reason I like traveling and am not scared to move to a brand new place because I watched so many friends come and go, and I even voluntarily chose to move with my mom to a new school district after middle school.  I was, obviously, not a military brat, and I don’t really wish I was, but I do admire my friends who make that choice and the sacrifice. Growing up around so many who were military or moved around like military brats helped me appreciate what it means to serve, and I have so much respect for the families who support their military spouses. Living that way, moving every couple of years, for the most part, creates such well-rounded individuals who are socially mature, flexible, and very, very adaptable to change.  Amazing!! A lot of my social maturity and adaptability to change came later, but being around others who already had those skills growing up opened me up to the idea that I could be that way too someday.    

So, although I got off on a rabbit trail there…call it my tired brain (I’m in random mode) my person from the past in the elevator, it would be all those friends that “disappeared” from my life over 20 years ago that I have never reconnected with.  Those growing up days are pretty special, no matter how difficult or chaotic they may have been because they made us who we are today. 

May 27: Writing Prompt #147-Say Your Name

Write about your first name: Are you named after someone or something? Are there any stories or associations attached to it? If you had the choice, would you rename yourself?

Susannah-My parents named all of their children after Biblical names, and in the case of my name, I think my mom just liked it too.  As far as I know, I am not named after someone or something, and there are no stories or associations to go along with it.  I would not rename myself because I like my name.  I’ve become pretty attached to it after 40 years of being identified by it.  J

Out of my own curiosity, I have looked up my name in the past in terms of its meaning as well as the Biblical characters with the same name, so I’ll share those associations here:

1. Susannah-Hebrew origin meaning lily. 

2. Susannah-According to http://www.biblegateway.com, the name Susanna is mentioned in Luke 8 as one of the women whom Jesus healed both physically and spiritually and who revealed her gratitude by following Him and ministering to Him and His disciples. 

3. Susannah-Of course, I have to mention the song that helps everyone remember my name, “Oh Susanna” by Stephen Foster. And I also have the pleasure of being able to tell everyone that I really AM FROM ALABAMA like the song says!

Modern Version

Oh, I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee

Goin' to Lou'siana, my true love for to see

Oh Susannah! Oh don't you cry for me!

For I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee

It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry

The sun so hot I froze to death, Susannah don't you cry

Oh Susannah! Oh don't you cry for me!

For I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee

Optional Third Verse

I had a dream the other night, when everything was still

I thought I saw Susannah dear a-comin' down the hill

A buckwheat cake was in her mouth, a tear was in her eye

I said I come from dixieland, Susannah don't you cry!

Oh Susannah! Oh, don't you cry for me!

For I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee

Oh Susannah! Oh don't you cry for me!

For I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee