Okay, I admit it. I’m more of a seeing the glass as half full kind of gal than seeing it as half empty. I’m like this partly because if I allowed myself to think about the glass being half empty then my mind would pile on so many implications and complications, such as why do we even have to put water in a glass or why are we even measuring water in the first place,  that it is just better for me to see the beauty and possibility of all things rather than the negative aspects.  Similarly, on days like today when the temps are not cold but also not warm and it is raining–which is a good thing in a place prone to drought– but it’s a drenching constant rain which can get really monotonous over an extended period of time, that causes me to want to find something positive to focus my perspective.  For example, witnessing how beautiful Wisteria is during that brief but special time period in Texas when it grows rampant and lush.  I especially enjoy spotting naturally blooming Wisteria in unexpected places such as growing all over a dead tree’s branches in the middle of a semi-dry creek bed.

Thought for the Day: What special snapshot of life will you keep your mind open for so that you can allow yourself to stumble upon and notice today?

Helpful Hint for Being Human: The way I see our thinking process and minds is that the more aware we become in regards to our thoughts, the more we can direct our thoughts to places that bring us peace. I mean there’s plenty of opportunity for life to torture us as it is without us contributing to it with reckless thinking!

A good friend’s father passed away yesterday at the well-lived age of 90.  Ever since her mom’s passing a couple of years ago her father has been “ready to leave this mortal coil.”  He was a good kind man who was loved very much by his daughter and their family. I will always remember her birthday party from a handful of years ago when her Dad and significant other conspired to create a birdhouse painting party. Her father made several simple yet lovely birdhouses for the party participants to decorate and paint which my friend then hung all throughout their xeriscaped gardens.

Out of respect and general agreement for her father’s wishes there will be no funeral or memorial service.  Somehow this makes me feel a little bit closer to her Dad because although he was such a gentle soul he was also a practical soul and after seeing what his family went through with his wife’s passing he did not want to impose more on them then absolutely necessary with his passing.  Sure, if they want to have a remembrance of him during the burgeoning and budding of spring in their garden with the swapping of stories full of wisdom and humor that was fine with him but nothing that cost them money or angst.

Thought for the Day:  Since birthing, dying and death are all part of the process of life why not discuss these things when we’re coherent and can get clarity about what we think and believe with each other before a stressful experience.  There’s nothing as gratifying for loved ones who are in mourning as the ease of finding important documents and the clear understanding of your wishes to say the least about having faced, embraced, discarded or amended core beliefs well before the end.

Helpful Hint for Being Human: We ALL experience being born, living and dying so why shy away from what the here and now and what the great beyond means to us now? There is, after all, no time like the present.

Hello! It’s been awhile since I’ve written in this spot.   Welcome back as we enter the year 2015.  Yesterday I committed with fellow writer Cyndi Hughes that I’d start this blog up again and write every day for the next 365 days.

Because I’m on the thick part of the tail end of the Boomers my perspective will be that of a Baby Boomer but really I’m writing to YOU, dear reader, that unique part of you who sees the wry sometimes unsettling part of being human in all its messy beautiful awkwardness.  So let’s gather around, warm our hands by the fire and get started.  I would love to hear from you so please do share your insights, comments, humor, wisdom and musings!   

Thought for the day:  There seems to be several writer friends who have been swimming around in various social media pools for a few years and are sick, sick, sick of it!  Are you? What are you noticing or experiencing?  A few of the digital publicists I know are tired of the b.s. of it all. They are burnt out from working with clients, especially the ones who tout themselves as being spiritual leaders for a better humanity, who (in real life) act like complete and total dicks to everyone around them (family, friends and employees).

Helpful Hint for Being Human: Don’t believe everyone’s B.S. and definitely don’t believe in your own!  There is one part of me that takes comfort in the fact that “we are all connected” and then another that likes being unique from others which means I have to somehow accept that I am just one of many unique beings.  The comfort I can take from this is that although we humans can sometimes be apathetic and indifferent en masse when we choose to shake ourselves awake we can use our unique perspective to take a look around and choose how we want to experience life.