Why the “Really Rotten Mood”?

Here I am, a legally blind chick, working on a book about how limitations, real or perceived, hold us back.  It’s a book with tools I’m developing to help you create a life of your dreams.  All is good, right?  Then I go and open a blog called “Really Rotten Mood.”  Doesn’t make sense does it?

Makes sense to me and I’ll tell you why. 

Tool #1 

Pitch-a-fit and laugh - with others. 

Lets say, as you see things, life for the most part has kicked you in the teeth and you’re bitter, sick and tired.  You are also probably feeling alone in your crap. Actually, if you’ve been seething about something for more than a few hours, you’re also likely alone in your crap.

Alone in your crap leaves no room for living your dreams.  “But for me, my dreams are unattainable, so bite me,” you say.  Throw it down, sister/brother I can take it. 

I can almost promise you that nothing is going to happen if you just sit in your own shit and do nothing.  Even if you’re ”trying really hard” every day, you still are so not there.  I’m NOT asking you to get positive. OH NO.  I want you to bitch a bit. Bitch until something new comes out of you.  Since I’m saying crap a lot here, I’ll say you’re “directionally constipated” right now.  A good bitch and laugh could just be the kind of enema you need.

So there’s three parts to this first tool.

1) Pitch-a-fit (preferably in writing)

2) Let others read it.

3) Find a bit of humor.  My method to stimulate a little  laughter is with my “anti-affirmations”. 

If you are ready to pitch-a-fit or simply serve the world by bearing witness to others fits, visit Really Rotten Mood. 

The deal there is, if you publicly bitch, I will write you your very own anti-affirmation. 

Later, after I’ve amassed some posts on RRM, I’ll bring some over here to Why Not Rachel so we can start to talk about Tool #2.

Thank You Teleconference Callers!

Thanks for a lively and energetic conversation.  Everyone on the call agreed it was time to open Why Not Rachel’s sister site…Really Rotten Mood. 

You are going to love RRM and have a whole bunch of fun “pitching-a-fit”.  Why Not Rachel and RRM have a common mission that will become clearer over time. 

I’m posting the link to Really Rotten Mood before it’s fully launched because I simply can’t help myself.  I think you’re going to love it.

I still need to have the spelling combed through and a few other things fussed with but it is up and running, and ready for all your whining needs.

Teleconference

 Next Teleconference

THIS SATURDAY!!

Just a reminder, my next teleconference is:

March 29

3:00 – 4:00 PM EDT

There are two “seats” left for Saturday’s call. If you’re interested in joining in, you’ll need to fill out the form on my contact page by 9:00 PM EDT this Friday March 28.

 

Once I get your email I’ll send you the phone number and access code you’ll need to join in the conversation.

 

The Call

The conference call is set up in an informal question and answer format. Saturday’s conversation looks at how we all have disabilities and ways in which we limit ourselves because of them. We will also look at ways to be liberate from these mostly self imposed limitations.

 

Blog Jockey

  I enjoy blogging. Often when I don’t post it’s because I’ve got no natural “blog-jockey” in me. I don’t segue well.  Great radio jockeys, for example, are masters of the segue.  To illustrate what I’m talking about, let me tell you about a radio program out of Australia that I dig, called DIG. What’s cool about DIG is it seamlessly moves from the blues, to rock, to hip-hop, to R&B then off into a country thing before playing old time crooners.  I don’t even know that the road’s been turning.  DIG takes me from one genre to the next without my ever noticing. 
 
I, on the other hand go from made-up New Years letters to Jewish death rituals.  It’s a bit jarring.  I had expected this blog to be ALL about the book and it’s just not.  It’s some about the book and some about whatever else.  That’s to say, it’s got seams.  It does not have smooth transitions between posts.  My blog, it would appear, has posts stitched together by hand…by a blind chick! 

Weekend America

I’ll be interested in listening to Weekend America this Saturday.  Here’s what they’ll be looking at:

Reflect on Five Years of War.
The fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was Wednesday, March 19. To mark the occasion, we hear from three soldiers who served in Iraq, and ask them to reflect on their first day on the ground, and their last day there.

Five Years…

The War in Iraq

March 19, 2003 -

Back in Blog

I apologize for going off screen for a few days.  I’m back.  I’m still doing art festivals and periodically they take me from the computer.  This past weekend was the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival.  While I was not in the show this year, my husband was, and I agreed to be his assistant. 

A Bit of an Introduction

 (Some of the thinking about, and behind the book) 

I have some issues related to my sight and yet I love the visual arts. I also have a passion for language (despite dyslexia).  I love poetry, music, and most of the social and behavioral sciences.  I’m inspired by theater, dance and human interaction.  These are some of the things that simply make my soul sing.  I am convinced that we all have a master list of loves and passions that are unique to us and are a part of us for our entire life.  When we live by the list, so to speak, we have peace of mind, and when we’re not referring to it in our actions, we are not of service to our self or others.
 
You may have forgotten the list, ignored it, tried to set it on fire, or not even known you had one at all.  WAY TOO OFTEN we decide, or maybe we’re told, or both, that what we love is not an option for us. 
 
Try consciously or unconsciously to erase that list, and I promise you it will show up in the strangest places.  In the weave of your living-room curtains, rolling across the credits of a movie screen or tattooed on your forearm.  You can’t escape it, it’s as much a part of you as your next inhalation.
 
A friend once said, “you can’t hold an inner tube underwater forever.  The longer you try to, the greater the eruption when it finally surfaces.”  If you suppress your list, your spark for living is submerged.  So before you go and electrocute yourself and zap those around you, let me help you learn how to power up your life!
 
I don’t care about your circumstances by the way.  If you had Polio as a kid, and always, always, always wanted to be a dancer, then I say dance!  If you had a career as a painter and then had a spinal cord injury, I say paint anyway.  You would not have been handed your list without also being given a clever enough brain to bring that list to life.
 
Yes but…
I lost my perfect job
I lost my perfect leg
I have to support my kids
I can’t support my weight
I
I
I believe there is always a way!  
 
By the way, you don’t need to OVERCOME anything.  That’s bull anyway.  You might not ever fully get “over” some of the more painful experiences in your life.  Let it be the kindling that gets you to the starting line. You don’t even have to have a good attitude.  A good attitude is over-rated anyway.  Notice, a few paragraphs up, I said “peace of mind.” I did not say, “you’ll be happy.”  Peace of mind is something that runs much deeper and you can have it even when you’re in a dour mood. 
 
All you need to start out with is a willingness.  Hell, you can even get started if you don’t have the willingness.  Just be willing to be open to becoming willing….
 
If you are reading or listening to this in a wheelchair in some skanky V.A. hospital, or barely holding back the panic about all the bills and debt collectors staring you in the face, this might not be funny or cute to you.  Don’t laugh.  Just get willing, because I want you to have the chance to live from your “list.” 

Welcome Barbara Sher Bulletin Board Readers

To all of you who have come to my blog from Barbara Sher’s Bulletin Boards, I welcome you.  This will be a great place for you keep up with news about my book and topics for the teleconferences.

Up until this point I’ve been enjoying getting the hang of blogging, so I’ve been writing about all kinds of things.

It’s time to focus (some) now however.  So lets get on with talking about the Cape-Able Life…

Jewish Death/Grieving Rituals

I went to the grave-side memorial for my friends father today.  Her father was buried according to Jewish law. 

Below are some of the rituals in Jewish tradition concerning the dead and grieving that I find moving.

(*) from the moment of death, the body is not left alone until after burial. This practice, called guarding/watching (shemira), is based on the simple principal of honoring the dead.  During this time the shemira recite prayers.

What touches me, is that just as we come into this world with someone watching over us, we leave it the same way.

(*)The family of the deceased tear (keriyah) their clothing. (this has been replaced with a small black ribbon which is cut). The bereaved will wear the ribbon through the first seven days of mourning.

   It’s as if the bereaved are being told, it’s alright to be filled with emotions, to hurt and to feel torn.

(*) After the burial, a relative or friend prepares the “meal of condolence,” which traditionally consists of eggs (symbolizing life) and bread. This meal is for family only, but visitors may come to offer condolences afterwards

   Well, Jews just like to eat.  I think this serves a more symbolic meaning of again caring for the living.  And suggesting in the the act of feeding, that the family deserves the space and time to grieve.  That others will help take care of you so all you need to do is to be with your feelings. 

(*)The family then enters a seven-day period of intense mourning (shiva, “seven”). Mourners sit on low stools or the floor instead of chairs, do not shave or cut their hair, wear cosmetics, work, bathe, have sex, put on fresh clothing, or study Torah (except Torah related to mourning and grief). They wear the clothes they tore when they learned of the death or at the funeral. Mirrors in the house are covered. Prayer services are held where the shiva is held, with friends, neighbors and relatives making up the minyan (required group of 10 for prayer times).

   Depending on the sect of Judaism, the methods for ’sitting shiva’ varies.  The primary principal that I think is important here is, it is not often a comfortable time when someone you love has died.  Life is different without them here.  I also think that part of the shiva ritual is that it’s okay to look and feel crummy. 

(*) Shiva is followed by schloshim (“thirty”), which lasts until the 30th day after burial.

    Again what happens durring schloshim varie from one sect of Judaism to the next, but I see the primary principal as a lay low time.  You heart still feels the sharpness of your loss and it’s a time to be easy with yourself.