Now just what exactly is a spiritual badass?
I love the phrase and concept, spiritual badass.
I just juxtaposed it. So I’m not entirely sure what it means. But I aim to find out!
I’ve been working on my assertiveness skills: Speaking up for myself — articulating opinions, feelings, and — the scary one — requests.
Some requests are the please take your boot off my toe variety. Some are the you don’t get to talk to me like that kind. And some are nice to have’s.
I’m showing up for my life and my desires in a bigger way. …
Three facets of empowering ourselves as women
Confidence and courage seem to go together. When I act courageously, my self-confidence grows. The more confident I am, the more brave things I do without stressing about them.
Our stories this time fit together like pieces of a puzzle. These interlocking facets all contribute to the strong women are and as becoming.
How does caregiving fit into this picture? You’ll see as we did when we interviewed Alison for this episode of our podcast. Knowing when to assert herself, and knowing when to take a break for self-care take courage and confidence.
We’re proud to announce STOMP! podcast number 7!
Friday Prompt
And taking the time to be proud of it!
What you think of me is none of my business.
That’s the title of a book by Terri Cole-Whittaker. And it’s true. Or can be for me when I think about my life.
The main person I get to please is myself. If I am not happy with myself, I am not happy, period. If you are not happy with me, that’s really your problem, not mine.
I get to put that in my pipe and smoke it!
So today, in keeping with our self-acknowledgment theme, I get to acknowledge myself for being the creative, courageous, hilarious, loving, badass I…
Sharing a few nuggets from STOMP! Episode #7
I knew our interview with Alison Acheson would be compelling. Still, I was not prepared for how deeply moved I’d feel by the palpable presence of her love.
That love weaves through all her stories, including the ones right here in Middle Pause. We’ve tasted her poignant and lyrical writing. No less so is her memoir, Dance Me to the End, which tells the story of the ten months and ten days she cared for her husband, Marty.
In episode #7 of STOMP! …
Wednesday Prompt
In deeper appreciation of blessings I already enjoy
Did anyone miss seeing The Wizard of Oz?
Spoiler alert! Dorothy rode a tornado over the rainbow, melted a witch in Oz, only to find the wizard was not all he was cracked up to be. In fact, he was a tinkerer pulling strings behind a curtain, not the all-powerful magician she envisioned.
Along the way, she made three new friends, each of whom shone their light on an aspect of herself — if you’ll tolerate my symbology. The Scarecrow, her intelligence, the Tin Man, her heart, and the Cowardly Lion, her courage.
After risking death together to bring the…
Happy National Teachers Week!
Now more than ever, we need to honor our teachers!
Besides being overworked and underpaid, they’ve had to deal with all the craziness of this pandemic. Lots of changes in the ways school happens — in the classrooms, remotely, or combinations of the two. Many of you have been and are teacher’s helpers in the remote process, so you know whereof we speak.
Teachers and helpers deserve our appreciation and support. Some of us are teachers by trade, and most of us are teachers by default.
We honor all the forms teaching takes. Sometimes with bouquets of sunflowers — a…
Monday Prompt
Taking stock is the heart of appreciation
Since I have an abundance of things in my life — some might say to a fault — I should be able to take stock and acknowledge them, right.
Usually, when I look around my home, my self-talk goes like this:
Too much stuff!
So get rid of some of it!
Yeah, but what?
And that shuts up the voice till next time.
Diana’s prompt suggests a different approach. To notice what things I dream of gathering into my life, whether I ‘own’ them or not. …
Middle-Pause Pump-Priming Prompt
Overworked and underpaid, but at least, appreciated!
Happy National Teacher Day!
Here in the U.S., Teacher Day falls on May 4.
Here’s a little history from the National Day Calendar’s website:
Political and educational leaders began discussions for a day to honor teachers in 1944. In 1953, Eleanor Roosevelt persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim National Teachers’ Day. Congress declared March 7, 1980, as National Teacher Day.
The National Education Association continued to observe Teacher Day on the first Tuesday in March until 1985 when the National PTA established Teacher Appreciation Week as the first full week of May. …
IRREVERENT HUMOR
Hard-hitting truths without convincing proofs
I talk to God all the time.
In the privacy of my bedroom or out on a walk. Not something I usually do publicly.
But every so often, God, or as she likes me to call her now, Thelma, has something She wants said. And when the usual broadcasting channels aren’t effective, She’s desperate enough to come to me and MuddyUm.
Should I be flattered? Or insulted? Cause, after all, I only have 2K followers.
If she bit the bullet and got on Instagram, or at least Twitter, she could go viral. So let me ask her.
Me: Hey God…
Or at least came close
I hugged a tree today.
Well, I didn’t actually hug her
in the sense of pressing my body up close.
I lay my hands on her trunk and took some
deep breaths. My way of saying thank you.
Thank you for giving us oxygen all these many years.
Thank you for absorbing carbon emissions
from the fossil fuel addiction, we can’t seem to lick.
Thank you for feeding other life forms with your
generous underground root system.
Thank you for doing more for the planet than I may ever do — silently, humbly, without having to write a poem that…
Marilyn Flower
Writer, sacred fool, improviser, avid reader, writer, novel forthcoming, soul collage facilitator, prayer warrior and did I say writer?
