Eva Pasco's Blog - Posts Tagged "peace"
On Thin Ice!
Separate and apart from my life as a writer/published author—most days I’m skating on thin ice. When you’re a caregiver, and I’m not even as hands-on as others who wear the crown, you live by the creed, “When you least expect it…”
Such was the case on Christmas Eve, infiltrating Christmas: pondering whether or not a trip to the ER was called for. The mid-morning stabilization provided a reprieve for two people who avoided languishing in the hospital for hours on end. This unexpected pardon enabled me to embrace a semblance of inner peace and harmony, providing relief from the doldrums.
Each of us has our own reference point to rally from. When you’re skating on thin ice, you truly appreciate a lifeline when you least expect it, and when you need it the most.
As for the fate of my characters who reside in the genre of Contemporary, there are those who succumb, and those who survive the perils of skating on thin ice. Such is life.
Eva’s Byte #291 – Thanksgiving: Then and Now
A former third-grade teacher for sixteen out of those twenty-nine years spent in the trenches of elementary education, the theme of “Native Americans and Pilgrims” loomed large in our social studies curriculum. Striving to steer away from teaching the subject in a boring and dry-as-hardtack manner, we brought that period in history to the forefront with meaning and relevance for 8 and 9-year-olds, by relying on the book, If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern.
Certainly, major relevance gleaned from the Pilgrim settlement at Plimoth Plantation was the realization that diverse cultures of a community could live in peace and harmony. This is a history lesson worth repeating today.
Then – October of 1621:
The Pilgrims celebrated the "First Thanksgiving" after their first harvest in the New World. The celebration entailed an outdoor feast lasting three days. In attendance—90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims.
*During the Mayflower voyage, a steady sea-diet high in salt weakened their bodies. Malnutrition, disease, and the harsh weather claimed as many as 2-3 colonists per day during their first two months on land, diminishing their original fold of 102 by half.
Now – November 26, 2020:
Due to the widespread surge in the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC has urged Americans to celebrate Thanksgiving virtually, or to assemble in gatherings limited to members of the same household.
Similar to the Pilgrim voyage which gave rise to a Thanksgiving feast, this same holiday is considered the busiest travel juncture of the year in order for family and friends from afar to be together at the dinner table.
*Recent statistics cite that at least 250,000 people in the United States have died from the virus since the pandemic erupted less than a year ago, last February.
Like our Pilgrim forebears, families and friends will need to come to an agreement as to the logistics for giving thanks and counting our blessings.
More importantly, we need to pay the holiday forward by harvesting peace and harmony in our community as the Wampanoags and Pilgrims did during the First Thanksgiving.
*My sincere appreciation if you’ve read this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: https://tinyurl.com/yycm7d2w
Certainly, major relevance gleaned from the Pilgrim settlement at Plimoth Plantation was the realization that diverse cultures of a community could live in peace and harmony. This is a history lesson worth repeating today.
Then – October of 1621:
The Pilgrims celebrated the "First Thanksgiving" after their first harvest in the New World. The celebration entailed an outdoor feast lasting three days. In attendance—90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims.
*During the Mayflower voyage, a steady sea-diet high in salt weakened their bodies. Malnutrition, disease, and the harsh weather claimed as many as 2-3 colonists per day during their first two months on land, diminishing their original fold of 102 by half.
Now – November 26, 2020:
Due to the widespread surge in the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC has urged Americans to celebrate Thanksgiving virtually, or to assemble in gatherings limited to members of the same household.
Similar to the Pilgrim voyage which gave rise to a Thanksgiving feast, this same holiday is considered the busiest travel juncture of the year in order for family and friends from afar to be together at the dinner table.
*Recent statistics cite that at least 250,000 people in the United States have died from the virus since the pandemic erupted less than a year ago, last February.
Like our Pilgrim forebears, families and friends will need to come to an agreement as to the logistics for giving thanks and counting our blessings.
More importantly, we need to pay the holiday forward by harvesting peace and harmony in our community as the Wampanoags and Pilgrims did during the First Thanksgiving.
*My sincere appreciation if you’ve read this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: https://tinyurl.com/yycm7d2w
Eva’s Byte #318: Long-Drawn Moments
I’m delving into those moments that take us away from where we are in our present frame of mind. Moments, which for no explicable reason, hold us in an abeyance of peace and tranquility:
Perhaps it’s the hypnotic billowing of white curtains on a breezy, summer day which transports our mind miles away.
Or, sitting on a porch and gazing into oblivion.
One of my most memorable long-drawn moments occurred many years ago watching the raising of the drawbridge over the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in Connecticut. The famous drawbridge built in 1922 connects the Groton side of Mystic with the Stonington side. It’s raised to allow boat traffic at 40 minutes past the hour from 7:40 a.m. to 6:40 p.m. from May 1st to October 31st.
Abutting the bridge is Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream where I’d purchased a sugar cone of Kahlua Mocha Fudge and savored it while watching the raising of the drawbridge. During those long-drawn moments, maritime motion and my own superfluous thoughts were suspended in time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IUwH...
In my capacity of a writer, I must set aside extraneous thoughts so as not to detract from the literary world I’m creating. And, as painstaking as I find the task, I must fabricate long-drawn moments inside the headspace of my characters for them to seem as real as you and me. I’m currently lowering the drawbridge on Chapter 76 of my Contemporary work in progress.
*May you find time to stretch your imagination and rejuvenate during long-drawn moments which come your way.
My sincere appreciation if you’ve read this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page:
https://tinyurl.com/yycm7d2w
Perhaps it’s the hypnotic billowing of white curtains on a breezy, summer day which transports our mind miles away.
Or, sitting on a porch and gazing into oblivion.
One of my most memorable long-drawn moments occurred many years ago watching the raising of the drawbridge over the Mystic River Bascule Bridge in Connecticut. The famous drawbridge built in 1922 connects the Groton side of Mystic with the Stonington side. It’s raised to allow boat traffic at 40 minutes past the hour from 7:40 a.m. to 6:40 p.m. from May 1st to October 31st.
Abutting the bridge is Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream where I’d purchased a sugar cone of Kahlua Mocha Fudge and savored it while watching the raising of the drawbridge. During those long-drawn moments, maritime motion and my own superfluous thoughts were suspended in time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IUwH...
In my capacity of a writer, I must set aside extraneous thoughts so as not to detract from the literary world I’m creating. And, as painstaking as I find the task, I must fabricate long-drawn moments inside the headspace of my characters for them to seem as real as you and me. I’m currently lowering the drawbridge on Chapter 76 of my Contemporary work in progress.
*May you find time to stretch your imagination and rejuvenate during long-drawn moments which come your way.
My sincere appreciation if you’ve read this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page:
https://tinyurl.com/yycm7d2w
Eva’s Byte #442 – Self-Meditating
“We’re all mad here.” (Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)
Besides my outlet of writing and meticulous attention to housework, a dose of ambient music serves to suppress and dispel those occasional anxiety-ridden, g-r-r-r pileups. What Audrey Hepburn as Holly Go Lightly in Breakfast at Tiffany calls the “mean reds,” which boils down to my intolerance for situations outside my jurisdiction which I have no control over, going awry.
Otherwise, I keep my fever to the form for staying grounded on my terms, ohm-ing along by self-meditating as needed:
The numbing, narcotic effect of ambient music accompanying my forays at the keyboard, works wonders for restoring calm and reducing anxiety.
I’m particularly fond of compositions featuring the healing flute of Tibetan music which soothes the soul.
In the capacity of a writer, I’m drafting chapter 43 (966 words thus far) along my Contemporary work in progress. I daresay, the term “feng shui” came up during a dialogue between characters.
*May each of us have the wherewithal to create our own calm for restoring inner peace and harmony.
My sincere appreciation to you for reading this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: http://www.authorsden.com/evapasco
Besides my outlet of writing and meticulous attention to housework, a dose of ambient music serves to suppress and dispel those occasional anxiety-ridden, g-r-r-r pileups. What Audrey Hepburn as Holly Go Lightly in Breakfast at Tiffany calls the “mean reds,” which boils down to my intolerance for situations outside my jurisdiction which I have no control over, going awry.
Otherwise, I keep my fever to the form for staying grounded on my terms, ohm-ing along by self-meditating as needed:
The numbing, narcotic effect of ambient music accompanying my forays at the keyboard, works wonders for restoring calm and reducing anxiety.
I’m particularly fond of compositions featuring the healing flute of Tibetan music which soothes the soul.
In the capacity of a writer, I’m drafting chapter 43 (966 words thus far) along my Contemporary work in progress. I daresay, the term “feng shui” came up during a dialogue between characters.
*May each of us have the wherewithal to create our own calm for restoring inner peace and harmony.
My sincere appreciation to you for reading this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: http://www.authorsden.com/evapasco
