Questions to ponder: Names

Here are a couple of questions to ponder:

When you name a child or even a pet after a god or a hero from myth or history, what expectations do you have for their behaviors, personalities, and futures?  Do the stories influence your choice or is it simply that the name sounds "cool"?  Do you take into account the personalities and actions of those with the name originally?

And further, when you meet a person named for a god or mythical hero. do you have certain expectations of their personalities or behavior?

Do you believe that the name foreshadows the person?  In giving a child a name like Loki or Hercules, what characteristics are you hoping your child will display?

On Being Naive

Sorry, but you don't recognize me. Your knowing smirk only reflects what you think you see. You don't think I truly understand your pain, that I've never been where you are, so I couldn't know. Just because I'm quiet about my pain doesn't mean it's not there. I may not join in vilifying your monster, but that doesn't mean I haven't faced my own…and won.

Many see me as privileged, idealistic, and naive as to the way the world works.  In many ways, they're right.  I am privileged and idealistic.  I am not, however, naive.  To mistake my optimism for blinders is to grossly underestimate me.  I simply refuse to allow the monsters to win.  You may never see my pain or my scars, but understand this, I am battle-worn.  I have been tested and found true.  

Monotony & Melancholy

Monotony

Melancholy

Every day is the same.

Eye issues keep me from going anywhere on the spur of the moment, even when money allows. Always having to rely on others for transport even the short distance to the library sucks. And being treated as an inconvenience is galling.

Forced isolation is horrible for an extrovert. I shudder to remember the days before I "plugged" in to the internet, in those days before social media exploded and broadened my circle of interaction. Many mourn the loss of face-to-face exchange, but for those of us who are effectively homebound, electronic socializing is a lifesaver.

And so my days are filled with ersatz socializing. Or napping. Ambition gives way to somnolence and sloth. I try to keep some semblance of discipline: no sleeping till noon; I keep a mostly proper meal schedule; fairly regular bedtimes. And I make a strong effort to go out to physical meetings at least twice a month. Definitely not as active as only a couple of years ago, but still something. In the end, it's not much good; the goals I set for each day go unaccomplished. Sometimes even the most basic chores are put off.

Lifting myself out of this morass is herculean. A task I know in my very soul I am capable of but still unable to make the first move. Ambition without motivation? Motive without action? The story of my life. Great dreams and plans on paper and no ambition to put them into action. Even the promise of fame and fortune have never been quite enough. Is it complacency or fear? Am I just lazy? 

Yuck

I hate cold, rainy, yucky days when I'm stuck inside with no sunshine coming through the windows.  Rain on a sunny day is a thing, right?  Why can't I have that now?  Rainy, yucky days tend to depress me.  I begin to think.  Not just any random thoughts, though.  Old toxic thoughts.  I think about past mistakes, past hurts, past anger – things I no longer have or ever had any control over.  Imaginary hurts that never happened and potential hurts that probably never will.  I brood.  I'm restless and bored.  There's plenty of constructive activities with which I could fill a rainy day – reading, watching movies, crocheting – but instead I brood.  Or eat.  Or sleep.  Napping usually keeps my mind quiet for a while.  Unless the brooding thoughts seep into my subconscious. Then disturbing angry or frightening dreams add to the general ickiness of the day.  Usually, though, I don't do any of that, I sit and play games online or cruise Facebook and brood a little more.  And wait.  I wait for Spring.  I wait for Winter to give way to burgeoning Life.  I wait for the bright greens of new plants and bright yellow sunshine. 

Pffffttttt, it's only February.  Where's my yarn and Netflix?  Maybe a little chocolate, too.

Striving & Becoming

It is the Human Condition
to strive to be More than we Are
and to despair when we fall short.

However, we must always Remember
that we are More than we Were
but still Less than we Shall Be.

Giving the gods the credit (or the blame)

It is not my belief in the gods that creates my prosperity. Neither is it my disbelief in other gods that creates my strife. It is rather my actions and interactions within this world as well as above and below that creates the momentum driving my life forward. I am ultimately responsible for the good and the bad in my own life. Worshipping the right gods or the wrong ones or none at all has nothing to do with whether I can be happy, healthy, or moral. 

When you credit the gods (or God) with the good things, you rationally have to blame them for the bad as well. If you have good health or make a good grade on a math test and credit an outside force with that success, would it not stand to reason that failure in those things would be the responsibility of that same outside force, especially if you consider that outside force to be omnipotent?

Rather accept and take credit for your own hard work and achievements as well as the responsibility or blame for what goes wrong. 

Note: The concept of wyrd, luck, and fate is a conversation for a later blog post.

Clearing the cobwebs

My mind has been locked and forgotten like an attic in an old house waiting to be rehabbed. A century of dust coats the synapses, and tiny ghost spiders of ideas spin fragile webs in the shadowy corners. Thoughts skitter about unseen across the floor. Self-doubt and inertia nest like unwanted squirrels in the rafters.

But it's Spring-cleaning time. Throw open the shutters and let in the sunlight.

For too long I've allowed myself to just sit; my creative voice becoming derelict and moldy. Time to sweep away the cobwebs, wash down the windows and floors, and re-purpose the attic. It'll no longer be simply a storehouse of old papers and discarded toys. It'll be a workspace filled with bright colors and sound; a place to incubate and initiate new ideas and plans.

And I'm definitely evicting those damn squirrels!