V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #56: Language

July 8, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

“We need language to tell us who we are, how we feel, what we’re capable of – to explain the pains and glory of our existence.” – Maya Angelou “Do you not like the book you are reading?” My granddaughter shrugs in response. Normally an avid reader, I wonder why she keeps setting this particular […]

Sometimes Risk Is Called For

July 7, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Jane Juska has been on my mind all week. At sixty-six, the divorced, mother of one, decided it was time to reclaim her sexuality, so she posted an ad in The New York Review of Books: Before I turn 67 – next March – I would like to have a lot of sex with a […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #55: reclaim

July 1, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

In July of 2013, I contracted pneumonia. After a course of treatment, I continued to experience weakness, shortness of breath, and frequent tachycardia. By January, I had seen a gamut of specialists, received no answers, and was worse. Test after test eliminated obvious possibilities. In the end, I was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. The doctor […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #54: Subtle

June 24, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Subtle is: 1. not loud, bright, noticeable, or obvious in any way; 2. small but important; 3. achieved in a quiet way that does not attract attention to itself and is therefore good or clever. Cambridge English Dictionary Subtlety is not my strong suit. I am outspoken, exuberant, and often joke that I have to […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #53: Lottery

June 17, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

A psychic told Ric that he would win $33 million in a lottery. “Good,” he responded, “because I have no retirement plan.” Always the joker. Still, it’s something we love to fantasize about: what would we do? Ric felt as if he’d won the lottery when diagnosed with Stage III cancer. Six months later, the […]

Orange Is An Anomaly

June 16, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

ArtisticallyNaturedOccasionallyMadAlwaysLearningYearning… According to the True Colours system of analyzing personalities, I am flaming orange, with the least amount of gold, and a balance between green and blue. What that means is that I dislike structure, am highly creative (and a risk-taker) and in equal measure crave order, and feel inadequate. In other words, finding balance […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #52: anomaly

June 10, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

A doctor recently referred to me as an anomaly. It’s not the first time I’ve heard it from the medical profession. Hardly reassuring. The other day, walking amongst the tall green trees, wondering at the richness of the foliage around me, I spotted a twig of a branch with three red leaves on it. Odd […]

Green Is A Novice

June 9, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

I catch myself playing that soul-stripping game of comparison, and come up feeling dreadfully inadequate. My writing is lacking, my photography sucks, and it’s an embarrassment to self that I even post my art. Not actually – but this is the fallout from comparison. I need to turn this thinking around: I am blessed to […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #51: Green

June 3, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

“It’s not easy being green,” Kermit the Frog sings. I suppose not if you are green with envy. “I have to smoke,” my father would say. “I’m too green to burn.” I am in love with the multi shades of green that mark our Spring season here in Ontario, so I have decided to make […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #50: Acceptance

May 27, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

“The doctor was adamant that it’s cancer, and I’ve researched it. If it is, it’s not good.” Weeks of repressed fear gush forward, and I find myself crying, mid restaurant, my husband seated across from me. “We just don’t know yet.” he responds softly, taking my hand. “We’ll deal it with one step at a […]

Resilience

Boxes are filling up around us. We’re making a dent in our to-do lists. Doubt seeps in. Are we doing the right thing? Then I remember all the reasons behind making this choice and affirm: We are dismantling one life to build another, purposeful existence.

Monday Mood: squirrely

The movers need to be arranged, and the closets sorted and packed, and when was the last time we bought groceries…. Head and attention are going in too many directions at once, and I’m exhausted before I get started. Might be a little cranky too. The stress of moving is real.