The Cha-Cha is On a Coffee Sabbatical

Well, you probably noticed that I've been slacking here on Take the Bounce. Except I won't call it that. It's more of a redirect in focus. There is a long-term project I've been slowly simmering with that is now kinda bubbling to a head.

Knowing that my recovering mental acuity has its limits at the moment, I've had to decide where my focus goes every day. 

It is to the other project. I am not abandoning this blog as I have been enjoying the journey since I started it. So, I thank you for being here with me and I will be back in a few weeks. 

I'm open to any interaction on Twitter and/or Reddit in the meantime. (see the links on the right side).

Hugs - M

Stuff You Don't Want

Lots of banging and booming invaded my dreams early this morning. A torrent of sounds pulled me away from swirly dreams. Yesterday I was aware that rain was expected today but I didn't expect it to rouse me from bed. Even the cat sleeping between my legs snuggled in closer for protection. I sent up a brief wish for things to calm down before my mind used it as an excuse to think more.

I did go back to sleep.

What a dreadful time it would have been if I allowed my brain free reign to explore all of the things I didn't want as a result of the rain. The mini lakes in the yard. The mud in front of the open air garage. The sloppy globs of turned leaves plastered to the porch. It would have then led to thinking about more things I didn't want. A negative momentum of thought mining. 

I would have been awake for the day before the sun could even break through the clouds.

How many times do we do this in our waking hours without the stimulus of something noisy and in your face? More than we probably want to admit. I don't mean this post to be an examine our baggage kind of experience. Quite the opposite.

Just want to show that you can be aware of stuff going on that you don't want and not be dragged down by it. It is how you turn what you notice at first and whether or not you let it turn into the only thing you focus on.

Path Towards the Bubbly

Hey you, I hope you are well. The sun is shining in my part of the world today. My cat Paru is laying on my desk in front of me. I've just virtually met two new people this morning. I've flowed my love to those I appreciate. From this precipice, what kind of day do I have ahead of me?

Will it be full of problems and annoyances? Or will things line up in ways I didn't foresee? What do you think? With the vibrational space I am cocooned in right in this moment, I can see only opportunities and possibilities.

Do I wish this to be my habitual everyday outfit? Yes. But do I WANT it to be? No.

How can we become more without figuring out what is on the displeasing or even disgusting path? We can't. But the thing is, even though the experiences of what we don't want are the necessary part of the equation, doesn't mean we have to stay there for years. A short toe-dip into bubbly acid is enough to do the trick.

Someone asked me the other day how I am feeling. They were aware of my health scare and I am sure they wanted to feel better knowing that I am better. There wasn't a detailed answer I could give without sounding incomprehensible. "I am well," I said. And the conversation moved on.

Get Your Nose Out of My Yummy

Steering your own ship. This is what I wish to live more deliberately. That the tides of beliefs, perceptions, rules, and other people are not to remain bound by. They are gemstones, rocks, and T-n-T embedded in the dirt for you to find and use or ignore.

We think that we want it all handed to us, like the way we feed our beloved fur babies. That the struggle to gain traction, possessions, and status is not worthwhile because of the hazards we often endure.

But what if we were just all making things up as we go along? Ooh, nerve strike. Don't turn away. My fingers are still typing letters and not the delete key.

You and I are Creators. What I create for me and what you do for you serves our advancement to new desires. What interests you may or may not interest me. That is why variety exists. And thank goodness for that. Just because I abhor the thought of eating seafood, doesn't give me the right to think badly of you because it makes your taste buds dance.

Very smart beings I've heard say many times, "You don't go to a buffet and pile all the foods you detest onto your plate." No! Put that plum pudding, crab legs and Mu Shu pork on your Mikasa dish if that is your ultimate yummy experience. I'd rather see the pleasure on your face as you eat every bite, then hold myself out of smelling range.

Label Me This

Why should we feel the need to wear a sign on our forehead that tells others what we do? Do we crave others to hand us labels instead of allowing us the joy to discover what is important for ourselves? I know in terms of our brain wiring we seek shortcuts to assign what we experience to what is familiar. As I heard from a very smart person not so long ago, the mind hates the unfamiliar.

Maybe hate is too strong a word. Perhaps it is the focus on trying to make sense of what is experiencing too much for the mind to take. It's kind of like watching the first thirty minutes of a movie and there is so much going on, you can't find the correct trail of what is important.

Remember when we were kids and played those awesome, free-flowing reenactment games? In the late 70s, me and my friends would make up new episodes of Charlie's Angels to act out. I never could convince the others that Farrah Fawcett's character was something I could do. I had the blond hair, but it was my glasses that typecast me to slot in as Sabrina, the smart, not so cute one. I always felt a bit offended but still played because the experience of the game made it worth it.

I'd like to think I have evolved enough to where I stop comparing myself to others, physically. The label giving machine inside my noggin is in semi-retirement. But maybe it will never be completely obsolete as long as I am alive since I still like having comparative experiences. Hmmmmm, maybe I still need it because I am a story creator, and.....

To the Edge of Sight

Blindness is just a condition where your eyes cannot translate visual phenomena. It is also a condition of the mind where the source of blindness is a belief. This hard truth is not something easily acknowledged. We like to exist in a reality where what we believe must be true for everyone. But always we are on our own, in thought and deed.

This is neither a gift nor a curse if you look at it in stark terms. Because you can never know what has caused others to believe what they do, it is neither your duty or right to sway someone else to your thought train.

Gah, this feels heavy. I am sorry. Maybe it is the coping mechanism my brain is using today.

I hope you seek and find fun today. We both deserve it. Until tomorrow, hugs.

Stay Off the Caravan

Being seen, noticed, and acknowledged by others - is it a modern trait or our inherent desire as human beings? Why is it sooo important that another acknowledge who we are and what we are about? Fascinating to think about and gut-wrenching to admit it happens with me too. Maybe it stems from our conditioning in childhood. If our parents weren't yelling at us for doing something wrong, that must mean we were worthy of their attention. 

Or how about wanting to be part of the inner circle of the elusive group at school - the cool people club? Of we could prove we were interesting and could add value to them by our association, then we had arrived. Home free, out of the contrast of others pointing out how weird we were from liking things not widely embraced.

This is an interesting tangent for today's post. The words seem to write themselves in my Scrivener program. I like it.

Ah, I know the reason for this topic. I just experienced it this morning. Wow. You'd think by now, at my age, this would be behind me. I guess not. Maybe this is to make me think, why do I hide a lot of what matters to me from the world? It's probably the big 'J'; judgment.

Isn't that what most of this country is doing right now?

Coming clean with you. I have a YouTube channel called Divinity Channel. The content on it was a big part of my life and it still matters to me. You don't have to look unless it fees right to do so. No more hiding that part of me.

The Trickster's Voice

Dragon is the word whispered into my mind in between breaths this morning. Is a dragon supposed to be scary or majestic? Commanding or commanded? Fiction or metaphor. My favorite dragon movie is Dragonheart. Starring Dennis Quaid as Bowen, the reluctantly reformed dragon slayer, and Sean Connery as the perfect virtual embodiment of the dragon, Drago.

I feel there is a point to this opening, and I am a willing rider.

Bowen's perceptions about each other's roles in their story world had to shift in order for something more important to occur. Gratitude beyond assumption. Appreciation instead of foregone conclusions. Can any of us here in this civilized world claim that we reach beyond what is dished up by others with agendas? We try, I try, but it's hard.

There are lots of dragons in our faces right now. Especially right before a reality shifting event such as tomorrow. It's easier to keep our head above the tide if we can reduce the clamor into right or wrong. But we'd miss out on the opportunity to see the false reflection of ourselves.

Yes, I wrote that correctly. Opportunity. How can we/us/I decide which feels better without all the contrast? Not possible.

I am willing to say to all those I feel are wrong, that I assumed something that might just be smoke and mirrors. How do I know? Because there is no joy or happiness, only a void.