Thankful Thursday or One small thing....

I got a friend the Big Life Journal (now an adult edition as well as the 7-10 and the Teen editions) as I wanted to help her see herself in a better light and avoid being punched in irritation if I kept correcting her negative self-descriptions. Having a stickybeak before I sent it to her, I noticed it had a lot on positive thinking and growth mindset. I realised how much over the years I had benefited from the weekly link ups over the years of variations of  #ThankfulThursday.

And so, for a little while, until I get bored of hosting, I will host a similar linky to #ThankfulThursday where you can link a gratitude post about #OneSmallThing that made you happy this week.

Feel free to join in the link up. Make sure to comment on the host and the post before yours, leaving the hashtag #OneSmallThing. I will delete your post from the link-up that fail to do so. Dumping and running does nothing for the community nor gives anyone a boost. And that's the point of this link-up, as the world seems to be falling apart, we need to make the good bits easier to find.

Hope to see some of you Thursday...(This week's link up is live here)

Linking with #ThruMyLens #MySundaybest #WeekendReflection  #Skywatch #Allseasons  #WonderfulWednesday  

Kangaroos

 Australia seems to have two seasons. Wet and Cold & Wet. As the flood waters and constant rain hits Sydney and the surrounding areas, it's hard to remember the pre-lockdown years when everything was more normal. If it isn't canceled due to COVID, it's canceled due to the weather...

We ventured up to the Hunter, checking the live traffic for road closures before leaving. The deluge continued while there, and the Snowtime in the Hunter Valley Gardens was closed for the day.

The next morning, I got up for my morning Roo chasing (with camera in hand) but the misty morning light did not really work with my camera. And I didn't want to use the flash on the animals. So I played around with setting and this was the best I could get....(previous year's attempts were much better).

So here we are. Fingers crossed for some sunshine next week.

There were plenty of joeys around in their mamas pouches. Sleeping, waking and feeding.

A little blurry of the joey but an action series of him trying to get his head out and comfortable in the pouch. 

Linking with #DND #WordlessWednesday #PicturePerfectLinky  #KeithsRamblings  #WWOT #WWOAT #AwwMondays  #SaturdayCritters And #NaturesNotes

Platypus

 

While at the zoo, I spent a while watching the platypus swimming circles after breakfast. The pond is near the foyer and kids can watch thru perspex while safely gated in the compound. 

This particular creature is quite busy so it's a delightful bonus to the stay - adding to the accessibility to viewing the animals up close. 

The other egg laying mammal is the echidna (both montremes) and both unique to Australia.

"It is one of the few species of venomous mammals, as the male platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom" which you can see in the above photo. The quote is from Wikipedia.

Linking with #DND #Itsasnap #WordlessWednesday #KeithsRamblings #YourMoment #SundayBest  #SaturdayCritters  #WWOT #TheRandom #AwwMondays #WonderfulWednesday 

Peacock

 

When I stayed at the zoo, there was a very friendly peacock pottering about the entrance near the platypus. As I was out there playing around with my camera, I nabbed a few shots of the bird so he didn't feel left out.

   Alas, no fanned tail but still a beautiful bird.   

Linking with #SaturdaysCritters #NaturesNotes #BlueMondays #PicturePerfectlinky  #WordlessWednesday 

“The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.” ― H.L. Mencken

Excuse this rambling post, as the setup is long and jumbled, but it's something I'm grappling with in mild horror at the moment. I also want to apologise in advance for the ageism in the question, but it's where I'm at so there's no way to avoid it. I do want to say I am old and okay with getting old except at the idea of what I'm about to explain.

A few week's ago, I went to reply to someone on twitter with a joke, and saw I'd written such an 'Okay Boomer' thing to say, I was horrified. I deleted it before pressing send but it was too late. I took days to get over it. I couldn't believe my instant reaction was to make such a pissy comment*

Then the other night we saw some comedians, who used to be so edgy and extreme. I'd dragged along five friends and was mortified at how bad it was. It wasn't offensive, it just wasn't funny. They seemed old and out of touch - and genuinely unaware of a few things going on in the world. They seemed so conservative and entitled. It was sad and a little pathetic. Some of the audience left (presumably out of boredom) and one of my 5 whispered to my husband "This isn't funny" so it wasn't just my high exectations because I see a lot of comedians.

Returning home that night, I discover Nelson Piquet called Lewis Hamilton the N-word. On tv. Who does that?? Anyway, I felt the FIA and Mercedes statements in solidarity with Lewis weren't much better. They didn't seem to understand that Lewis being a world champion and his work in diversity were irrelevant and even if he was the unpaid intern sweeping the floors of the garage, no one deserves to be called that dehumanising term (nor should the little kid in the stand have to hear it). 

I then posed to an online group I'm in, the question (giving the above examples) and asked "Are we destined to become offensive and irrelevant as we age? Do we become conservative or do we not change and the rest of the world evolves without us?"

The default response from people saying they hate cancel culture only seemed to prove my point. I had specified the comedians didn't say anything offensive so we weren't even talking about cancel culture, unless you consider it cancelling because they were boring.

One friend, older than me pointed out that it's the problem of unwittingly living in a bubble that doesn't evolve as society changes around it and that others avoid getting caught and remain relevant.

Another stated "Offensiveness is not guaranteed, Being a bit less funny over time may be inevitable".

One said 'Our world view shrinks because at "our age" we need less validation, as we've reached the heights we have and therefore have less to try hard for' (I'm still pondering this comment, to be honest. As it's sort of it but sort of living in an antiquated bubble with some arrogance).

A female friend, the only female to answer said sometimes she hears her kids talking and realises how irrelevant any comment she made would be if she tried to join in. I did wonder if women notice this more because we have to grapple with age and our looks - we become invisible due to our appearance so we're more aware of it.  (My husband doesn't think of himself as old, and I know I'm old - but he is older than me).

I ran the whole scenario past my 26 year old Chiro (I'm sure I'm his favorite customer....ha!) and he said I should just wear my irrelevance as an amour and own it, but if I wanted to slow down the process, I should hang out with more Millenials. I pointed out I was having an existential crisis, not completely delusional and I was well aware young people didn't want to hang out with me!

I had lunch with friends who were bemoaning their daughter's nose ring. I pointed out that the world had changed on that and everyone has those now but no one was interested in that point of view. I sat feeling the gulf widen ever so slightly around me.

Is there no avoiding this? Do we just become out of step with the modern world with age? Is there something more to it? Is it living in the echo chamber? Can it be avoided? While I was horrified in myself at the tweet, I'm now terrified I've become Nelson Piquet in some way - maybe not on that slur but some other thing I'm completely oblivious to...(quite possibly in ageism ironically).

So what say you? And please, please, call me out if I ever become Nelson Piquet!

Linking with #TrafficJamWeekend #WeekendCoffeeShare (Apparently this is MY midlife crisis. Not looks. Relevance.)

*The person on twitter was saying it was only 2pm and they felt like a drink but they couldn't because they had an evening of one on one meetings with students at high school. I went to say, in jest, 'Have the drink, they're probably all drunk too' then was mortified that's where my brain went even as I typed it.

Interesting, when another friend questioned her relevance a few years back, I couldn't believe it and gave her a big pep talk. Now here I am in exactly the same boat. Perhaps I need to read my own words.

For the love of dance

 I have written a lot about dance - it's power to heal, it's mood lifting effect, it's sense of community, the science of dance and it's many other benefits for wellbeing..  Hell, even when I do karoke, I tend to throw in a dance for good measure. I am not a good dancer. I don't even know my left from right. I'm that white person with no rhythm the trope is laughing at. And I'm old. I just love it so much, and the serotonin it gives me (dopamine? I'm also not a doctor or biology student or clearly that smart), that I just don't care. Dancing is the quickest route to joy.

Walking to the restaurant to meet my friend before Hot Potato Band the other night, I was flooded with endorphins and getting high in anticipation of dancing. I said on arrival, 'the next best thing to the high you get dancing is the feeling of anticipation that you're going dancing!' And for me, it's true.

The next morning, my husband sent me this article with the preface 'it's not for the bit about hating your body, it's for the dancing bit'. He is not a dancer. At weddings, I'm allowed one dance with him. He warns me to choose the song wisely. He prefers seated concerts, where as I prefer to stand up the front in the crowd. My widowed brother-in-law is now my main dance partner at family weddings, because he likes to dance or doesn't know how to say no. I don't really understand people don't like to dance. I realise there's a self-conscious aspect, fear of looking stupid etc but if you give yourself over to the music, you just don't care. The serotonin released (or whatever) is worth it. In fact, as I've mentioned before, I'm sure there's footage of me on youtube being mocked for the way I dance...I just hope I never stumble across it.

Back to the article, Julia Baird sums up the regret people have late in life as their body physically declines '“If I had only known,” they would say, “I would have danced more.”' and she concludes "But for now, when alive, when upright, when walking through days with purpose, without pain, they [your body] are vessels for adventure, for sleep, for song, for dance, and a place where we experience joy." (full article is worth reading here). Dance is the most immediate path to joy in my opinion.

When in lockdown, as the weeks rolled on, I would be filled with existential panic, mainly about how I only had a limited time left to travel and dance, and do all the physical things I like to do. If people were talking about lockdown, I'd tap at my wrist and say "Tick tock! I'm running out of time". They'd laugh and say that I could still do all that but I don't think they realise what's involved. You need a certain amount of agility and strength to be able to throw yourself fully into the experience. And that, I know, is running out with age as my body physically declines. (And I accept all accusations of lockdown privilege. It's a fair call. Worrying about getting old when people are dying makes me a jerk, but this post is about my love of dance - because it is something I truly love. I stuck by the rules and still mask and sanitise but I will whinge away).

If you're a little lethargic, get up and dance. If you're down in the dumps, blast some music and dance hard. If you're in a crowd, focus on the stage and tune everything else out. I promise you, there's a shift. 

I have nothing on the cards until Duke Dumont hits our shores but I am counting down the days! In the meantime, I'll just have to settle for my morning dancing while I get dressed to Daily Drive....(another post on how much I love Spotify pending).

As for you, if you don't dance, I challenge you. Give it a go. Get your dirty boots on the floor!

 "A’a i ka hula, waiho i ka maka’u i ka hale." Dare to dance, leave shame at home.

In other news, I'm getting a new phone cos this one is dying and as you can see, can barely take photos anymore. What should I get?

Linking with #Tellusabout Dance

An ode to band stamps

Nowadays, when I see bands, I tend to show tickets or get wristbanded. For some reason, last week I went to two venues where I was stamped. The next morning in the shower, trying to wipe off the ground in smear, I was reminded of my youth where most weekends I had a black blur on my inside wrist to remind me of the fun I'd had the night before. It made me feel very wistful for that lost time.

I know menopause is making me extremely sentimental but this inky mess filled me with nostalgia.  As terrible as it looked, I like the idea that the stamp won't immediately wash off, a constant reminder of the fun the night before. A brief tattoo of enjoyment.

Someone reminded me of the UV stamps, that became big to stop people sneaking in with copies. I'd forgotten all about those. I guess that was when the wristbands came in...

It is a funny thing, nostalgia. Often doing the thing makes you think of the thing that feels like a lost time. Even though you just did it.

I see a lot of bands now, ironically probably more than I did then. So what exactly did these stamps make me long for? I don't know precisely.

I guess I'll need a few more stamps to find out!

Do you have any nostalgia triggers? What are they and what do they make you miss?

Linking with #TrafficJamWeekend  #AnythingGoes and #HappyTuesday because it's funny what pleasure you can find in the smallest of things...