Facing Fears & Growing Up at Amicalola Falls

Over the past year, I've been working on my fitness levels, with the goal of reigniting my once-hobby of hiking and backpacking.  As part of this adventure, this Summer, I gathered the family and we went on a hike to the top of one of our local waterfalls, Amicalola Falls. Amicalola being only a 2-hour drive from our home, we made a spontaneous day trip of it, expecting to have a pleasant dive, a brief but enjoyable hike, and some chill-out time in the woods.  We got most of these things. We also got a bit more.

Trying Hard, a Self-Reflection

I grew up lucky.  I was blessed to have several raw talents, including a mind that could handle academics with ease.  This kind of luck comes with a curse, though.  You see, I never had to try. 

School (well, most of it - I still have nightmares about times tables) was always a breeze. I was always an A-B student and graduated fifth in a class of over 600 without ever putting out more than the bare minimum of effort into my work.  Sure, I did work...I researched, read, learned on my own...but only when it was fun and only with the things that piqued my interest for only as long as my interest stayed piqued.  I never worked hard.

Cultivating an Open Mind by Teaching Forgotten Histories

The other day, in Social Studies, the J-Rex and I were reading about the beginnings of civilization.  As we read, I found myself objecting to the anti-indigenous bent to the way our book addressed the issue, as if all hunter-gatherer cultures were inherently savage and "lesser" than the civilizations that were forming at the time. 

Meditation, Yoga, & the Distracted Child: Sa Ta Na Ma Meditation

A while back, the J-Rex's Occupational Therapist began working with her on a finger isolation technique that involved touching your thumb to each fingertip in turn.  When the J-Rex told me about the exercise, I was immediately reminded of a meditation listed in her yoga book:

The Cascade Effect of Self-Improvement

For a long time , I was pretty down.  I was seeing my lifestyle fall apart around me, watching from the sidelines as I kept losing and losing...family members and friends, jobs, possessions, confidence...  

I comforted myself with cigarettes, sleep, and generally attempting to hide from myself and life in general.  

Then, I quit smoking.  To fill the time and distract myself from the cravings, I began taking on new challenges. I tried all sorts of things, from a daily gratitude practice, to clearing out my to-do list, to cultivating an active lifestyle and beginning to exercise regularly.

Mid-thirties Existentialism

Entering into my thirty-fifth year, I was undergoing a transformation and seeing the emergence of a creative surge I had long awaited. I felt a lightness of being and a freedom of spirit I had forgotten I was capable of. For the first time in years, I was beginning to see a future vision of where and who I want to be again, as well as the path to get there. I began to feel like I was walking on air. I felt ready to face my fears, my challenges. I felt good - very good - maybe too good...

Where's the Nerd in Nerd & Nurturer?

I realized something the other day: I have been overly concerned with turning this blog into something that appeals to a specific audience, namely the homeschooling, environmentally-conscious super-mom crowd. The problem? I am absolutely NOT a super-mom and, though at least one or two trains of my thoughts are always centered on my child and homeschooling, I'm not a one, two, or even three-trick pony.  ...and why would I want to be? I'm not blogging for money (notice there are no ads on this page - yeah, I did that on purpose because I kind of hate the corporate-driven society we live in)...I'm writing a personal blog and the majority of my audience, at the moment, is family/friends.  I would like to have a wider audience at some point because I love to write and I get an odd exhilaration from others reading that writing, but none of that matters if my writing is not true to myself...

Cultivating Health: My 21-day Fitness Challenge

On the first day of September, I was having a day of doldrums...I was feeling bored and unhappy with myself for no particular reason.  Then, I had a thought that was quite unusual for me, "maybe if I do a workout, I'll feel better."

So, I worked out - about 35 minutes or so of callisthenics in my living room - and, sure enough, I did feel better! I felt a sense of pride in myself for having done something for my body that I traditionally have hated doing (for me, exercise has always been associated with injury and feeling wimpy because I never could "keep up.").  I felt a sense of amazement at my increased lung capacity post-smoking.  Most of all, though, I felt a boost in my mood from endorphins that I'd never felt before (likely because I always used to end my workout when it started to hurt rather than push past that point).