My Power Animal

 When I read this weeks GBE prompt of “Power Animal” I had never heard the term. I know, I know, I must lead a very sheltered life.

I had heard the term “Spirit Animal”. I was a bit confused to what the differences were. After a few google searches for “Power Animal” I learned that I was not the only one to be confused.

I would click on a link for “Power Animal” only to find an article for “Spirit Animal”.

I even found a site with a survey to help you find your “Power Animal”. After spending quite a bit of time answering quite a few questions, I got to the part to learn what my Power Animal was, only to find the heading “Your spirit animal is Turtle”.

First of all, what happened to Power Animal?

Second...Turtle? I was hoping for something a little more exciting, or at least a little bit intimidating like Bear, or Wolf. Even snake would be better than turtle.

When I google searched “Spirit animal turtle” I got this:

“The turtle totem wisdom teaches us about walking our path in peace and sticking to it with determination and serenity. Slow moving on earth, yet also incredibly fast and agile in water, those who have the turtle as totem or spirit animal may be encouraged to take a break in their busy lives and look around or within themselves for more grounded, long-lasting solutions.” 

 

While I am constantly amazed that we have the knowledge of the world in our computers, sometimes there is to much info. Now we add “totem” to “Power” and “Spirit” animals. Sheesh, I didn’t know this was going to turn in to a research paper.

While the description of a “spirit animal turtle” does sound a bit like me, I was still curious to find my power animal. Further research found these distinctions:

Spirit Animals are often perceived as guardians and guides that accompany individuals throughout their life journey, providing protection and wisdom.

Totem Animals, on the other hand, serve as emblematic symbols that are linked with a community or tribe, reflecting shared values and beliefs.

Power Animals act as spiritual mentors, endowing individuals with their innate strength and sagacity, and aiding in personal growth and empowerment.

Ummm. Okay. How do you find your power animal? Oh, look! Google has an answer:

Ways to Connect with Power Animals:

        Meditation: Through meditation, individuals can set the intention to connect                 with their power animal and seek guidance or healing.

Shamanic Journeying: This is a traditional method where individuals enter a trance state through drumming or other techniques to journey into the spiritual realms and communicate with their power animal.

Observation and Reflection: Paying attention to animals that one feels drawn to or frequently encounters can be a sign of a connection with a power animal.

Dream Work: Sometimes power animals communicate through dreams. Keeping a dream journal and reflecting on animal symbols can be insightful.

Rituals and Offerings: Creating rituals or making offerings that honor the power animal can strengthen the connection.

Art and Creative Expression: Drawing, painting, or creatively expressing the power animal can be a form of connection and honor.

Sounds like a lot of work. Since I didn’t start writing this until late Sunday night and it is due on Monday (Hey! Just like my research papers in high school!) I think I’ll just pick an animal that I think fits my disposition and stature. My power (totem, spirit) animal is;

                                                        Teddy Bear

 

Favorite Bookish Endeavors

 This weeks GBE prompt is: What is/are your favorite book(s) and why?

Hmmm.

My favorite book...Thinking...thinking…

This is like choosing your favorite song, movie, or grand child.

It’s also completely subjective. My favorite song, movie or book could be your most hated thing. But don’t think for a minute that is going to stop me from blogging about it.

The truth is, I didn’t used to be much of a reader. My early forays into fine literature started with the grade school bookmobile and paperback editions of the “Peanuts” comic, and the “Ripley’s Believe it or not” series.

My early teenage years were spent reading things like superman comics, mad magazine and graduating to such literary giants such as the Creepy and Eerie comics. Those led to the titillating art work and stories in the Vampirella magazines. My Mom hated those! Every time she found one, she would throw it away. If you are not familiar with these fine magazines, this is what the cover art looked like:

 

 

You can see why a teenage boy would find them interesting, and why my Mom hated them.

Later in life that dramatic styled art work led to painting this motorcycle helmet:

But we are not talking about art work and I’m not sure those magazines qualify as a real “book”.

I remember reading “Shane” in a seventh grade English class, mostly because the teacher made me read it out loud. I don’t know if she liked my voice, or just the fact that I could read pretty fast without stumbling over the words. The other students would read, but they usually only read a few pages at a time. I think I read about one fourth of that book out loud to the class. It was a western and all I really remember about it was; if you’re sitting in saloon, sit where you can watch the doors. It was a gunslinger thing.

The next book I remember was a collection of Edgar Allen Poe stories. Even though the wording was a bit old fashioned, I found I liked the Macabre. This may be where my interest in all things Halloween started.

I don’t remember much about them now, but I used to enjoy reading the humorous stories of James Thurber. The fact that he illustrated them with cartoons only made them more interesting to me as I once harbored dreams of being a cartoonist.

In high school we had to read “The Illustrated Man” by Ray Bradbury. The book was about a tattooed man and each tattoo had it’s own story. It was basically an anthology of science fiction stories. Now THAT I can get into. My roving mind can handle short stories!

My favorite book(s) lately has been a series hosted and judged by well know science fiction writers. It is called “Writers of the Future”. It is a contest for unpublished writers. I think they are up to Volume 39. I have most of them. Each story is by a different author and the themes and writing style vary greatly.

 

 

I find this much more appealing than a book length novel that could take me weeks to get through. If you get started on a long book and then find you don’t like the style, subject, or tone of the writing, you’re kinda stuck. You gotta struggle through it, or toss it and feel like your reading effort was a failed endeavor.

Even some Anthologies that are curated by one editor can have a certain “feel” or even subject matter. And if you don’t like one of those aspects, well, you’ve wasted your time and money. Fortunately, I buy all of my books at the used book store. If they have a section for science fiction anthologies, that’s where I will be...or over in the travel section.

That being said, there was one book that I started, and literally could not put it down. I started on Friday afternoon and read it all the way through in one sitting. That book was Jurassic Park. And yes, as good as the movie was, the book was better.

Oh wait, there was another book that I really enjoyed: “The life and times of the Thunderbolt Kid” by Bill Bryson. It was a humorous look at a time that matched when I was growing up, so I could relate to a lot of the stories. I ran out and bought a few more of his books after that, but this was my favorite.

Dang it. If I sit here long enough I will think of others. This blog could wind up being as long as “War and Peace”...which I have never read. I doubt anybody wants to read that much of my opinion. Actually, I'm surprised you made it this far! Congratulations!

Best day of my life

 The best day of my life was actually two days spent naked and involved in strenuous sexual activity. This being a public forum, I can’t tell you about that. I can tell you that I’m old enough that particular best day will never happen again.

That being said, I would like to say the next best days where when my kids, or grand kids were born. The truth is they were so long ago, or such a blur, that those days fade in my aged mind.

I have had a lot of really good days in my life. When you don’t have a lot of really bad days in a life, it’s sometimes easy to blow through really good ones without giving them much thought.

Sometimes the world around you becomes a part of you, and you a part of it. On really rare occasions you are aware of that perfect moment as it happens.

The first time I ever had enough time to travel out west, was well after I was 40 years old. From my house it is about a three day drive to get to the interesting spots and I never had enough vacation time to make that trip worthwhile. Utah was one of those spots. I wanted to experience it fairly raw. 

My wife prefers accommodations such as the Hyatt Regency and refuses to stay in anything less. When I suggest we boondock (camp in remote areas with no facilities) she was sure I had lost my mind. She said have fun, I’ll fly out in a few weeks and we can do it right.

So I threw a mattress and a cooler in the back of my pickup truck and headed out for the wild country of Utah. With thoughts of scorpions, poisonous snakes and/or spiders crawling into the back of if my sleeping area, I eventually found a spot on a high bluff overlooking a desert view. As night fell, I folded down the tailgate and watched a glorious sunrise with nobody else around for miles.

Any thoughts of poisonous critters or even wild animals seemed to flee my mind. I had never felt so at peace, or so comfortable being alone. It was like I was meant to be there, or like coming home. I fell asleep watching as an amazing array of stars filled the night sky. I never bothered to close up the back of the truck bed and awoke to an amazing sunrise. A best day for sure.

There were other best days, but this is long enough for now. 

 

 

Textures of life

 

There are textures of life that surround us, pressing many patterns against our mind, body and soul:

A loving touch, a soft caress, like satin against our skin, is cool and comforting.

The warmth of sunshine, like being wrapped in a soft, fuzzy blanket, calming our mind and soul.

A gentle breeze, it’s gossamer bush against our face, similar to the breath of life.

The sound and feel of rain, a vibrant, all encompassing texture that can wash away sorrows, or allow you to wallow in them.

The feel of grass on bare feet, a prickly carpet that tickles childish memories.

Laughter is the soul saving net that catches us from falling into the abyss of insanity.

An interesting conversation, a many patterned fabric requiring the mind to follow, digest, and seep into our psyche.

Music wraps around us, an all encompassing cloak that can affect every aspect of our disposition.

We wear the textured fabrics of life like comfortable clothes. Without thought, we allow them to surround us, alter our minds, touch our senses, and calm our souls.

 

 

This was written for the GBE-Reincarnated week #8 prompt of TEXTURE.  When I first saw the prompt my mind went blank and remained there for most of the week. Sometimes, you just have to sit down and start writing to get the mind to perform.