All photos in this post taken by Dinah (c) If we were having coffee..... I’d be happy to see you again! I always enjoy your company! I’m feeling quiet. Nothing’s wrong; I’m just feeling like too many words are unnecessary today. So, instead of words, I’ll share some beauty and some things I love with …
Author: dinah
Welcome! I’m Dinah. My blog is an ever evolving haven to gather, chat and explore the musings du jour. My thoughts are usually all over the place so that’ll probably be true there too.
Dinah’s Coffee Chat 2/26/21
Photo by Dinah (c) If we were having coffee.... Welcome back, my friend! I can’t believe we’re already back to our weekend coffee chat! This week just flew by for me! How about you? Did your week go quickly too? Please help yourself to a cup of coffee and tell me about your week. I …
Wisdom Wednesday 2/24/21
“Mirroring & Mindfulness”-Photo by Dinah (c) Welcome back to Wisdom Wednesday!Last week we briefly discussed mindfulness. Mindfulness is about learning to pay attention. It’s about paying attention to what goes on around us and to how we choose to respond … Remembering that we have the ability to choose a thoughtful response rather than a …
Dinah’s Coffee Chat 2/20/21
Photo by Don (c) If we were having coffee....Welcome my friend! How are you? I’m so glad you stopped by to say hello. Grab a cup of something you love and get comfy… in preparation for our transition to the keto way of life, my husband made a batch of chocolate chip cookies… One last …
Wisdom Wednesday 2/17/21
Mindfulness 💜 Introducing Wisdom Wednesday! My thought is that this will be an opportunity to explore different thoughts/beliefs/insights from various Wisdom Traditions that can add to our individual peace of mind and heart. Let’s face it, the world isn't getting any easier to navigate any time soon. So, since we can’t control the outside chaos, …
Dinah’s…If We Were Having Coffee 2/12/21….
Photo by Dinah(c) Hello my friend! Thanks so much for stopping by for a cup of coffee and a chat. I’ve missed you. How have you been? I hope you’re surviving winter and that you’re still finding things to feel happy about! If we were having coffee, I would be delighted to see you. And …
If we were having coffee…1/30/21
Photo by Dinah (c) If we were having coffee.....Hello my friend! Always wonderful to see you! Please grab a cup of coffee and make yourself comfy. Seems to be a good day to catch up… So how are you? I hope you’re finding some things to keep you warm and cozy, both inside and out. …
If we were having coffee…1/16/21
Angel Cloud taken by Dinah (c) If we were having coffee.... Good morning my friend! So happy that you dropped by. Your time is precious and I know that you’re busy. So …I wrote something on Thursday that I feel is important. Please click on it here. Feel free to comment/dialogue here or on that …
Privilege
Photo by Dinah (C) I haven’t written in a while because life has been challenging. All of my time has been spent trying to find a new place for my brain injured brother to live. This, in itself, is challenging. But Covid has made it unbelievably moreso. I have had to move him without being …
News Year’s Day is Every Day!
Photo by Dinah (c) For last year's words belong to last year's language, and next year's words await another voice.~ T S EliotQuote compliments of:www.earthschoolharmony.comHAPPY NEW YEAR!Well my friend… Take a bow! You/we survived 2020. That was no small accomplishment. Congratulations!It occurs to me that this is the day each year that we do what …
Holiday Insights-If We Were Having Coffee 12/26/20
Photo by Dinah (c) If we were having coffee.... Welcome back, my friend! I’m sorry that you’re only hearing from me during the weekend coffee share group blog opportunity. I’m working on fixing this problem! Anyway.... I’m happy to connect with you now, at least. How are you? How have you been doing during this …
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Shifting Perspectives…If we were having coffee 12/18/20
Photo by Dinah (c) If we were having coffee..... Welcome my friend! Thank goodness for these weekend coffee shares. Lately, they have been the only time that I have focused on connecting with you. I’m hoping to improve that! If we were having coffee, I would, as usual, be so happy to spend some time …
Continue reading Shifting Perspectives…If we were having coffee 12/18/20
If we were having coffee…. 12/11/20
Photo taken by Dinah (c) If we were having coffee..... Welcome back my friend. It’s so good to see you. I always enjoy these coffee get togethers. Come, sit, get comfortable. If we were having coffee, I would want to know how you’re doing. What’s new? Tell me what you’ve been pondering this week… If …
If we were having coffee- 12/4/20
Meme copied from Facebook If we were having coffee..... If we were having coffee I’d want you to go first because I’m tired. Not the tired that gets fixed by going to bed early. That tired is no big deal. I’m the kind of tired that makes me question my fitness for polite company. I …
Life Happens 💜
December 1, 2020 - The NaNoPoBlano Challenge is over. It feels strange, a bit of a let-down. The 30 day challenge kept me motivated. Now it’s up to me...Sigh. While I won’t be blogging daily into eternity, I’m not ready to let go of my streak or momentum. I’m enjoying our connection. But today, I’ll …
WE DID IT -NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 30/30
Wow!! We’ve reached the end of the monthlong NaNoPoBlano Challenge. And I’m thrilled to report that I did it....a blog post per day for 30 days! This is big because I had just started my blog like a week or so beforehand. As a complete newbie, I was apprehensive. But I’m so glad I did …
The Way -NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 29/30
Spiritual seekers particularly are on a quest to understand life; we want to examine our own lives and find meaning in what we do and who we are. We find meaning in the seeking itself. Every step along the way is the Way.~ Lama Surya Das 💚www.earthschoolharmony.com The above is copied from a Facebook post …
NPE/MPE Arriving at Truth -NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 28/30
“You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your …
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NPE/MPE Truths- Coming Out Of The Closet One Blog Post At A Time
Weekend Coffee Share 11/27/20 - NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 27/30 Hello my friend!Wonderful to have you drop by for coffee! I’ve come to look forward to coffee share time. These days, we have to take our socialization where we can get it! Right? So fill your cup with something you love and get comfy. I want …
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You! -NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 26/30
Image from unsplash Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, I’m grateful for you! I see this life as a massive jigsaw puzzle or mosaic. Each one of us is a piece of the grand design. It’s crazy and ungainly and all of the images flow and bleed outside of the lines. All of the overlapping …
HoliDAZE Part 1 -NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 25/30
Photo taken by my husband First of all...You’re not alone! It may well feel like you are and I know how hard it is to cope with that feeling. But you’re not alone. In the U.S., tomorrow is Thanksgiving. And that lights the fuse of cascading holidays or holiDAZE. Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, New Years... …
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No Certainty- NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 24/30
These days have so many embedded questions that there’s no room for casual thoughts or thrilling conversations. Casual and thrilling have been temporarily replaced with uncertainty...especially in terms of the things that were always supposed to be certain. It was a certainty that the professionals would care for the aged and infirm when the time …
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Family Photos- NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 23/30
Picture from Facebook Throughout my life, the word “family” was difficult. The word, the associated dynamics, the players...it was all stressful...still is. So I had to tweak and revise my definition multiple times. Family became about choice and ease once I realized that family isn’t just about genetics. Family is about including those who love …
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Musings- NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 22/30
Productive or not, my thoughts often wander to all kinds of “what ifs”. It’s what my brain does. Sometimes it’s useful, it’s a form of contingency planning. And when you’re dealing with disability, contingency plans are important in case things go off the rails. But today isn’t about survival planning. It’s more about life in …
Communing with trees -NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 21/30
Grand Matriarch When I was a kid, we lived about a block from “the duck pond.” It had a proper name. But it was a very small town and that’s what everyone called it. Back then, the town catered to the ducks. There was a feeding station where you could get a half of a …
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If we were having coffee 11/20/20 – NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 20/30
Photo and virtual banana bread courtesy of my husband 💜 Welcome my friend! So happy to share some virtual time and space with you! If we were having coffee, I’d offer you coffee, tea, soda or water. I’d also offer you some of my husband’s banana bread. He’s using my mom’s recipe...and adding chocolate chips...because …
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How could this be worse – NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 19/30
How could this be worse-A strange and effective coping tool! A friend taught me this little tidbit about 30 years ago and it continues to serve me well. When I was in my late 20’s, I joined a women’s spirituality group. We were quite eclectic. There was a lot of both direct and incidental learning …
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Compassion- NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 18/30
“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” – Joan Didion Thank you to Sarah at -https://thestarsandrainbowsjournal.wordpress.com/for this quote. I read it on her blog yesterday. She’s a wonderful writer and I appreciate her blog. This quote …
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Patience Please! – NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 17/30
Photo taken, once again, by my husband! My dear friend Jo said to me years ago, “Dinah, immediate gratification is too slow for you!” And, of course he was spot on! I’m so bad at waiting. I feel like I’m walking a razor’s edge trying to be patient AND proactive. It seems to me that …
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Living the Questions-NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 16/30
“I beg you, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live …
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We’re halfway there-NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 15/30
We’re halfway through the NaNoPoBlano monthlong blogging challenge coordinated by Ra Avis https://rarasaur.com/about/ I had only been blogging for a week when it started. And I have to say that I’m so glad that I jumped in....even though I was terrified! It’s said that, in order to develop a new habit, you need to do …
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If we were having coffee 11/14/20 -NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 14/30
Good Morning my friend! Oh so good to see you! How was your week? I’m hoping all is well in your world. If we were having coffee I’d want you to go beyond the word “fine” and really tell me how you are. What frustrated you this week? Was it resolved, at least in your …
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He’s that guy -NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 13
Today is a big deal. It’s been a big deal for 33 years. And yet, in 33 years, I’ve never known how to celebrate this day in the manner it deserves! Today is my husband’s birthday. It’s also the 33rd anniversary of our first date. -33 years ago I asked him if he wanted to …
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Discombobulated-NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 12
Photo taken by my husband. He’s good at noticing! It’s a discombobulated kind of day. I’m taking another few “first”steps in this long journey back from the big fall. Every “first” is both momentous and trivial at the same time! And, the very fact that each big/little thing is such a huge/trivial deal, is draining! …
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Manifesting -NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 11
I met Nancy over 25 years ago after my marriage and my world collapsed. I never saw it coming and I was barely hanging on at times. Most of the time, I felt like I was just moving through fog...pretending to function but so disengaged that I felt like an observer in my own life. …
Just Breathe-NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 10
I thrive on certainty. I like routine. Sameness makes me feel safe. I’m strange that way. Maybe you are too?I suspect this is a byproduct of growing up in chaos. Dysfunction is threatening. Dysfunction, by it’s very nature, is unsettling and fatiguing and makes you hold your breath as if tension and breath can protect …
Livingston I Presume-NaNoPoBlano Day 7
When I was a kid, like 8-10 years old, my mom loved the story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. She had an album of Rod McKuen reading the book. And she played it ALL. THE. TIME. I grew to hate that story and Rod McKuen! But time heals and teaches and clarifies. I …
Writing Stew-NaNoPoBlano Challenge Day 8
Pensive Moments Well, I’m about 2 1/2 weeks into blogging and one week into the 4 week NaNoPoBlano Challenge. And today I’m stewing. I have about eight different blog posts started and I’m trying to decide which ones to actually finish and post.I’m realizing that blogging is an art unto itself. There is certainly a …
Angels among us!- NaNoPoBlano Day 9
Photo from Facebook I first posted the story below on Facebook, in a closed group, in August. I was testing the waters. I wanted to see how it felt to publicly share an experience that some might consider weird or… Whatever. It felt fine. It was received well. So now I’m sharing it publicly. One …
If we were having coffee 11/6/20 & NaNoPoBlano Day 6
If we were having coffee 11/6/20If we were having coffee, I’d want to sit outside because we’re having shockingly warm weather for November. We need to enjoy every second of it. We could talk about surviving these stressful political times and about maintaining, not just our sanity, but our loving kindness for self and especially …
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Normal -NaNoPoBlano Day 5
My view of the double rainbow from my room at the rehab center Normal....A week and a half ago, the doctor said that my arm was healed enough to start living more normally. And I’m learning and relearning that normal is relative and that it changes from day to day. Up until July 29, normal …
Being. -NaNoPoBlano Day 4
“We have a tendency to think in terms of doing and not in terms of being. We think that when we are not doing anything, we are wasting our time. But that is not true. Our time is first of all for us to be. To be what? To be alive, to be peaceful, to …
Hiraeth-NaNoPoBlano Day 3
Hiraeth is a Welsh word for homesickness or nostalgia, an earnest longing or desire, or a sense of regret. The feeling of longing for a home that never was. A deep and irrational bond felt with a time, era, place or person. -Wikipedia This vague nostalgia, this homesickness for a place I’ve never been has …
Feeding the Soul -NaNoPoBlano Day 2
Feeding the Soul....In keeping with yesterday’s theme of feeding one’s soul, I started thinking about what, if anything, I’ve done to feed my soul over the years. In high school, I wanted to take a photography class. My dad told me not to. He said that photographers need to take pictures from all kinds of …
LET THE WRITING CHALLENGE BEGIN! -NaNoPoBlano-
Facing the NaNoPoBlano Challenge And so it begins....Ok, it’s NaNoPoBlano month. I feel like there should be a trumpet or drum roll or something to mark the beginning of this auspicious occasion! Those of us who’ve joined the level 1 NaNoPoBlano Challenge have committed to blogging EVERY SINGLE DAY for the month of November. So …
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If we were having coffee 10/30/20…..
Oh so happy to see you! I’m so looking forward to these coffee Saturdays leading to new friendships and to the rekindling of communication with some longtime friends. If we were having coffee I’d tell you that I’ve now tried walking with my crutches a few times. I fell Thursday morning because I’m still trying …
NaNoPoblano Month…
NaNoPoBlano NOVEMBER IS ALMOST HERE!! I feel like I’ve been given the proverbial winning lottery ticket! I somehow stumbled my way to the technical doorstep of Ra Avis, blogger extraordinaire, and she has been graciously mentoring me in the process of starting a blog. Her gentle and very kind support has reduced my technology fear/frustration …
Remembering…..
Remembering ....I saw the doctor today. He said I can try walking again. After 3 months, he feels that my cracked left kneecap and my broken and surgically reengineered left arm are ready for the next step....literally and figuratively! I reminded him that I walk with crutches...always have. He thinks my arm can handle it. …
If we were having coffee 10/23/20….
If we were having coffee.....If we were having coffee, I know that this time I’d talk way too much. I’d be bursting to tell you about the journey I took without ever leaving my house!You see...I have been followed by land mines. The trip wires weren’t in the ground. They were in my voice. They …
Watershed Moments….
What started at age 18 was confirmed at age 55 thanks to 23&Me.....When something known in the gut is finally confirmed to the mind, time stands still and the scene becomes burned into cellular memory.I was 18 and my life had been difficult and not of my own making. My father won custody of me …
What if….
What if I told you that I’ve been reading UNTAMED by Glennon Doyle and that one of her statements continues to follow me around? She says: “Shamelessness is my spiritual practice!” WOW!What if I told you that I now have been wondering who I would be if I were shameless? Could the me-ness that I’ve …
WELCOME
Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here. I hope you’ll stop by often to chat and explore. This poor blog has been on my “Someday “ list for like ten years! Pathetic, right? But at least you know right out of the gate that I’m not impulsive. That should be worth something! I’m here, doing this …
If we were having coffee….
If we were having coffee, I’d be concerned about talking too much. I’d want you to go first. I’d enjoy hearing what’s new, what’s old, and especially what’s been exciting you lately. We all need something to be excited about. If we were having coffee, I might whine just a bit about the coming of …
With Angels and Elephants 