SOUL MUD: Random Ramblings of my 24/7 Brain

Oh, but the blooms bring me a moment of bliss  and shield me from the brutality of a world  that extinguishes the fragile innocence of youth  and wilts the wonder this life holds.  ~ABS 5/7/2019

Today (5/7/2019):   More gun violence and this time so close to home.   Time for more “thoughts and prayers?”  Here we go again... Shoot. Bury. Pray. Repeat.  After spending some time contacting all the people I knew in the area of the STEM School in Highlands Ranch to make sure that their children were safe, I had flash back to the Columbine shooting (the 20 th anniversary of which was just over 2 weeks ago).   And then, I started listing off the school and mass shootings that have happened in the United States since then.   Ready to be horrified??? 1. Columbine High School Shooting, Littleton, Colorado – April 1999: 13 Dead 2. Atlanta Shootings, Atlanta, Georgia – July 1999: 12 Dead 3. Wedgwood Baptist Church shooting, Fort Worth, Texas – September 1999: 7 Dead 4. Xerox Killings, Honolulu, Hawaii – November 1999: 7 Dead 5. Tampa Hotel Shootings, Tampa, Florida – December 1999: 5 Dead 6. Wakefield Massacre, Wakefield, Massachusetts...

I like to sleep.  I like the feeling of drifting off to sleep in a cool, comfy bed with freshly bleached soft sheets in a cool dark room.  I like naps - short naps, long naps - all the kinds of naps.  I love feeling as thought I am stealing a little something out of the middle of the day.  I like to sleep on the couch, the guest bed, the patio, the porch, in the mountains, on the beach...I like to sleep.  I especially like the weird stage of falling asleep (that I refer to as twilight) where things, thoughts and sounds are distorted and oddly psychedelic and a little bizarre and yet I'm still conscious enough to know I'm in a bit of an alternate reality and I can think, "Whoa!  This is kinda cool."  I find that in that space before sleep settles in and takes over, (twilight) I am often the grateful recipient of inspiration and that is super cool.  For this very reason, I keep a pen and paper in my nightstand because as much as I think I'll...

I want to understand things.  In reality, my desire to understand is very selfish and self-serving.   Understanding enables me to find a path to acceptance - a place that I can self-soothe and restore balance to a tilted world.  Unfortunately, it seems that the things I most desperately need to understand are the very things that escape me.  How annoying is that?!? It doesn't however mean that I don't toil away, continuing to look for reasons so I can understand that which evades me.  Thoughts sit in the recesses of my mind - seeds - waiting to be planted and sown, preserved and stored or defined as weeds and thrown out.  I have found that my thoughts of late linger on those lost to this world by means of suicide.  This means of escape from our world seems to be more prevalent than ever.  Suicide is a great sadness.  I feel the sadness as more than just the very evident sharp pang felt at t...

Music, painting, sculpture – these forms of art can reach a person and have an intense emotional effect, yet they leave room for the person listening, viewing or touching to interpret and project their own needs onto the art.      When I paint or create, a piece of me is no doubt infused into the end result.   Creating is a need that I feel, an  endeavor to express something with color and form.  It is something very real and formidable within me and needs to come out.  After I am done creating, I feel the drain and empty space that is left in me, just as I feel the connection to the creation that is a result of my efforts.    I struggle knowing that once a piece of art has been created, it is open to interpretation in the public eye.   I often explain to people that I have anxiety in presenting my art because I feel a vulnerability in how others interpret my art.  It is like they are judging me.  The expression ...

I got to thinking about the Skylark bird today.  The Skylark isn't a bright and showy bird.  As a matter of fact, it is pretty plain.  However, it is known for its prolonged song during its hovering flight. When I think about that, it seems pretty amazing to me.  It's a refreshing idea.  How awesome is it that a creature would sing its song, not to stand out to or for others, but for the sole purpose of bringing joy to its own flight.  If only we would stop and take note of the wisdom found in nature.  We have much to learn.   In honor of the Skylark, I wrote a poem about taking the time to do a little skylarking in our own lives. SKYLARKING - By Autumn Boyet-Stinton Twiddle-de-dee and twiddle-de-dum                Skylarking through life – to and from A joke, a trick, even a little bit of fun      ...

I bought a deck of cards called a Wordsmith Deck by Best Self.   These cards have 6 categories of journaling prompts to be used to challenge yourself to do something different – to begin a regular routine of writing that will help reconnect you to yourself, ignite creativity and who knows what else! The rules are simple:   1. Choose a prompt (or let one choose you)   2. Set aside time to express (by whatever means you feel is appropriate) what the prompt brings about.   And so the challenge begins:   DAY 1:    WHAT RELATIONSHIPS ARE ADDING TO YOUR LIFE? Depending on how you choose to read this question, you could go a couple different ways.   I chose to think about the type of relationships that add the most to my life.   That being said, the relationships that I take the time to invest in add the most to my life.   For me this year, I am attempting to be very aware of being present in my life and in each moment. ...