Pondering My Mortality

On Sunday, November 28, 2021, I visited the Mercur Cemetery in Mercur, Utah in Tooele County about 40 miles West of Salt Lake City. This is an old mining community from around the turn of the 20th Century. It will be good to take another drive out there after Winter turns into Spring. The fun part might be sitting there a couple of hours and doing some journaling and reading a book called From the Ground Up - The History of Utah Mining. There is a section on the Ophir and Mercur mining districts. Ophir is about 5 miles north of Mercur. There are people living in that town maybe less than 50 citizens. In another post, I will share photos of that smallish town. 

The climb to the cemetery was fairly steep about a 100 yard climb. This was a nice place to visit so I can sit among the dead in my portable recreational chair. The graveyard had a calming effect on me and I was able to consider my mortality realizing I won't live forever. The drive to Mercur was nice and calm and it helped me to relax. After finishing the climb it was nice to feel my feet firmly planted on the ground with the surface area of my feet being fully covered. 

This is the result of the climb up to the cemetery facing East. The town of Mercur is Eastward and no one is living there because a mining company has a lease with rights to the property. 

Life in Utah is so wonderful and so many places to see and be grateful for. 

That is all for now everyone!

~TommyJ~

It was getting dark when I arrived at about 3:45.
The surroundings did not feel creepy because
this was a quiet place to visit for self-care.

Me sitting among the dead at the
cemetery. It may cover a
couple of acres.

Me with my orange car in the
background. 

More graves as facing Eastward. There were a
number of graves without markers.

 

Leaving Rage Behind...

Seven years ago today, I read an article about political rhetoric and how being in a constant state of outrage is maybe not the best thing for my well-being. As I thought about the article, I had to admit to myself that this is me. For those of you who've known me across the years, there's always been something that's had me on a soapbox. Most of the time it was probably a liberal leaning something or other but there were times in high school and in my early 40's where I leaned to the right, but no matter where I was, there was always some outrage I had to vent about.

Honestly, for me, being outraged is mood-altering and something I don't need in my life. I choose something better than getting high on anger. My desire is each day, not to live in the news, but to live in the now and to be present with the people I am blessed to have in my life. To be in a state of outrage, is to live in a state of fear and that is a product I no longer wish to consume. Life is Hard Enough.

As your friend, my desire is for the best for each of you. That is the essence of neighborliness. I'm blessed to live in a wonderfully diverse neighborhood, with people I'm might disagree with about something or other. What I like to remember is we are friends on the journey, and we trust the good intentions of each other. My hope is that my effect on you, however small it was and is, will be that I brought out the best in you and didn't engage the not so awesome parts of you. I will close with this thought, there is a little bit of good in the worst of us and a little bit of bad in the best of us.

With that thought, peace and blessings to you all!

~TommyJ~

Finding Decency in Life

I try to live by a maxim that it is always a good thing to share kindness in life. Wherever I go, to the grocery store, to various big box stores and anytime out in the world and running into people, I try to share kindness with the people around me. It's a nice thing to send someone goodwill and kindness and have a brief conversation saying that "something good will happen to you today."

That kindness will help the people we encounter everyday feel noticed and cared for and will go a long way to creating a better world. Regardless of our professions and work, be it Behavioral Health, Technology, or Service Industries....when we notice others and send loving kindness we may experience chills on our bodies which is a good thing which could indicate the universe is giving us love and purpose.

 Maybe a self-nurturing act we can do for ourselves is to be aware of when we get into survival mode. Maybe a help with that is reducing consumption of news and social media. It's easy to get caught up in various narratives that we are exposed to on a daily basis. When we get caught up in that mess, it allows us to say 'yes' to being in survival mode. We can let go of fear and leave survival mode by not consuming the fear-inducing media.

Here is an excerpt from the Alcoholic Anonymous text, The Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions as it relates to our instincts:

    Yet these instincts, so necessary for our existence, often far exceed the proper functions. Powerfully, blindly, many times subtly, they drive us, dominate us, and insist upon ruling our lives. Our desires for sex, for material and emotional security, and for an important place in society often tyrannize us. Nearly every serious emotional problem can be seen as a case of misdirected instinct. When that happens, our great natural assets, the instincts, have turned into physical and mental liabilities.

This an excellent assessment of the human condition. This could be considered a nice definition of original sin depending on the religious traditions we may come from.

With this in mind, let's go out into the world and share our goodness with those with whom we come into contact and be aware if our instincts are driving our daily actions or not. This could be an example of mindfulness.

Have a great week everyone!

~TommyJ~

Self Care and Kindness

It's been quite a ride the last nearly two years. Now more than ever we are engaging in self-care which is to attend to our spiritual needs so we can be present for others. We have a digital frame in our home with this saying:

Self-care allows you to give others the best of you instead of what's left of you...

As we connect with our God or our Higher Power as we understand God, we can get refreshed and reach out and be the best people we can in the moment. It's taken me a really long time to realize that actions speak louder than words. I've integrated that lesson into my life so my actions demonstrate that I care for my wife and kids....basically, following through on commitments and learning the love language of the people we care for by finding ways to connect with them. 

For some people in my life, I talk too much and don't connect with folks that don't connect by talking at the outset....sometimes board games and card games can help me connect with those I love...basically doing a shared activity. Could be any shared activity, cleaning the kitchen, the house, going for a walk, riding a bike. It helps to find out how our loved ones like to connect with us so they feel important.

At the beginning of the summer, made a commitment to resurface the front porch with a textured paint that helps prevent falling down when the porch is wet. Also was able to paint the trim and shutters a gloss black which makes the house pop quite a bit. Will paint the gates gloss black to help the appearance of the house. This meant a lot to my wife and my words weren't empty promises or just talk. Following through is a good thing. 

Follow-through helps in personal relationships and work. Sometimes, I over-commit to things and not know what I need to work on in the moment. By slowing down, it helps to get a sense of what is important in the moment without engaging in impulsivity. 

A week and a half ago, enjoyed coffee with my child, Heather, at the local cafe. It was nice and we had a great conversation. We are making plans to work on the garage to get it organized soon.

Self-care can give us the energy we need to care for the people around us. It helps if we don't burn out by over-committing to others. 'No' is a way of self-care so we don't compromise our souls. 

Self-care can include engaging in our hobbies, journaling, cooking a meal for ourselves, a cup of tea or coffee or cocoa, hanging out with our furry friends or maybe sitting outside and getting some sunshine on our bodies. If we meditate, we can find out the best self-care activities we can do.

Kindness is something we can all do....whether we are at the grocery store, out in public at various locations, we can always extend kindness to others. Maybe by extending kindness we might get chills which can be a good thing because we are experiencing the energy and wonder of life with other people. 

Kindness to others can help energize us some without our overdoing it. It can be a nice re-charge for our souls. Everyone loves to be seen and have kindness extended to them.

Be kind everyone and take care of yourselves!

Blessings to all!

~TommyJ~

Procrastination -- The Opposite of Overworking

Lately, I've noticed I've been procrastinating about various chores and it has me quite sluggish and stressed a bit. In the past, I have overworked at various jobs but in my last job, I didn't overwork any and that was a good thing because the work environment was so healthy.

Compulsive working and compulsive procrastinating are two ends of the same spectrum for me. It doesn't make sense for me to derive my identity from work. I am not my work but my task on this earth is to improve myself daily with my Higher Power's help and be present for myself, my family and others with whom I come into contact.

This can be similar to overeating and anorexia. Over-working and work-anorexia sort of come from a place of spiritual needs as does over-eating and substance use.

So what I did this evening was to do a couple of chores, one of which I was postponing for the last six weeks and the other for about a week and a half. Once I finished them, I felt a lot better. I'm relaxed now and putting this post together at 10:40 this evening, August 10, 2021. 

The other task I did was to make dog food for our puppies as one of them is diabetic and blind and I prepare their food a couple of times per week. It is quite rewarding to see them have a nicely balanced diet. If we got the prescription dog food for our diabetic dog and also feeding the other dogs a similar diet, it would cost $750 per month. 

One of my mottos is "Glow Flowly", which allows me to work and not feel jittery while working on a task. 

This ties into the Simone Biles scenario at the Olympics. It was important for her mental health to take a break from what she was doing and she came back when she was ready again. 

So on Wednesday, August 11, I will be aware of the tasks in front of me and get them done in the right time so I can "Glow Flowly". 

Blessings to everyone!

TommyJ

Another Post....

Working on how to divide my blog into various topics, e.g. Arts, Science, Philosophy, Information Technology, etc.

This will be a photography post today. 

I've been interested in photography for a long time since I was kid when parents had a Kodak Instamatic 110 camera with flash-cubes. Then another box-like Kodak Instamatic Camera with an interesting film cartridge....not the 110 but 130something.

Always thought 35mm cameras were the bomb back in the day and wanted one...Nikon was the brand I like and thought it would be great to own and they were way expensive.

Currently have a few Nikon Cameras now, FM10 a film camera also an F50 film camera, D200 DSLR, D300 DSLR and D700 DSLR. 

Photography is an interesting journey and it is fun to learn about. Film photography can be fun with a simple camera like the Nikon FM 10, which helps one practice the exposure basics, Film sensitivity, i.e. ISO, Aperture Settings and Shutter Speed. Composition is helpful in how we want our photos to look.

On a humorous note on shooting film. One day was at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City capturing pictures of geese, ducks and other birds near the pond at the South end of the park. Thought I completed the roll of film and couldn't figure out how to get it to rewind. So, took the camera to a local camera shop and asked what was wrong. The put the camera into a small black box and told me there was no film in it....wow.....so I put a roll of film in it and took some more photos to see how they turned out. They turned out pretty good. Was shooting with a 50mm lens.

Shooting film is fun when I can....always great to practice the basics.

Also, the D700 is a lot of fun to work with. Working on saving up for a 24-120mm F4 lens for this camera. Also, has a nice G Series 50mm lens which is great. 

Everyone have fun as you read this and let's keep improving ourselves in this regard.

Here is a photo from inside an abandoned service station in Utah along I-80 WestBound.

Enjoy and there will be more photos to share later. Can't say the composition is perfect and hope this is communicating decay and ruin in a creative way.

Thanks everyone!

TommyJ