2020 enough said...

I was blogging every Sunday for a while. I was on track and then I fell and busted my rump and getting back up seemed to be a problem. I am sure there are many of you out there that may have had the same problem whereas the year 2020 has been (feel free to insert your own word here). The following are just a few that come to mind when I think of 2020 difficult, challenging and chaotic.  

Our new norm has become face masks, hand sanitizer, toilet paper hoarding, antibacterial cleaning product hoarding along with ordering everything online.  

 

My husband and I bought face masks, we bought an extra pack of toilet paper each time we bought just in case we couldn’t find it later and we bought stuff to make our own hand sanitizer in case we could not find it anywhere. We have become avid online shoppers as well and pros at curbside pick-up.  

 

Fed-X, UPS and USPS workers we thank you for all the work and deliveries to our home! 

 

Our daily lives have changed. As we go out the door, we now make sure we have our keys, our wallet, our phone, our mask (and one extra in case we drop the one we are wearing) and hand sanitizer.  

 

I have heard so many complaints of individuals who think it infringes upon their rights to have to wear a mask. And maybe my opinion doesn’t matter to those who think that way, but I have a few questions for you. Would you like to be on a ventilator and maybe never come home? Would you rather have the virus and survive it and then have long term issues for which you can’t function the same way you used to? And how would you feel if your elderly parent was out shopping and someone didn’t wear a mask and they died from this horrible virus? Your actions have consequences. 

 

Look around your neighborhood and community you live in. I am guessing there is someone there who has either had the virus or has been affected by the virus. The virus is everywhere, it is just about opening your eyes. 

 

Enough said...rant over! 

 

As I type this in the end of 2020, I hope for a less difficult, challenging and chaotic 2021. I hope that each Sunday you will bring my blog up on your phone, tablet or computer and read what crazy I have to say for the week. It may be heart felt, it may be something funny that happened during the week or it may be a rant of sorts similar to this “2020 enough said” post.  

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

I wish each of you a great and wonderful 2021 New Year! 

 

“When in doubt, just be!” 

~Heather Kinder 

2020 = 40…

I know I have been gone for quite some time now. I have no excuses and honestly no reasons why I quit writing. I guess I just did. However, I hope all of you who read me before will read me again. Now on to the actual writing…

The title 2020 = 40 may seem a little confusing, but it’s not. As always keep reading and it will make sense. A little over a week ago I turned 40 and we are in the year 2020.

Turning 40, was it supposed to be scary or life changing?

I thought I would feel different turning 40, but there is no change. I am still the same me as I was at 39. I also figured I would have anxiety about turning 40 with it being a new decade. And yet there was no anxiety.

I have often heard people say that this and that was different when they turned 40. I am just here being me wondering where all the changes are. All the preconceived notions of changes for me were no more than myths busted.

Therefore, I am going to embrace the age I am every day and I encourage each of you to do the same no matter what number you may be. And to me age is truly just a number.

However, it is up to us what we do with each of our numbers. 35, 60, 40 and so on. What age are we going to start living instead of counting? How much will we miss out on if we are concerned with the number, we are instead of what we are doing with our particular number.

Live life fully, try something new, make a new friend. Whatever it is you wish you would have done last year try it this year. If you fail, then at least you know you tried. If you don’t like it, then don’t do it again.

“When in doubt, just be!”

~Heather Kinder

Taking risks…

I have never been one for taking risks. I was always the good little girl who did not take risks. I was the one who behaved.

But the one I married has always (and I mean ALWAYS) encouraged me to take risks. I don’t mean skydiving, white water rafting or rock climbing. Well, I take that back he did try to get me to go climbing at Seneca Rocks but I politely declined.

My definition and his definition of taking a risk are often as different as night and day. However, over 23 years ago we both took and risk. We took a risk on each other.

Sorry, got a little sentimental and sappy there for a minute, but it does apply to taking risks. Now back to your regular scheduled blog post. Taking risks…

At times it has been hard to listen to all his risk taking encouragement for all the clutter that has been stuck in my head. However, the clutter seems to have been taken out with the trash or donated and only we (my husband & I) remain in this crazy head of mine.

I am now listening and beginning to take risks in life without injuring any body parts.

I was often so insecure about writing that I would never let my voice shine through. When I worked for a newspaper I wrote the facts. The facts are easy and my voice wasn’t important. Who, what, where, when, why and how come were the important things to read about.

With this blog I hope I am able to find my own voice and for me it is taking a risk not knowing what readers will have to say. But at some point as a writer you have to take a risk so your voice can be heard.

Will the reception of others be welcoming? Will people hate what I have to say? These questions swirl in my head. Just calling myself a writer is me taking a risk, but I guess I can’t take it back now.

Ok, I think I have taken enough risks for one day.

My husband on the other hand is still considering skydiving.

“When in doubt, just be!”

~Heather Kinder

Show and tell...

Show and tell. This is something we did as small children when we were in elementary school. You would take a toy or some prized possession to class and show it and tell about it. I know I did this a few times in kindergarten, but it was many years ago (too many to count without giving away my age).

I believe (and this is just my opinion) that we did this as children to help us properly communicate with others. And as adults I believe (again just my opinion) we get lost in our hectic lives and just end up telling those around us things without showing them what we mean.

When telling good stories authors have to show their readers the story not just tell the story. Telling a story is just not enough. An author wants readers to see and feel the story they are reading.

A story should resonate in the heart of the reader. It should make you have emotions and make you think.

And no, this has not turned into a post about reading and writing.

However, this is a post about life.

Show and tell does not just apply to reading and writing but it applies to life. It applies to each of us in how we see ourselves and how others see us. It also applies in how we treat those around us.

It is easy for us to get caught up in the daily grind of life and end up taking people around us for granted. I know at times I have been guilty of that.

We tell people we love them. We tell people we care about them. We tell people we appreciate them. And the list goes on and on.

But is telling them enough? In my opinion, absolutely not!

I believe we need to back up what we are saying by showing what we truly mean. Showing them gives a bigger impact that will last much longer than just words. The showing and telling of how we feel should also resonate in hearts as every good story does.

“When in doubt, just be!”

~Heather Kinder

Staying on track...

Did you miss me? I sure hope so!

Have you ever felt like you have so much to do that you may never get back on track?

That’s where I am at. I think I have been there for a while. Piles upon piles of stuff. I find myself standing around scratching my head wondering where to begin.

Our house is in such a mess one would think we just moved in. That’s not the case. We have been here for quite some time.

I have been trying to clean out, clean up and get rid of things that are no longer in use or have just completely been forgotten over the years, You know the stuff I am talking about. The stuff you look at and wonder where that came from. I have been looking at a lot of things that way and maybe that’s why I am not staying on track.

Not staying on track is the reason I completely missed my weekly Sunday blog post last week. But my husband gave me the idea of “staying on track” as a blog entry and I thought it would be a good Sunday come back.

Image by analogicus from Pixabay 

 I used to be OCD, but I am not sure about that anymore.

In college I had everything just so-so. List of what homework was due when. There were certain days I did laundry (thank goodness for coming home to ma-maw’s house). There were certain days I went to the grocery store. Every second of every day was planned out. And maybe, just maybe that is why staying on track is so hard now because I was so on track then.

It’s nice to have those days and moments where you can just drink a cup of coffee and read a book for no reason other than you just feel like it. Raise your hand if you are guilty of that. Pick me, pick me! Yeap, guilty for reading and drinking coffee!

However, life goes on and as I said a few paragraphs ago things pile up. And I don’t mean just the laundry. I have tried to-do list and somehow they just pile up too collecting dust. Epic fail on my part!

So, I have decided to triage my life. Very important, important, not so important and then who really cares.

Hopefully this works. Wish me luck!

“When in doubt, just be!”

~Heather Kinder

I’d rather drink creamer...

I know my titles may be confusing sometimes, but I do make a point to explain it somewhere along the way so please keep reading.

In honor of International Coffee Day, let’s talk coffee and stink bugs!

My husband and I were on our porch drinking coffee (no surprise there for those who know us) and fighting the stink bug population that has moved in to our yard. Out of nowhere a stink bug lands in my husband’s coffee cup.

For some reason I find it amusing. But for some reason he wasn’t amused. He grinned, but only because I was giggling like a fool.

He scoops out the stink bug and continues drinking. Yes, he did. He continued to drink it!

However, a stink bug landing in your coffee manages to change the smell and the taste of this wonderful magic in a cup. A few minutes later his hot cup of coffee is being dumped across the yard as he is sticking his tongue out like a small child who just tasted a lemon for the first time.

And what do you know I start giggling like a fool again. And believe it or not it’s not the last time I giggled like this over the cup of coffee.

The next time I giggled like a fool is when he said “I’d rather drink creamer.” He hates cream in his coffee and never drinks it. He always says I drink chick coffee. Well, guess what? Yeap, I am a chick!

But I guess given the option to choose between vanilla caramel creamer (my favorite) or earthy stink bug flavored coffee he would rather drink creamer.

My husband did inform that it was a very hard decision to make!

Note: No stink bugs were harmed in the photo shoot, however one may be overly caffeinated and ready to take over the world!

 Image taken by Heather Kinder

“When in doubt, just be!”

~Heather Kinder

Struggles…

I have often heard people say, “Why is she struggling?” or “Why is he struggling?”

Then these individuals go on to say they have a new car, a great home, a wonderful husband/wife, two beautiful children and a rewarding career. And the list goes on and on.

Have these people ever stopped to think that what they see is the outer appearance or an image. (And under no circumstance am I judging anyone).

These appearances or images are perceptions these people want their friends and society to see when they look at them. This is only the surface of what these individuals are about and not their inner self. They may be struggling with issues not even those who are close to them are aware of.

This is not me giving self-help advice and I am certainly not going all psychology/therapist on those of you who read my post each week.

I am speaking from experience. We all at some point in our lives go through struggles that we have a hard time dealing with. We often hide them and sweep them under the rug as my husband has often told me I do when I am struggling with things.

But our struggles we do not have to deal with alone. (I am guilty of this). My husband tells me to share the burden and I have been able to do that. I have come to understand that if it is my struggle it is also his struggle.

If you are wondering why I am writing on this particular topic today, then I will tell you. I woke up this morning feeling extremely off. Sort of wondering if I should just go back to bed and try it again later, but I didn’t. I talked to the one person (my husband) I can share my struggles with and we sorted it out.

Struggles come in all sizes. It may be something as simple as when are we going to have time to get a particular task accomplished. However, it could also be something that is life altering that needs attention and a long conversation so it can be sorted out.

Anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is don’t just automatically think someone has it all when internally they may be dealing with the struggle of their life. A smile or a friendly hello may be all it takes to help make their day a little bit better.

“When in doubt, just be!”

~Heather Kinder