Posts Tagged ‘mental energy’
Order Restored
What a difference a new weather system makes. The travesty of rain-ravaged snow cover and meltwater flowing in the ditches has ended for now, replaced by frigid temperatures and two days of tiny, flying flakes of snow.
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Order has been restored as far as winter conditions are concerned. Order has also been restored regarding the rabbit population around here. After a few years of seeing very little evidence of the busy little bunnies, it appears they have succeeded in recovering their numbers.
The residual spilled senior feed around the horses’ placemats seems to be a real attraction for them. There is a rabbit super-highway from brush piles in the trees to the corner of the barn overhang.
On a walk yesterday afternoon, Asher and I came upon Light and Mia foraging together along the fenceline of the large paddock. I was happy to see Mia looking engaged and hanging out with Light. As I was spending time visiting with them, my presence attracted Mix’s attention. Soon, all four horses made their way past where I was standing into the back pasture, where Light hooked up with Swings to do a little frisky trotting around together, and Mix stayed back with Mia.
Upon our return from a stroll around the north loop, Asher and I found all four horses had moved out to the hay field and were congregated near the fence. It looked like order had been restored among the herd. Almost.
Poor Mia still wasn’t looking like she was feeling very inspired about life. I was really pleased to see her connecting with the other three again, but the energy she was displaying did not end my concern that she’s not feeling her absolute best.
The extreme cold bearing down on us won’t be a pleasant situation for her to endure if she’s at a low ebb.
Cyndie is away for a few days, so it will be up to Asher and me to make sure we are giving Mia extra attention, making plenty of hay easily accessible for her under the overhang. When it gets really cold, we toss out loose flakes of baled hay that they don’t need to work through a hay net to eat.
Hopefully, my energy isn’t dragging Mia down. Her sad appearance presents an opportunity for me to compartmentalize my gloom over the ongoing threats to residents in Minnesota from Federal ICE agents (and now, potentially, military troops) so it won’t bleed over to the horses. They deserve to have me show up with a clear head and peaceful, loving energy in their presence.
If I can find a way to achieve that, it will be beneficial for all of us.
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Spending Time
A zone of mental energy resonates when a jigsaw puzzler hits their stride and loses track of the world while reassembling an image, one piece at a time. I’m one of those who enjoy that mental resonation, yet I sometimes question the value of the outcome merely being a picture that will soon be disassembled and returned to a box and stored out of sight.
I recently discovered that I experience a similar mental energy reward by digging up weeds from the gravel portion of the driveway loop around the hay shed. In some ways, it provides a more powerful reward than jigsaw puzzling because the activity results are not then stored in a box on a shelf.
Every time I go past that weeded gravel and see how much better it looks, I enjoy a bonus reward from the previous effort. There is also a bonus brought on by time. The puzzle is never-ending because in no time at all, there will be new weeds available for pulling.
Actually, that image might make for a good challenge in a jigsaw puzzle.
On a rainy day when still in shock from an unanticipated dose of grief, losing myself in a repetitive routine task offers a welcome respite. It’s hard to tell if the body aches I experience at the end of the day come more from activity or sorrow.
When the heart hurts, a whole lot of the rest of us hurts, too.
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Pondering Still
In a simple reflection of the stressful current events that hardly need listing, my days are splattered with competing demands commanding my attention. I’m growing weary of the constant exercise of redirecting my energy from the angst-inducing to the peaceful loving focus I prefer.
I should be rewarded by the project of clearing brush we worked on yesterday in the uncharacteristic high humidity, but the slow progress was overshadowed by the pall of troublesome political, societal, and environmental issues simmering in a brew of the coronavirus pandemic stew.
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The front (or eastern) half of the northern border of our property has a natural fence of uncontrolled growth that I have long sought to turn into a wall by trimming it like a hedge. A year or so after we moved here, I made a first swipe along the span, cutting back the existing growth. In the ensuing years, I have gained enough confidence to cut the “hedge” much closer to the very old and mostly buried barbed wire fence that long ago defined the property line.
Yesterday’s effort was nice to accomplish, but it was a sweaty struggle against the frustrating strength of entangled vines that fought back unendingly against our every attempt to clear branches. The grey clouds hung low and the high dew point temperature gave the September air an odd thickness that was the opposite of inspiring freshness.
For all the progress we made, stepping back to look at the distance that still remained to be cleared revealed how little had actually been gained. It felt all too similar to the issues of social justice that are far from being accomplished.
The world at large does influence each of our own individual environments. If anyone is suffering, we all suffer.
A new Minnesota poll just released highlighted a variety of details related to the pending U.S. Presidential election. One that resonated in particular for me was how the level of education reflected the differing amount of support for the two main candidates. I think that speaks volumes.
Don’t ever vote stupid. Get educated on our democracy. Become smart enough to recognize integrity.
Imagine if we could vote in a government that would work to protect citizens from stupid ideas. Oh to have a Federal Government that would swiftly and intelligently address the pandemic. Oh to have leaders who would uphold the intent of our protections against harming the environment. Oh to have leaders who could enforce financial ethics guidelines.
Oh to have the entire length of our “hedge” shaped by the time next spring’s growth begins to expand it once again.
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Relative Something 