by

Five Minute Friday: Comfort

Comfort: Not a One-Way Street.It’s not something I talk about regularly, but I believe in the devil.

I believe in temptation and that there is an enemy that attacks. One of his most effective techniques (especially when I’m depressed) is trying to make me believe that I’m all alone, and that no one cares. It’s patently a lie, and since Jesus said the devil was the father of lies, I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise.

It’s times like those when I need comfort.

Maybe it’s just because I’m a woman and this is how I was raised, but I have no problem comforting others. On the other hand, I’m often reluctant to ask for and receive comfort. I don’t want to be a whiner, don’t want to appear too needy, don’t want to admit I’m not self-sufficient.

That’s crap.

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. (2Corinthians 1:3-4, KJV)

Giving and receiving comfort are both part of the equation. If I say that I’m too big to receive comfort, then I’m also saying something about those whom I comfort. Something that’s not nice. It doesn’t work that way.

*****5-minute-friday-1

What’s Five Minute Friday?

A blog-prompt project dreamt up by LisaJo Baker, which you can read about here. The basic idea is that you spend five minutes of writing, generally unedited (I correct typos, WAY too OCD not to do that), on a prompt that she provides just after midnight via a tweet, then spread the word, and link up. Interested? Join up. Enjoy a delightful assortment by clicking on the picture to the right.

Today’s Five Minute Friday selection is also here!

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
by

Ultimately, Distracted

Sample entry for the Readers' GuideCan’t write with it. Can’t write without it.

Naturally, I’m talking about the Internet. (I could’ve been talking about computers in general, but I’d rather be specific.) It’s sad, really, that I think I can’t write without the internet, because obviously, I could. I’m just not sure that I can.

For millennia, authors have been penning the great works of literature, and even the great works of science, mathematics, medicine, art, and every other branch of knowledge, without access to the Internet. I’ve written plenty of things without benefit of Google, or any other search engine. I think back to scanning volumes of The Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature that was the mainstay of every paper I wrote in high school and my early years of college. My arms ache in remembrance of hauling stacks of ponderous books to wooden library tables. I made enough 3×5 cards to fill the drawers of my school’s card catalogue many times over.

When it comes to sheer creativity, I don’t need the Internet. But when it comes to verifying information, it’s a must. I am all about verification, and citing my sources.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
by

X, Y, Z

Didn’t that used to be what we said to someone if his or her fly was open? Enquiring minds want to know.

That’s it, officially, for the 2013 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. We now return you to your irregularly scheduled blogging shenanigans.

*****

A to Z April Challenge 2013I’m participating in the Blogging from A-to-Z April Challenge! Read about it here.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
by

W is for Will

John Tenniel`s original (1865) illustration fo...

John Tenniel`s original (1865) illustration for Lewis Carroll`s "Alice in Wonderland". Alice sitting between Gryphon and Mock turtle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, won’t you join the dance?

– Lewis Carroll, “The Mock Turtle’s Song” from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

When I’m depressed, I’m more likely to feel that I don’t have any choices in life; I’m stuck here, and it sucks to be me.

Today is not a day of depression. (It’s not quite a mania, but it’s close.) I feel like I have many choices, and I do. If nothing else, I am choosing to believe that. It’s an act of the will.

*****

A to Z April Challenge 2013I’m participating in the Blogging from A-to-Z April Challenge! Read about it here.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
by

V is for Very

More than "just!"I live a “very” kind of life. There’s just not a lot going on that I can say qualifies as “meh.”

I’m either very depressed (almost suicidal) or very happy (euphoric). I look either very blechy (I don’t have bad hair days, I have dreadful hair days) or very hott (with two Ts). I either feel very belligerent or very magnanimous.

*****

A to Z April Challenge 2013I’m participating in the Blogging from A-to-Z April Challenge! Read about it here.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
by

U is for Unashamed

UnashamedI am naked. So are you.

Most of the time, we’re in a desperate struggle to hide our truth from everyone else. Even the ones we love. We cringe and utter silent thought-prayers, hoping no one will notice the flaws that are painfully obvious to us.

  • Fat
  • Awkward
  • Saggy
  • Dumb
  • Ugly
  • Paunchy
  • Greasy
  • Smelly

And that doesn’t even scratch the surface.

We laugh about our inner flaws, because we’re terrified we’ll be judged. (Or maybe we’re just terrified.)

Ha! We laugh.

  • “Love that chocolate! Nom, nom, nom.” [Can’t shake the weight. Why bother anymore?"]
  • “Starbucks is my church.” [Coffee is my God.]
  • “Those Downton Abbey maids work so hard. How is that fair?” [I don’t tip waitresses. They need to get a real job.]
  • “Making love by candlelight is so sexy.” [You can’t tell I’m imagining it’s someone else.]

Why are we hiding? Why aren’t we unashamed?

*****

A to Z April Challenge 2013I’m participating in the Blogging from A-to-Z April Challenge! Read about it here.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
by

T is for Thinking

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

Things I’m thinking of:

  • Whether I’m more of a help or a hindrance to my daughter in her last two weeks of school
  • Whether getting back on medication will enable me to continue my education
  • What I’m going to do in the next several months
  • What I’d like to plant for flowers and other gardening
  • How long it’s going to take me to weed through my bookshelves and boxes of books and how much I can get rid of
  • What the possibilities are for summertime activities, given budgetary constraints

 

*****

A to Z April Challenge 2013I’m participating in the Blogging from A-to-Z April Challenge! Read about it here.

Related articles