BloPoMo

This month is BloPoMo for me! At this stage I have dropped the Na (for National) because I’m in Australia and I assume the Na originates in a different country to mine! So it could be In(ternational)BloPoMo. I’m not sure if November is NaBloPoMo any more, I seem to remember it used to be once.

I’ve just decided to kick start writing and try to channel my random stream of ideas to some form of organisation I am going to try to write a post every day. I did try this once before and petered out half way through.

I also tried NaNoWriMo once (while pregnant with twins) and it was a complete disaster. Should have been great because I did have a lot of time on my butt.

Today I am getting away with this fairly non-eventful post to announce the month and yesterday has a post – so I am 2/2 so far. And as someone says, if no one reads it -who cares and if it’s bad, who cares!

Hasta la vista – fellow bloggers.

 

 

 

whoops

I missed it. November 10th that is. What a bummer… I guess that puts this month in the category of things I have failed to complete.

Hehe. I didn’t write a novel in NaNoWriMo and I didn’t cover every episode of Australian Idol in this blog and now I’ve fudged NaBloPoMo.

Oh well. Pressure’s off. I must say it’s rather a relief! It’s actually quite hard to generate a worthwhile post every single day, so you bring out substandard or unformed posts, and you have to ask – why bother? My blog tends to run in bursts – a dry period of a few days followed by several posts all together, and maybe that’s just the way my brain works.

OK so I’m a flake. Officially signing off NaBloPoMo. Hehe.

ingredients

The quality of the ingredients is more important than the presentation.

the old microwave

There is no microwave in my office at work. My coffee was cold so I went next door into the physio’s office to heat it up. I asked the receptionist if I could use her microwave and she said “It’s very old” and it was. This ancient microwave was probably worth nothing. You couldn’t give it away let alone sell it. And yet, it heated up my coffee. Now some might say I really should get the latest model of microwave because it has so many new features and it heats things better, in so many different ways and more conveniently. It heats up all sorts of different things not just coffee and it looks so much nicer than the old one.

But I would rather think in terms of having just what you need. If an old microwave does the job you want, then it’s the best microwave for you. Don’t think about getting the best microwave, but one that does the job.

The advertising-driven consumer society says “Get more, you owe it to yourself to have the best of everything” but that is how it can continue to exist. There is such a pressure it almost feels like a duty or obligation.

I’m giving myself permission to neglect this duty. I don’t have to have a new microwave, the best car or the most luxurious holiday destination. I just need to have one that does the job.

technologies of faith

OK here’s another PhD idea for when I’m 40. Examine the “technologies” of the major religious faiths ie prayer and meditation, psychology from the Bible and the Buddha. Compare to psychological therapies.

Invent a form of cognitive therapy based on Jesus’ teachings.

baby tofu omelette

250g silken tofu
100g sliced mushrooms
Half cup baby spinach
Half clove garlic

Saute mushrooms in butter or oil and garlic. When soft add spinach and cook until wilted. Add tofu and heat through. May need to be blended if for baby under a year old. If making for adults, add soy sauce, onion or capsicum to taste.

milling: the randomness of toddlers

It’s harder to post every day than I thought. And the posts are coming out a bit unformed, but never mind, I’m going to persist anyway…

How best to describe the motion of a toddler around the room? I would say, milling. But one cannot mill alone, milling really requires multiple millers. That’s why having twins is so great, they can mill around the room. And going visiting is even better, we can get all our babies together for milling.

There is a really charming randomness about the activities of a toddler. Mine are particularly good at playing on their own, and as I sometimes get caught up with the computer I feel guilty about neglecting them. However, I’m sure they don’t actually feel neglected and they are quick to let me know if they do. They’re quite happy just doing the random thing.

The thought process goes something like this: ‘Oh, here’s this toy again so I might stand up and walk over here, carrying it… I’m pretty good at this. Oh, here’s this other toy, I can bang them together, that’s a nice noise. Now I’ll throw the first one away, haha a really loud noise. OK, here’s my brother, hi bro, maybe I can pull him over if I grab his hair hard enough…’

And on it goes. Perhaps if you had enough toddlers in a room you might get Brownian motion? It’s fun to watch.

poem

Hehe, I don’t write poems, but here’s one anyway…

You take me, gradually in the early evening
In softness leaving no fear
I long for you in the small hours of the morning
Or at breakfast time

You hold my baby in a caress of peace
Just occasionally stirring
You teach me wild and fanciful things
Fleeting stories of the unknown

A-da! baby language

This may be a post-in-progress…

My 11 month twins are already inventing a language, but it has very few words so far.

The most important word is “A-da!” (emphasis on the second syllable) sometimes also prnounced “Hadda”. This word is basically a pronouncement, it has several meanings including “Here it is”, “Look at this”, “Gee mum, why does that funny thing do that?”, “I’m here” “You’re here” etc.

Other words of secondary importance include:
- “Mamamamama” (loud) It’s not what you might think! It actually means “Give me that food right away” – an alternative version is “Nanananana”
- “Nim nim” means “this food looks nice”
- “Bwee” this is a controversial one, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact meaning, and may in fact have many different meanings. It can be thoughtful “I wonder what’s going on here” or jocular “this is fun”
- “Aaaaa” in a semi-whisper of awe means “This is really amazing” as in “that cup fits inside the other one!”
- “Ha” (loud, multiple while crawling) means “Wow, look at all this new stuff, I’m finding lots of things here”

thanatophobia

Here at the white elephant, we are not afraid to tackle the big issues… It’s almost my bedtime here and I am just scraping in with a post on the second day of NaBloPoMo.

So what is thanatophobia? It’s defined as a fear of one’s own death and is apparently very common. Why is it interesting? Because there are so many layers to it.

Firstly, thanatophobia is a form of anxiety. It’s a phobia, which is classed as anxiety. It comes with physical anxiety symptoms such as shortness of breath, increased heart rate, muscle tension, nausea, dizziness etc etc. It can be associated with panic attacks. It’s a fear of something which is at once inevitable but also quite unlikely at any given moment in time. The person is afraid of something which they know is definitely going to happen, but they have no way of knowing when.

Thanatophobia also has an existential, even theological component. If someone is afraid of death, what do they fear? The actual fear must relate to the person’s beliefs about death. What do they think is going to happen to them when they die and why is it so frightening.

Here’s a range of possible beliefs about death:
- nothing happens, you cease to exist (materialist view)
- you may go to heaven or hell, depending on some kind of judgment of your actions in this life (Judeo-Christian view)
- reincarnation (Hindu, Buddhist)
- some people believe in ghosts, or spirits of the dead who somehow just float around the earthly plane making a nuisance of themselves

For those who believe the first option, a fear of death is not very rational. After all if you don’t exist, what does it matter? You won’t be suffering. For Christians, and similar viewpoints, a fear of death could be related to some kind of guilt. You feel you have done wrong and you are going to hell. In that case all that is required is to repent and you’ll be forgiven – easy.

Those who believe in reincarnation may be afraid of their own karma. They may have done wrong and fear a horrible next life. It’s understandable. It’s also understandable for those who believe in spirits or ghosts to feel afraid. Who would want to be floating around forever, feeling cold and scaring people?

I get the feeling that most people with this fear haven’t quite worked out their own beliefs yet. They may be searching, and the fear could be a healthy sign that they are moving towards some kind of spiritual growth.

Some writers (like Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Victor Frankl and also in the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying) emphasise the need to confront one’s own mortality in order to grow or really be able to live well. Death is a necessary step on the road to rebirth in a number of ways, some of which are symbolic. There’s a cycle.

Fear of death could also be related to other problems. It could be due to narcissism (fear of one’s own nonexistence) or fear of the unknown. It could also be related to a death-wish as sometimes we fear what we really desire.

I don’t have thanatophobia and I’m frankly quite unconcerned about the whole thing. I don’t fear death and I don’t pretend to know what is going to happen to me there. I have some kind of faith that tells me it will be OK. But I find the whole thing very interesting.