A Tribute to my Mom on the Day After My Birthday.

A funny thing happened this morning... that would not have happened ordinarily. I had the meltdown of all meltdowns this morning. And it was over something that some would call insignificant. Basically, I broke a china tea cup filled with the last cup of coffee from the coffee pot.  Yeah... under normal circumstances, it would be just another broken cup, but for me, it was another loss of my mom.

One particular Mother's Day, my Mom had given me a beautiful box of English Dessert Teas and this Beautiful China Tea Cup. ( We had long ago made a pact, that we would not go overboard on gifts... It was just one of those pacts you make because you figure you have time, to spend with each other and to  love each other). Anyway... the gift, however humble, meant something to me, because my Mom knew that in the evenings, I would like to sit with a book by the fireplace and pretend to read. I would  just silently sit and contemplate. (She would call it brooding, but I prefer to think of it as seriously thinking about whatever was on my mind.) Anyway... I have had the cup for some years (the tea is long gone) and this particular morning... I just picked up the cup to make my morning coffee. I put it on my desk, not thinking, and as I sat down by the computer, the sleeve of my robe, brushed the spoon, which in turn upset the cup and the cup went crashing down. I looked at the mess and burst into tears. In the scheme of things, it's just a broken cup, but I saw another thing that my mother gave me shattered. And I cried like a baby, which in turn woke my son up, and GOD love him, he picked up the mess and was collecting the pieces and was seriously going to try to put the cup back together.

Old Fashioned or Just Out of Fashion

The other day I went shopping with my sister, Sharon. Not a remarkeble incident; just your everyday, two sisters hanging out, type of thing. Anyway... We went into this clothing establishment and I noticed some sundresses hanging by a clothing round. One dress in particular caught my attention. I thought the print was very pretty. I thought the shape of the dress was nice. I thought the straps may have been a little flimsy. And then I decided to feel the material. I got the shock of my life. No exaggeration here! When did they decide to make sundresses out of night gown material? You know, the type of flimsy, nylon material, used for "silk-like" panties and nightgowns. Oh my goodness! What have women been excepting as clothing? Is this world so obcessed with sex that it now expects and excepts women to walk around in their underwear and nightgowns? Do women really want their clothing to shout, "jump me"?  Or... and here is the horrifying thing... Am I just Old Fashioned and Out of Fashion? 

Paladin, Spun Sugar Spoons, Twist tie Chocalate...and What does it All Mean? Why we Dream

What!? Whoa!? She's off in Left Field!

No I'm not...Just give me a chance...This article has something to teach and does have a point.

Anyway...I woke up this morning and I asked my husband "So, why do they call you Paladin?". My dream was so convoluted that I woke up with a sense of wonder as well as confusion. To make a long story short, I dreamed that I was on a trip, lost my suitcase, needed a prescription, had to check into the airport after a long ride on a Greyhound bus, needed a snack and was given plastic spoons and bread ties which turned out to be spun sugar and chocalate respectively, saw my husband being catered to by other women and being called "Mr. Paladin" and My mother was whisked through the airport to the VIP gate.

This dream led me to do a little "research" into dreaming . All of which gave me theories which could not really be proved or disproved. Terms like neoro-transmitter, mental schemes, emotional selection and dissociated imagination danced in my head. And incidentally, gave me a headache. So, is it biology or psychology?

One theorist described dreaming as simply "thinking in a different biochemical state". People continue to work on all the same problems—personal and objective—in that state. The research found that anything—math, musical composition, business dilemmas—may get solved during dreaming, but the two areas especially likely to help are 1) anything where vivid visualization contributed to the solution, whether in artistic design or invention of 3-D technological devices and 2) problems where the solution lies in "thinking outside the box"—i.e. the person is stuck because conventional wisdom on how to approach the problem is wrong. 

Why Do All Women Want to Look Alike?

Women come in all colors from the darkest of ebonies to the palest of whites. They come in all sizes from 2 to 22 and beyond. They have different eye colors, hair colors and hair lengths. And yet, they all want to look alike. Or maybe not alike, but they want to be the ideal that Madison Avenue has foisted on them via the models staring out from Vogue, Cosmo, Elle and even the "Mom" friendly Good House Keeping and the Ladies Home Journal. How tragic. Woman are made to feel less than because sample clothing is made to fit a size 2, 5'11" "Ideal". Or is it really ideal?

As women, we are beartiful; no matter the size, height, weight or any other "measured" statistic that is considered ideal.  We need to take back our self esteem, our self worth and our identities. We need to realize that healthy is the ideal for all women. When we concentrate on being healthy, we in turn teach our daughters that they ar perfect, just the way they were made, as we all are.

So when you look into your mirror, ask yourself this: Do I want to be healthy or do I want to be the "ideal" body type no matter the consequences to my health? Your answer will determine your emotins and your emotions will determine your actions. Take heed to the old sayings from childhood; "Bearty is only skin deep". "Bearty is in the eye of the beholder". Bearty is fleeting, but character stands the test of time".  Stay Healthy and take care of yourselves. You are Beautiful, just as you are.