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“There is nothing nobler than risking your life for your country.” Nick Lampson
Motivation Mondays: Remember & Honor #MemorialDay
We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise the dead. Francis Amasa Walker
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. George S. Patton
Motivation Mondays: In Honor of Memorial Day – Today, we honor the brave men and women who served this great country and paid the ultimate price by giving their lives so we can live free. We honor and remember those who returned as survivors, witnesses, patriots, scarred. We honor all our servicemen/women around the world. Originally called Decoration Day, this special holiday began in response to the great loss of life during the American Civil War which, at its conclusion in 1865, had claimed the lives of over 620,000 men. In the early days, women would place flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers. By 1868, Major General John A. Logan designated it as an official day of remembrance. In 1971, it became a federal holiday. In case you don’t know this, Memorial Day honors American servicemen/women who lost their lives at war while Veterans Day honors all who served; alive and otherwise.
Do you know someone who served and lost their life for this great country? Name a loved one you’d like to remember. Did you/yours serve anywhere in the world? Share a story so we can honor them all. May peace reign. I love Eric Burdon’s quote because it is a reminder that our servicemen/women came from a wide range of backgrounds and represented a microcosm of the world we inhabit. They had aspirations like all of us and their lives were cut short before they could realize all of their dreams an personal goals. Those who bore witness to the losses returned home with a shared burden of loss. Some returned with fragmented lives, others returned with a fervor in their hearts, determined to make changes for the better. “On Memorial Day, I don’t want to only remember the combatants. There were also those who came out of the trenches as writers and poets, who started preaching peace, men and women who have made this world a kinder place to live.”
READ: Memorial Day: Remembrance and Reflections
Memorial Day: Honor, Salute & Celebrate…
“As America celebrates Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those who have given their lives in our nation’s wars.”John M. McHugh
Motivation Mondays: Remember & Honor #MemorialDay
On Memorial Day, we will pause to honor and remember all the brave souls who paid the ultimate sacrifice – they gave up their lives so the rest of us can enjoy all the freedoms and advantages that come with living under a system that upholds the democratic process. Each casualty of war or MIA leaves behind loved ones, family members, and memories of what could have been… Their loved ones hold on to the hope that their death was pain-free, not in vain or that the MIA status will one day change. It rarely does. Each Memorial Day becomes a harbinger of reminders of loved ones lost to wars. Of interest, the Tomb of the Unknown soldier now remains empty as recent DNA testing was able to resolve the mystery of bones buried there. They belonged to an air force pilot by name of Lt Michael Joseph Blassie. He has since been reburied in his hometown.
How do we ever forget? We don’t. How do we forget the pain and suffering inflicted on both the victor and the vanquished? We don’t. Even as a side claims victory and the spoils of war, the loss of life and the deepening resentments that come from warring creates, on the losing side, animosity and a spirit of revenge. Where will it end? Look around you, we live in a fractious world with unequal access to resources and opportunities. The downtrodden look for answers. The resentments grow. War becomes the devastating solution, and its scars are indelible. Raise your hands in salute to our heroes, raise your hands also in a gesture of peace… We need peaceful coexistence in this world but it must begin in our homes and in our hearts.
READ: Memorial Day: Honor, Salute & Celebrate…
Motivation Mondays: Memorial Day
The details for Motivation Mondays are below. Join in! The themes for MAR – APR 2019 are:
04/01 – 01 April Fool’s Day, 02 Autism Awareness, Equal Pay Day
04/07 – 07 World Health Day, 10 National Siblings Day
04/14 – 14 Palm Sunday, 15 Tax Day, 18 Holy Thursday, 19 Good Friday
04/21 – 21 Easter Sunday/ Start of Passover, 22 Earth Day, 23 World Book Day
04/28 – 29 Remembrance Day, 30 Jazz Day
05/01 – 01 MAY Day, Holocaust Remembrance, National Mental Health Awareness month
05/05 – 05 Cinco de Mayo, 06, Ramadan starts, 07 National Teacher Day
05/12 – 12 Mother’s Day, 18 Armed Forces Day
05/19 – 19 Mental Health Awareness month
05/26 – 27 Memorial Day, 30 World MS Day
Are You Looking for Ways to Stay Creative in 2019?
- Join Our Blog Support & Engagement Group
- Check out the Daily Post for Inspiration. Resources. Idea
- Checkout Your Daily Word Prompts
- Check out SheKnows for SheKnows Living
More Below Read more…
Motivation Mondays: Down Memory Lane
“Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.” Elie Wiesel
Motivation Mondays: Down Memory Lane
Motivation Mondays: Down Memory Lane
It’s surprising how much memory is built around things unnoticed at the time. Barbara Kingsolver
Memory is the treasure house of the mind wherein the monuments thereof are kept and preserved. Thomas Fuller
So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good. Helen Keller
Science and technology revolutionize our lives, but memory, tradition and myth frame our response. Arthur M. Schlesinger
The place where you felt happiest or safest: As I pack up my home of the last 25 years and ready myself for the next phase of my life, I am flooded with lots of memories. Memories of those early days in my marriage when we were expecting our twins and had just bought our first home. Memories of our toddlers tearing through the house as deer and other wildlife strolled across our property; many of them hanging out for a while to feast on my lovingly tended garden. Memories of celebrations, graduations, resolutions and dissolution. There are good, not so good, and a few sad memories we carry throughout our lives and our homes share them with us, nurture us through all the changes, and offer us a sense of security we all crave. We cherish the good ones, erase or conveniently banish the bad ones, and tuck away the secrets that stay in the dark recesses of our being until we let them go. Memory is a fascinating subject because it is our ability to encode, store, retain and subsequently recall information and past experiences in the human brain Our brain is our key repository of memories and it can be as selective as we are picky. We have short and long term memory banks and we often reach for memories that have a special hold on us. Home is where I have felt happiest and safest. It is my place of respite and my family is and has always been a key factor in that equation.
As I contemplate my own journey down memory lane, I invite you to pause and reflect on your own. Do your recollections jibe with those of others around you? Do you have triggers that bring back floods of memories for you? I have to admit that food is a great trigger for me. Food is a great connector and I bet most of us have great memories of foods we enjoyed as kids; these could be favorite meals that always touched our hearts, special dishes that were made for important occasions or just the many memories of pleasurable comfort foods that nurtured us over the years.
When I think about food that reminds me of the past, the first two food items that dance before my eyes are ice cream and plantains. Now, those who know me up close know that fried plantains are my favorite food on this planet. It is the ultimate comfort food and it holds dear memories of days when I was much younger and, home sick from school, my parents would ask what I wanted to eat — I always said plantains. I love them ripe and sweet and fried perfectly without being oily or greasy. The trick is to fry them when they have turned a mustard yellow shade and in heated oil that isn’t too hot. Ice cream, especially vanilla ice cream, was a treat mainly because my Mom forbade sweets in our home. My siblings and I would run after the Ice cream truck with money collected from various aunts and uncles. We’d buy our treats and eat them quickly before heading back home; our sweet secret tucked away and our mouths wiped clean of any tell tale signs. I still love vanilla ice cream but, of course, nowadays there are far too many sophisticated flavors to choose from and I have added coffee and pistachio ice cream to my list of favorites. What food memories do you remember?
READ: Motivation Mondays: Food for Thought
Haiku: When Childhood Ended
Bedtime Stories: What Do You Remember?
WHAT IS MEMORY?
Memory Lane by Ernestine Northover
Do you ever hear a haunting refrain,
Which takes you back to that moment again,
When memories flow and scenes are set,
And you, once more, relive the time you met.
How perfect, were those days back then,
Those days of romance, and the instant, when
Love hit you with a painful jolt,
And exquisite pain, you didn’t want to halt,
And playing along was a haunting refrain,
So let it now take you, down memory lane.
© Ernestine Northover via poemhunter.org
Childhood by Rainer Maria Rilke
It would be good to give much thought, before
you try to find words for something so lost,
for those long childhood afternoons you knew
that vanished so completely –and why?
We’re still reminded–: sometimes by a rain,
but we can no longer say what it means;
life was never again so filled with meeting,
with reunion and with passing on
as back then, when nothing happened to us
except what happens to things and creatures:
we lived their world as something human,
and became filled to the brim with figures.
And became as lonely as a sheperd
and as overburdened by vast distances,
and summoned and stirred as from far away,
and slowly, like a long new thread,
introduced into that picture-sequence
where now having to go on bewilders us. via famouspoetsandpoems
Excerpt from Memory by Anne Bronte
Sweet Memory! ever smile on me;
Nature’s chief beauties spring from thee,
Oh, still thy tribute bring!
Still make the golden crocus shine
Among the flowers the most divine,
The glory of the spring… via famouspoetsandpoems
“We are what we remember. If we lose our memory, we lose our identity and our identity is the accumulation of our experiences.” Erik Pevernagie
Motivation Mondays: Down Memory Lane
Motivation Mondays: Down Memory Lane
Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us. Oscar Wilde
Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream. Khalil Gibran
Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going. Tennessee Williams
Karma, memory, and desire are just the software of the soul. It’s conditioning that the soul undergoes in order to create experience. And it’s a cycle… Deepak Chopra
What you thought you were going to be when you grew up?: I remember quite vividly of a visit to the doctor’s office as a kid and how impressed I was by the care and consideration the nurses, doctors and staff gave to everyone there. I remember visiting teaching hospitals and listening to my Mom discuss treatments and advances in patient care with the staff. I found it all quite intriguing and loved the cleanliness of the buildings, the determined looks on the faces of the staff as they scurried along heading to the next urgent care patient, and of course, I loved the scrubs and nurses uniforms. As a sick kid, I was grateful that they tended to my aches and pains, and a longing grew in my heart to one day become a doctor. I often mentioned it to friends and family and would always declare it as my when-I-grow-up job in school. Some cheered me on, others scoffed at my dream and, with time, the arts dominated my life and pushed the sciences into a corner. Sometimes, I wonder if I had pursued that dream where it would have led me. My siblings and a few friends still tell me it is never too late and that there are many areas of the medical field one can pursue… but the fire has turned from a flame to a flicker. I love medical research and the breakthroughs in the field that help people with all sorts of illnesses survive. I admire the world of medicine and those who do good works to help patients and it is a field that still captivates me in so many ways.
Our childhood fears: I don’t know about you but, I have never been fond of bugs, horror movies or darkness. Oddly enough, these childhood fears have followed me into adulthood and I’m seriously not embarrassed to admit that. Bugs were always scary to look at and while some of my playmates thought it was fun to pick up worms, I had zero interest in any of that stuff. Horror movies always gave me nightmares and I would have flashbacks of scenes from such movies for days. Have I seen my share of them? Of course, I saw The Exorcist and that put me in bed for a week. As I got older, I simply stopped watching them. I just don’t care to be scared by such movies. Darkness outside is not bothersome, I just don’t like being in dark rooms. I sleep with a nightlight on and I always have a soft light on at home. I don’t know what’s behind that fear but, I do remember that, as a child, one of the homes we owned and lived in was haunted by ghosts. They would come into our bedroom at night and hover at the foot of our bed but never attacked us. My Mom called a priest to bless the house after we shared our stories with her and that soon stopped happening. What are your childhood fears?
READ: Reflections: Songs from Village Days
Reflections: Shared Journeys
Reflections: OUR TRANSCRIPTS
MEMORY
Memory Lane by Joseph T. Renaldi
As I sat on the glider on the front porch
And watched the attractive twilight glow,
I took an imaginary trip down memory lane
And envisioned the colorful flowers in a row.
The aroma of perfume from the flowering shrubs,
The scent of the freshly cut grass,
The fragrance from the assortment of flowers,
All mingled in an identifiable mass.
I heard the rousing voices of children,
How carefree and excited they seem.
I heard the clanging of a distant bell
As I continued my journey to fulfill my dream.
I heard the mourning dove cooing
And an owl hooting on the nearby hill.
I heard a variety of birds chirping,
Interrupting my dream that finally became nil.via poemhunter.org
Memory Of Sun by Anna Akhmatova
Memory of sun seeps from the heart.
Grass grows yellower.
Faintly if at all the early snowflakes
Hover, hover.
Water becoming ice is slowing in
The narrow channels.
Nothing at all will happen here again,
Will ever happen.
Against the sky the willow spreads a fan
The silk’s torn off.
Maybe it’s better I did not become
Your wife.
Memory of sun seeps from the heart.
What is it? — Dark?
Perhaps! Winter will have occupied us
In the night. via famouspoetsandpoems
First Memory by Louise Gluck
Long ago, I was wounded. I lived
to revenge myself
against my father, not
for what he was–
for what I was: from the beginning of time,
in childhood, I thought
that pain meant
I was not loved.
It meant I loved. via famouspoetsandpoems
The details for Motivation Mondays are below. Join in! The themes for MAR – APR 2019 are:
04/01 – 01 April Fool’s Day, 02 Autism Awareness, Equal Pay Day
04/07 – 07 World Health Day, 10 National Siblings Day
04/14 – 14 Palm Sunday, 15 Tax Day, 18 Holy Thursday, 19 Good Friday
04/21 – 21 Easter Sunday/ Start of Passover, 22 Earth Day, 23 World Book Day
04/28 – 29 Remembrance Day, 30 Jazz Day
MAY
05/01 – 01 MAY Day, Holocaust Remembrance, National Mental Health Awareness month
05/05 – 05 Cinco de Mayo, 06, Ramadan starts, 07 National Teacher Day
05/12 – 12 Mother’s Day, 18 Armed Forces Day
05/19 – 19 Mental Health Awareness month
05/26 – 27 Memorial Day, 30 World MS Day
Are You Looking for Ways to Stay Creative in 2019?
- Join Our Blog Support & Engagement Group
- Check out the Daily Post for Inspiration. Resources. Idea
- Checkout Your Daily Word Prompts
- Check out SheKnows for SheKnows Living
More Below Read more…
Motivation Mondays: Self-Care
“Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list.” Michelle Obama
Motivation Mondays: Self-Care #MentalHealthAwareness
There isn’t anybody out there who doesn’t have a mental health issue, whether it’s depression, anxiety, or how to cope with relationships. Having OCD is not an embarrassment anymore – for me. Just know that there is help and your life could be better if you go out and seek the help. Howie Mandel
This is mental health awareness month, and self-care is an important facet of maintaining our health on all levels. It begins with our thoughts, our actions, and our emotional state. If we take time to nurture our bodies and our minds, we will be giving ourselves a much needed boost.
Mental health is a powerful driver of our development, sense of security and well-being. When we feel unsure or unstable, the impact flows into all areas of our lives. It affects our relationships with our friends and family, it affects our interactions with our children, and it impinges on our workplace as well as on our sense of self.
The challenge many face, has to do with the stigma and shame that still come with publicly owning our mental health story/struggle. In many parts of the world, it remains a taboo subject. This is why we must keep speaking up and out.
If we value our mind, body and spirit, we must continue to speak up and remind each other to begin with self-care.
“Self-esteem is as important to our well-being as legs are to a table. It is essential for physical and mental health and for happiness.” Louise Hart
Motivation Mondays: Self-Care #MentalHealthAwareness
Self-care is a conscious decision we must take to make our lives easier and whole. It is grounded in our self-esteem or our perception of same. Our self-esteem is inextricably tied to our mental health, and when we are unable to care for ourselves, we see the impact; it flows into everything and disrupts our efforts at self-care. Don’t give up. Fight it.
When we set aside ME Time for rest, exercise, check ups and self nurturing activities, we are performing actions that can help extend our lives and support our mental and personal health care needs.
However, we must take action. We must be both proactive and protective about our mental health concerns, issues and needs. The more we treat ourselves with care and consideration, the more likely we will be able to create balance and feelings of wellness in our lives. The more we focus on actions and thoughts that nourish our self-esteem, the greater the positive impact will be on our lives.
The details for Motivation Mondays are below. Join in! The themes for MAR – APR 2019 are:
04/01 – 01 April Fool’s Day, 02 Autism Awareness, Equal Pay Day
04/07 – 07 World Health Day, 10 National Siblings Day
04/14 – 14 Palm Sunday, 15 Tax Day, 18 Holy Thursday, 19 Good Friday
04/21 – 21 Easter Sunday/ Start of Passover, 22 Earth Day, 23 World Book Day
04/28 – 29 Remembrance Day, 30 Jazz Day
MAY
05/01 – 01 MAY Day, Holocaust Remembrance, National Mental Health Awareness month
05/05 – 05 Cinco de Mayo, 06, Ramadan starts, 07 National Teacher Day
05/12 – 12 Mother’s Day, 18 Armed Forces Day
05/19 – 19 Mental Health Awareness month
05/26 – 27 Memorial Day, 30 World MS Day
Are You Looking for Ways to Stay Creative in 2019?
- Join Our Blog Support & Engagement Group
- Check out the Daily Post for Inspiration. Resources. Idea
- Checkout Your Daily Word Prompts
- Check out SheKnows for SheKnows Living
More Below Read more…
