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Trying to Calm My Mind — 33 Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing your gorgeous beauty with us Mary! I, too, have been struggling with the same things. I find that doing something “artsy” takes my mind off the stuff I do not need to think about. I do not watch the news…and stay away from Facebook…I am learning to skip over the “bad stuff”. There is WAY too much of it out there. Happy Friday to you. I sure hope your shows improve!

    • Thanks Jeanne, I know we are not alone in being overwhelmed and feeling out of control. The more positive energy we can all generate, the better it will be.

  2. Hello, beautiful images. Sorry about the rain on your show weekend. I hope the next one is a success. I feel the same way as you concerning our political disaster. The wildlife will pay dearly and it makes me sad and mad. Have a great weekend!

  3. Good morning, Mary.

    I agree with you; I want to be informed but the news just makes us all so MAD. We are living in a time where I never thought I’d see what I’m seeing, a reckless and ignorant approach to “solve our problems” that’s only making matters worse. I knew it. I just knew it. And the environment…..I can’t even watch any videos about the horse roundups….I WEEP uncontrollably. Then there’s social media that has sucked up my time. At one point, it was a fresh new discovery of my creativity and friendships, but the latter has changed and I find myself lonely. However, I have to keep reminding myself that all this created and false sense of belonging (social media) is not who I am and not how we are to behave with each other. What do I do to survive this madness? I am slowly drifting away from blogging and will only post one photo a week on Instagram. I am making a choice to spend more time with MYSELF and my husband and learn to feel normal in solitude, where I believe, we can all hear the call of God.

    • Along with all that Anita, I think we need to find solace in everything beautiful, and peaceful that we can. The things that matter, the things that care about us in return.

  4. Happy place, happy place…harder to find these days, isn’t it?! Nature and music help me get by. I had to take a month off from news and I’m now back to limited quantities – but it has to be limited. I also did something very impulsive and adopted a house rabbit (!) and I now spend a lot of time watching “bunny T.V.” rather than partaking in the world around me. Very amusing to watch the terrier and the rabbit hang out as friends. I think a lot of people would be surprised by that pairing but neither of them know they’re not supposed to get along. Nice to have a reminder that some parts of the world still aren’t needlessly at each other’s throats.

  5. Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures–those are the types of things I’m focusing on to find balance. Walking the pups in nature, random acts of kindness, poetry are all keeping me centered. I hope that you get better weather for your shows soon!

  6. Good morning Mary. Thank you so much for the beautiful photos. They help me feel like I’m immersed in Mother Nature, my muse and solace. We’re all in this same boat on a choppy sea of inhumanity most of us have only read about in history books. I’m hoping our art and beauty will guide us and restore us.

    • Thanks Elaine for you kind comment. It is a choppy sea, and I am just craving a lovely warm beach, but I think that will be a while. I checked out your website, I love what you are creating. So beauty, and the power and message behind your work. Love it.

  7. Ohhh I hear you! First, I pray things pick up for you on the art front. As for politics….and “calming my mind”, since the beginning of January I have been making it a point to GET OFF OF FACEBOOK as much as humanly possible. I also can’t take it anymore. I used to be online EVERY night til the wee hours of the morning. Now, if I am caught up with email and anything that I “have” to do, I am offline for the entire night by 5pm (sometimes earlier). It has helped BIG TIME. I just steer clear of it all because the state of the World right now sickens me.

  8. That poppy shot is stunning. I can’t wait to get back to the desert – very soon. I unfriended a few folks on FB that kept posting political stuff. So I understand what you’re feeling. Hope the weather holds out for your next show and it turns into a good event. Hang in there!

  9. I am sorry to read that you are struggling so much. In regards to the political situation I certainly understand the unrest. Even when I don’t live in the States I get too much negativity from every direction. I don’t need to know what He does any more, it’s any way going to be bad. On a different note, I hope you will get luckier with the weather during future shows. And keep enjoying Mother Nature. Your photos of the desert are gorgeous.

  10. Normally walking and running are what Mom uses to reset her mind, but that is out for a while. She too is worried about her business, and how things will go, if it will pick up or not, and if not, then what. It’s tough. She too finds that when she has her camera and gets into photos, she goes to a different happy place. The same is true when we do our dog sports, she totally forgets all her worries. We love being on social media, but we avoid all posts that come up about world/US issues as it is just too much and we don’t want to hear more about it. Hope your next show goes well. You work so hard, and your products are so wonderful!

    • All the uncertainty is the worst. I hope so much that everything with your business is fine. And yes, dogs are a great solace, all the time.

  11. Sorry to hear about the rain running your show days!

    Your pics are beautiful, as always. I totally hear you – I can only take so much news and Facebook at the moment. I feel really depressed and anxious (for people, animals and the environment!). I keep thinking what’s the point to continuing my blog when I feel this way, but I do still enjoy connecting with folks who stop by to read it, and I get a little dopamine hit every time I get a comment :) so I keep going. It’s hard to feel “funny” now, which is what my blog (and my books) are supposed to be, so I haven’t worked on my latest book in ages, but I am trying to keep the blog going. Tell myself that folks need some laughs and smiles now. It’s hard to know what to do right now – definitely a fine line between staying informed and losing your mind. Hopefully this will lead to folks being more involved and things improving down the line.

  12. It’s hard enough dealing with our own personal issues, and then the political climate on top of that….it does get to be too much. An escape is definitely needed. Nature has always been a great one for me, and I also try to occupy myself with plans for spring, gardening, and some of the other fun things we want to do around the house. Then just hanging with the dogs is always good too.
    I hope the weather holds out for your next show, and you can manage to keep yourself away from the news (I know it’s tough).

  13. First, I hope the weather improves as does your luck with future shows! Your photos are always so beautiful I don’t know how people with means don’t feel compelled to own at least one!!

    As for calming time? I spend it with Shadow and Ducky, out in the yard. They bring me joy and peace of mind. I barely bother with the news any more. And Facebook? I’m seriously thinking of deactivating my account, except that I’d miss my friends who are also tired of all the negative energy emanating from it. I used to somewhat enjoy politics – when the majority of folks could discuss it without getting nasty.

  14. Thanks for the well wishes for the show. And ya, I thought about getting rid of facebook, but I would miss keeping up with my friends in far away places. Skim, past the bad, or stay off for a while. That’s the best solution. And doggies!!

  15. I am SO with you on this. All of it. I felt an enormous depression come over me when I heard about new bills being passed to ease hunting restrictions. And I won’t even go into the other things that are hitting me extra hard (most everything that’s happening these days hits me hard, but some things are extra difficult), because that just brings them back and gives them more power. The powerlessness of peoples’ voices – by the millions – is what upsets me most. Inhumanity, inhumane treatement, complete lack of compassion…the list is endless. If I could lose myself in the desert or the woods, I would – probably for the next 4-8 years, then I’d emerge and see if there’s anything left to return to. I do hope your next show goes well and the good weather is with you.

  16. I am so grateful you posted — first the beauty, but also, about your struggle with staying off SM and the news. I have decided not to watch, that whatever is happening ‘out there’ I cannot change unless I change within me. Until I find that peace you find in the desert, right here, I am not healthy for the planet.

    Thank you Mary — those flower shots are stunning!!!!

  17. Those panoramic sunset photos are spectacular!!!!! Staying away from all the “bad” news is really hard right now. It seems to hit me over the head whenever I open my computer!

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