Take a Walk and Say Thank You

From a gift shop in Stokmarknes, Norway.

Every once in awhile, something can so blindside me I am totally thrown for a loop.  My usually chipper, upbeat, positive self just...flops!

What you need to understand is that I'm so darn cheery some people can't stand me.  Trust me, I know.  In my past life, working in accounts receivable (yes, you heard me), a co-worker was so bent out of shape by my cheeriness that she asked our boss if she could move to a cubicle far away from me.  She couldn't stand listening to me on the phone with customers.  Wisely, Boss did not consent, hoping, I'm sure, we'd balance each other out, both up and down.

That same cheeriness, however, got me chosen as the Employee of the Quarter--the "sparkplug of her department," the company owner said--and sent me on a lovely week to Paradise Island with a guest, joining our salesreps.  You win some and you lose some, as they say.  Speaking of which, said co-worker, 5 years my senior, is since deceased.

The point is, I really AM a cheerful person, for good or bad.  So when something throws me for a loop, even I have to sit up and take notice.  What/who can have that kind of power to throw me off my rocker!

Usually, truth be known, it's someone from my extended family.  We're a tribe, actually.  Lots of us.  And would you believe, I hold the accounts-receivable position (yes, you heard me) for our cottage association.  Can't say I mind it a bit, even if it's a thankless position, but it does have its moments, as happened a couple weeks ago.  I thought I was doing my job, cheerily reminding someone of their monthly pledge, but...yup, that's when I got thrown for a loop.  Maybe I just got lost in translation?

So.  Suddenly in the slough of despond, I had to lick my wounds and figure out how to proceed, short of immediately quitting on the spot.  Daughter said, "MOM!  Don't make sweeping generalizations!"  Which didn't help a bit.

When I went outside to take my daily walk that day, don't ask me why but I immediately started a mantra:  "I have everything I need; I want nothing.  Thank you." I kept repeating it:  "I have everything I need; I want nothing.  Thank you."

After 40 minutes, when I walked back into the house, I was back to my normal, cheery self.   I was shocked.  I decided it was the endorphins.  What else?

Then I wondered what others do to get out of their slumps?  What do YOU do? If I ever need to advise myself some future day, hopefully I'll remember to tell myself, "Go take a walk and say Thank you.  You have everything you need and you want nothing!"

My guess is a piece of dark chocolate might also help?! 

Rite of Passage

Welcome to that time of the year! High school and college graduations, weddings, and what have you.

Rite of passage: A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures. Rites of passage are often ceremonies surrounding events.... (Wiki)

When Astrid and I crossed the Polar Arctic Circle on our Hurtigruten 6-day sea voyage in Norway, on 7 April, we were told ahead of time to be on deck for a ceremony. Little did I know I would be swallowing a spoonful of cod liver oil, just to say I did it! You don't understand my aversion to cod liver oil! It goes all the way back to a childhood memory of drinking a glass of the nasty stuff for God-knows-what ailment. For years afterwards I could conjure up the taste in my mouth just by the thought of it.

They say the most powerful organ in our body is the brain. I believe it. Things that didn't use to bother me are now psychologically unpalatable. Like cow's tongue sandwiches, for instance. I grew up on them in my preacher's home but you couldn't get me to eat one now for a million dollars. Well, I might consider it, mind you. But like those bugs and grubs they have to eat on Survivor, I'd gag first.

Gag reflex: The pharyngeal reflex or gag reflex is a reflex contraction of the back of the throat, evoked by touching the soft palate^. It prevents something from entering the throat except as part of normal swallowing and helps prevent choking. Different people have different sensitivities to the gag reflex.... Absence of the gag reflex and pharyngeal sensation can be a symptom of a number of severe medical conditions.... (Wiki)

My brain is probably my most severe medical condition, and I admit it. I'm very sure I will go to my deathbed having never eaten/swallowed a slimy oyster in my life. I fried them up frequently for Mom and Dad when I was in high school. All I needed was one look at the insides of them to know you wouldn't catch me dead eating one. Ever. And those people who can eat crayfish with the heads still on, sucking out the juice.... [she gags]

Actually, caviar used to fit into this gag category, but not because I had ever tasted it. It was all in my head, of course...fish eggs. But while with blogger friends Tor and Anna in Norway, we were served it on avocado halves as an appetizer. Naturally, I was a good guest and ate it like there was no tomorrow. Interesting how you can make your brain behave, isn't it!  I probably wouldn't choose to eat caviar again but at least I didn't gag.

Hopefully all the ceremonies surrounding this time of the year for us won't enter the gag-reflex part of our brain instead of the delightful rites of passage they're meant to be.  That includes Mother's Day, for those of us who will soon celebrate yet another one.

And so I wish this for us all:  happy rites of passage!

[All images except the monument are Astrid's; processing and collage work are mine, via Picnik.]

A Horse of a Different Color

1867 Stabben Lighthouse, Florø, Norway.

Every so often something comes across the radar that is so totally unexpected, my jaw drops to the floor.

As you know by now, I love to collect things...weathervanes, water towers, gable stones, windmills and...lighthouses.  But this one I didn't expect.

There she sits out in the middle of the fjord (the last day of our Hurtigruten mail-boat sea voyage).  She's not on the rocky coastline.  She's not tall, sleek, or striped.  But she's a lighthouse, nonetheless, in what can be treacherous waters, which is the point.

In Dutch, when you talk about a horse of a different color, you're talking about een vreemde eend in de bijt = a strange duck in the pond.  You can say that again.

That got me thinking about all those things that are stranger or more different than what we expect.  We met 3 of our blogging couples while in Norway and told them they were better than we expected.  Not different.  That was fun.  Sometimes, however, we 'see' things in our mind's eye and think we know ahead of time what something/one is before we see them.  In those situations reality can throw us for a loop.  We've made assumptions that simply aren't true and really mess ourselves up. Hopefully we grow up and learn from the error of our way.

In fact, when we give our minds the space for anything but assumptions, it's amazing how big our world becomes with all its wonderful variations.  Variations on a theme are there to make us better, 'bigger' people, I believe, more open to all the creative options.  More capable of accepting what's different.  Accepting what's not like us.  Would there have ever been an 'ugly duckling' in that pond if we had learned to be more open?  Or a Muslim.  A Jew.  Gay.  Single mom.  Or whatever distinguishes something/one as 'different.'  We name things that are different from us, you know.  Especially if we don't understand them.

Remember when President Kennedy almost didn't get elected because he was Roman Catholic?  Or how devasted we were the first time we heard of someone famous getting divorced?  Sometimes it's not who we are but what we do.  The first time I saw Astrid eat every part of her apple except the stem, I stared at her with my mouth wide open.  Do people really do things like that?!

Funny thing is, I had a hundred things to tell you about our fabulous sea voyage along the Norwegian coastline.  Six days in and out of the fjords.  Where would I start?  HOW would I start!

Other things will come out over time, of course.  Fun things.  Glorious things.  But for right now, THIS is what rocked my boat.  A strange duck in the pond.  A horse of a different color.

[Speaking of color, you can see more of that here.  It's what Norway is known for.]

On What Rocks Your Boat

Tot Ziens = See You Later
Outside our old city hall, now a museum, in Gorinchem, NL.

As we speak, Astrid and I are boarding a mail-boat in Kirkenes, Norway, for a 6-day Hurtigruten cruise down the coastline, in and out of the fjords, to Bergen.  North to south.  Monday to Saturday.  500 passengers.  No entertainment/activities.  Just good food and fantastic sights.

We have just spent a fabulous long weekend in Oslo, since last Thursday night, with long-time blogger friends, Renny and Tor, along with their wives.  [Meeting virtual friends in real life, remember?]  We've had a blast.  Astrid and I had both been to Oslo before in our separate past lives, but we've seen it again with new eyes, together.

You can just imagine how excited we are.  It's our first real vacation since we flew to Atlanta last October (I'm retired but Astrid isn't!).  We're so ready.  But we're not counting on internet access.  That's why I'll be commenting on your posts later, once we get back home a week from now.  I promise.  I miss you already.

In the meantime, I wonder what rocks YOUR boat? Where will you go on your next vacation?  Do you already have it planned?  We've been planning ours since January, after scrapping initial plans to fly to Michigan in July.  Is planning half the fun for you or a big headache?  Is your vacation more than just the destination, in other words?  Are you already excited?  Or do you need something to kick-start you!

Astrid always jokingly says she hopes we don't die before our big trips start/end so that we don't waste the money.  HA!  Afterwards we can die and go to heaven.  I'm sure that's exactly how we'll feel.  That good.

Go ahead.  Rock our boat.  And then yours, too!