It's amazing how a community is formed in a hospital waiting room. Whilst waiting for my turn on the table, I met a couple from McLure, and at least three other ladies, all going for cataract surgery like me. I felt so much more at ease than I expected, so by the time I was in the operating room, I was almost relaxed. It also helped that the operation itself was only about 20 minutes including prep time etc....
I arrived at 7:30 am and hit the table at about 10 am and was out of the hospital by about 10:45.
Now it's all about drops, drops and more drops....a follow up appointment tomorrow morning at 8:30 am and then taking things a bit easier for a couple of weeks.
Nurses, doctors, fellow patients....all were very nice and made the experience so much easier than it could have been. That general feeling of camaraderie was prevelant throughout...maybe that's because of Kamloops' "small town" feeling.....something that is noticeable despite it's increasing size.
One down.....one to go at some point in the future.....distant future one hopes!!
Slainte!!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Creatively speaking......
I was rolling pastry for apple pies this morning (the best I've ever done I might add!!) and one tends to let the thoughts wander upon occasions such as this. So ...mine did. I was thinking about blogs, mine in particular and trying to get a feeling for what to write about.
My description of it is a search for creativity.....a journey to find what creatively I want to do....a constant problem with me it seems. My workshop is filled with a multitude of artwork, some of mine and some of members of my family (aunts and grandmother). I have a cupboard, shelves and drawers full of supplies...paint, clay, accessories, material, wool, etc etc.. .....which says to me that there are so many directions to go in. How does one choose...or does one combine them all in various and sundry combinations and see what emerges.....it's a quandary. I do admit that when I finally got down there to spend time puttering, it was glorious and I could have stayed down there much longer. The "little grey cells" started working again and ideas started rising to the surface.
The other side of my "creative personality" is writing.....I love writing when I can get my thoughts in order (not always happening!!). My mind is very fertile and if I could write everything down that goes through my head, it would fill pages I'm sure. I know when I am in a "sleepless in Kamloops" mode, the thoughts and stories that go through my head are amazing and I know I should try to get them down on paper or at least into the computer. I also journal a lot....on the computer ....in a number of books.....I would like to get them all centralized...a project for the future I expect. The late Frank McCourt said something to his creative writing class that stuck with me....it was that if one wants to write, then write….about anything and everything, just keep writing and writing and eventually you will find a pattern to what you are doing and will see the direction in which you are to go....at least that's the way I perceived what he wrote and it makes sense.
Of course there is always the music side of things, but that has a time line. One can only keep up the standard required for so long, then it's time to pass the torch onto someone else. I haven't reached that point yet.....but I hope I will know when it comes. Each year it gets more challenging to keep up the practice and energy required for each concert. However, I do so love playing in the orchestra....it gives me the opportunity to take part in the classical music that has been in my soul from day 1. The way my heart fills and expands when a certain phrase of music is played, it's positively amazing......I have been brought to tears whilst playing a performance...much to my consternation.....Sometimes when I'm listening to my CD's I just stand up, raise my arms and should "Yes...oh yes!!!" I move to music...any music...but classical hits my core.....and some parts of opera are breathstopping for me. So when the playing stops the listening will continue to the end of my days....
So....all in all my creative juices are still flowing, albeit somewhat erratically. I do believe I will ultimately find a direction to go in....and I need to take some time and write down a list of directions and projects and then sift through them and think about which is reality and which is fantasy. I also think that the way I approach the whole aspect of creativity needs looking into as well. Do I do it for myself, for money, for other people? I tend to think that doing it for myself is the primary goal....and if the rest come after that's ok. It's me that has to be satisfied and fulfilled before I can think any further. After all, if I'm not enjoying the process and the results of my labour....who else will?
Slainte!!
My description of it is a search for creativity.....a journey to find what creatively I want to do....a constant problem with me it seems. My workshop is filled with a multitude of artwork, some of mine and some of members of my family (aunts and grandmother). I have a cupboard, shelves and drawers full of supplies...paint, clay, accessories, material, wool, etc etc.. .....which says to me that there are so many directions to go in. How does one choose...or does one combine them all in various and sundry combinations and see what emerges.....it's a quandary. I do admit that when I finally got down there to spend time puttering, it was glorious and I could have stayed down there much longer. The "little grey cells" started working again and ideas started rising to the surface.
The other side of my "creative personality" is writing.....I love writing when I can get my thoughts in order (not always happening!!). My mind is very fertile and if I could write everything down that goes through my head, it would fill pages I'm sure. I know when I am in a "sleepless in Kamloops" mode, the thoughts and stories that go through my head are amazing and I know I should try to get them down on paper or at least into the computer. I also journal a lot....on the computer ....in a number of books.....I would like to get them all centralized...a project for the future I expect. The late Frank McCourt said something to his creative writing class that stuck with me....it was that if one wants to write, then write….about anything and everything, just keep writing and writing and eventually you will find a pattern to what you are doing and will see the direction in which you are to go....at least that's the way I perceived what he wrote and it makes sense.
Of course there is always the music side of things, but that has a time line. One can only keep up the standard required for so long, then it's time to pass the torch onto someone else. I haven't reached that point yet.....but I hope I will know when it comes. Each year it gets more challenging to keep up the practice and energy required for each concert. However, I do so love playing in the orchestra....it gives me the opportunity to take part in the classical music that has been in my soul from day 1. The way my heart fills and expands when a certain phrase of music is played, it's positively amazing......I have been brought to tears whilst playing a performance...much to my consternation.....Sometimes when I'm listening to my CD's I just stand up, raise my arms and should "Yes...oh yes!!!" I move to music...any music...but classical hits my core.....and some parts of opera are breathstopping for me. So when the playing stops the listening will continue to the end of my days....
So....all in all my creative juices are still flowing, albeit somewhat erratically. I do believe I will ultimately find a direction to go in....and I need to take some time and write down a list of directions and projects and then sift through them and think about which is reality and which is fantasy. I also think that the way I approach the whole aspect of creativity needs looking into as well. Do I do it for myself, for money, for other people? I tend to think that doing it for myself is the primary goal....and if the rest come after that's ok. It's me that has to be satisfied and fulfilled before I can think any further. After all, if I'm not enjoying the process and the results of my labour....who else will?
Slainte!!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
random thoughts.....what????
In my purse I keep blank index cards or sometimes a small diary to note down things that strike me or twig my interest where ever I may be. Today I was cleaning out my purse (a mammoth task to be sure) and I came across this list and have absolutely no idea what I was thinking.....
Screaming kids
Conversations
Tight jeans
Sameness in wear
Buggy rolling
It occurs to me that I may have been feeling rather stressed and was noting down things that irritated me. I mean
...how loud were the screaming kids,why were they screaming, were the parents trying to calm them or just letting them have at it.....
..... what kind of conversations were being had and were they loud and obnoxious conversations or flighty and full of giggles..... or on the other hand..was someone attempting to converse with me?
Tight jeans is interesting....was I leering at a cute behind on a male (hardly likely!), or "tut-tutting" about how young people dress today...or maybe cheering for an older woman with a good physique who didn't mind showing it off!! (That's a stretch!!)
The sameness in wear is no doubt about young people I was observing, it's all about fitting in and what's fashionable....
.....and as for buggy rolling....stroller, baby buggy, grocery buggy....the possibilities are endless....and was it rolling towards a car, my car perhaps....or maybe there was a baby in the rolling buggy....and maybe that baby was screaming....and so we end up back at the beginning...:-)
So...making a list to remind oneself of what is observed is a great idea....if you can make some indication of date and time and place....but then....this list became an idea for a blog post...so maybe it has ultimately served it's purpose as I think the original idea of jotting things down was to make topics to write about.....which it has!!
Slainte!!
Screaming kids
Conversations
Tight jeans
Sameness in wear
Buggy rolling
It occurs to me that I may have been feeling rather stressed and was noting down things that irritated me. I mean
...how loud were the screaming kids,why were they screaming, were the parents trying to calm them or just letting them have at it.....
..... what kind of conversations were being had and were they loud and obnoxious conversations or flighty and full of giggles..... or on the other hand..was someone attempting to converse with me?
Tight jeans is interesting....was I leering at a cute behind on a male (hardly likely!), or "tut-tutting" about how young people dress today...or maybe cheering for an older woman with a good physique who didn't mind showing it off!! (That's a stretch!!)
The sameness in wear is no doubt about young people I was observing, it's all about fitting in and what's fashionable....
.....and as for buggy rolling....stroller, baby buggy, grocery buggy....the possibilities are endless....and was it rolling towards a car, my car perhaps....or maybe there was a baby in the rolling buggy....and maybe that baby was screaming....and so we end up back at the beginning...:-)
So...making a list to remind oneself of what is observed is a great idea....if you can make some indication of date and time and place....but then....this list became an idea for a blog post...so maybe it has ultimately served it's purpose as I think the original idea of jotting things down was to make topics to write about.....which it has!!
Slainte!!
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