Hello Again

Well, I haven't written in awhile and I'm sure you're thinking, "Well, Karen must be doing pretty good since she hasn't ranted on her blog in awhile." That sounds rather narcissistic (sp?) of me, because, probably, no one really cares if I have written. Frankly, I just haven't had the energy to write. It takes a lot of emotion to write and I needed all the energy I could save to get through the holidays and start a new year.

In some ways, I'm doing okay. Not really, but it felt good to write that. The rawness (is that a word?) of grief has eased a little. I have also learned that it is important and necessary to allow myself to do things that give me pleasure. For those of you who know my family, you know we never relax before the work is done. I'm learning that it is vital, if not critical, for me to do things that bring joy and beauty to my life. Here's some of those things:

1. Spending time (lots of it) at our cabin and listening to the babbling creek that runs behind the back porch. Yes, the creek really does babble.

2. Going for long walks or drives in the mountains. There is something so therapeutic about just seeing the mountains - even from a distance.

3. Knitting - believe it or not, knitting has a lot of therapeutic value. There is actual research that shows it helps the brain in the same way that yoga or meditation does. I love to knit and it has brought so many wonderful new friends into my life. I don't really knit all that well, but that doesn't bother me. I'll write about the philosophical benefits to knitting on another post.

4. Shopping with my daughter or anyone who wants to go with me - I love to shop, especially with my daughter. I especially love to go shopping with other people and help them spend THEIR money.

5. Listening to certain kinds of music - can't take really meaningful music right now - just something kind of cheesy. I've discovered that I like "rap lite" - the clean kind of rap like they sing on Glee. Anything I can laugh at.

Okay, enough.

I just thought I would say hello, again, and see how everyone is doing. I actually have another post to write about a friend of mine who just lost her son. I think I will write that as a new post.