Adaptation

All my life I’ve heard we must adapt to survive, o sink or swim. As a senior citizen, I’m finding life increasingly difficult to adapt to difital everything. As I type this in my blog pag, I can’t see what I’m typing because a black box with no “x” to get rid of it has appeared over the center of the page. So I apologize for any typos I can’t see to correct.

My bank changed its bill pay program, and then explained to me that to use it I must learn to read what they put in teeny tiny print so I can’t read it. How does making everything more difficult and complicated improve anything? Why put the critical information for the transaction so small I can’t read it?

The news media is all excited because of the Equifax hack. They ignore the obvious that in this age of terrorism, the hack is simply an act of terrorism. It only works if everyone is terrorized, and they sure are. They want everyone else to get excited and go through complicated, time-consuming, annoying steps to save themselves because they are afraid. I guess the news hasn’t adapted to the techniques of the Terrorism Age anymore than I’ve adapted to computers that become increasingly more complicated.

Change is frustrating and often frightening, but change for the sake of change is sadistic. This Digital Age of Terrorism has become increasingly more violent and less tolerable. What is the point in my own blog page putting a black box in the middle of the page? Apparently the only thing that will make it go away is to give WordPress money. I guess they’ve adapted.

Radio Show Audio File

For the audio file of my radio show on CUTV yesterday, please go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/closeuptalkradio/2017/01/10/cutv-news-radio-spotlights-author-franki-deMerle

It was a great experience for me, and I had a wonderful time doing it. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed doing it. The team that produced it were fantastic. I can’t say enough good things about them.

 

 

10 January 2PM EST CUTV News Radio

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: CUTV News Radio, (631) 850-3314

CUTV News Radio spotlights author Franki deMerle Vancouver, WA

– This is not our first time here and it won’t be our last. We’re spiritual beings on a physical journey. When this journey ends, we will begin a new one in a new body and a new time and place. Franki deMerle is the author of three novels, each focused on the subject of reincarnation: Deception Past, a novel of past life identity theft, murder, blackmail, and forgiveness; Dragonfly Dreams, a novel of romance and reincarnation; and Five Flowers, an historical reincarnation novel. Each novel draws on dreams, premonitions, past life regressions and memories.

“Reincarnation is a subject that interests me. I personally believe in it, but you don’t have to believe in reincarnation to read my novels,” says deMerle. “Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, it offers great structures for a novel.”

deMerle started writing poetry when she was only 15 years old out of an emotional need to express herself and her deepest feelings. She grew up Huntsville, Alabama, during the Civil Rights Movement, and would listen to Dr. Martin Luther King on the radio in her bedroom, much to the dismay of her parents who did not subscribe to Dr. King’s message of equality.  “This is why I’m a writer, I believe,” says deMerle. “I’m a sensitive person and sensitive to others, but most importantly I have something to say about tolerance.”

deMerle has also published three volumes of poetry: Ripples On the Surface, deMerle’s earliest collection of poetry, often described as mystical, which includes poems deMerle wrote from the 1960s to 2006; Child of the Universe, which covers 2006 to 2010; and her most recent book of poetry entitled A Call to Contemplation.  “My poetry is a search for meaning, beauty and harmony in a world of contention and conflict,” says deMerle. deMerle says if there is one thing she hopes readers glean from her writing it’s compassion and forgiveness.

CUTV News Radio will feature Franki deMerle in an interview with Doug Llewelyn on January 10th at 2pm EST. Listen to the show on BlogTalkRadio.  If you have a question for our guest, call (347) 996-3389. For more information on Franki deMerle, visit http://www.reincarnationbooks.com

Please Help Jenny Walk Again

The sister-in-law of a good friend of mine needs help to be able to walk again. Jenny Medina, who lives in Colombia, suffered from a bone infection, a MRSA, and part of her femur was removed. $20 buys her a day of care.

I realize people have their own families to take care of, and not everyone has money to spare, but if you do, it would be greatly appreciated. Please, if you are willing and able, go to

https://www.youcaring.com/search/go?w=Pete+Bessas to donate. Thank you so very much.

In Memory

It’s been a year since I lost my soul mate to a brain tumor. May she be free from suffering. May she be happy and have the true causes of happiness. She certainly brought me much happiness as well as teaching me about it and life.

Be at peace, Chiana, the Panda Bandit Van-Alike of Vancouver, born 1 October 2002, died 11 October 2015. We’re all doing the best we can without you. I look forward to seeing you again someday or year. I’ll always love you.

 

Insight

Without personal insight, we do not evolve into better versions of ourselves. Recognizing an asset or a problem is the first step in utilizing the asset or mitigating the problem. Personal awareness is what leads to insights that lead to revelations that show us the way to improvement. That’s what I’m working on.

I read somewhere that stress is change we haven’t adapted to yet, so now when I get stressed, I try to identify the change I haven’t adapted to yet. In my case, the recent source is the dietary change from my doctor. The doctor is right. When I follow the new diet, I’m fine. I feel better. The problem is that I don’t know what’s in so much of what I eat even though I read the labels diligently. When I order a meal in a restaurant, I’m guessing at what might actually be in the food. When I find a food that provides protein and helps me feel better, but the grocery store stops carrying it, I feel stressed. But meditation helps.

I’m not pushing a religion here. I just find I get my best insights from mindfulness meditation and dreams. Sometimes, just walking away from a problem allows me to see the obvious. I feel isolated by my diet. I see how full the grocery store is and how much of it is off limits to me. I see all the wonderful entrees on a restaurant menu and how few are available to me. Because I feel isolated, the smallest thing will add to the feeling of isolation. As the Dalai Lama has said, afflictive emotions (in my case, feeling isolated) allow me to hone in on anything else that echoes the sentiment, and the feeling becomes exaggerated. Afflictive emotions, by the way, are caused by not realizing everything and every event are interdependent, e.g. feeling isolated. I realized that, and began to think of the foods I can eat, and then I felt better.

Then I meditated on self-acceptance, which leads to self-compassion. Isn’t that a wonderful idea? (Obviously not mine originally.) I believe that all beings are basically good, because I believe the concept of good has to exist before the concept of bad can exist. That’s idealistic, which I am, and a bit theoretical. The point is everyone deserves to feel good about and toward themselves. We all suffer enough as it is.

So now I feel better about myself. I hope to find easier choices of food that help my body feel better. I also feel better about the music I play on guitar and my little harp, the art I do with my pastel chalk, the blankets I knit, and the poetry I write, because I meditated on accepting myself. And I did. And I do. And the moral to this story is if you’re stressed, figure out what change you haven’t adapted to yet, and find options to help you make that transition, because life changes way too fast for most of us these days.

May we all be relaxed, free from suffering, kind, and happy.

2016

A new year has half gone by, so I decided to post on my blog. It seems fauna is adapting well to climate change. Spring started in April. Since then almost everything in our garden has either bloom…

Source: 2016

2016

A new year has half gone by, so I decided to post on my blog. It seems fauna is adapting well to climate change. Spring started in April. Since then almost everything in our garden has either bloomed or has buds. It’s beautiful, but I understand what the flowers have been saying: Here comes the heat we hope to survive, so we’ll bloom early, go dormant, and hope for the best.

That strategy works for some people too. Bloom early, go dormant, and hope for the best. I wouldn’t say I was an early bloomer, but now that I’m retired, I can go dormant whenever the need arises. I’m writing this in the middle of the night, because daytime is just too hot. I guess it’s up to each of us to either adapt to change or just bitch a lot and make everybody else miserable. This is a good time to be adaptable.

Elsewhere others are getting all worked up about candidates for President of the US they don’t like, don’t agree with, or are just scared of. Is it worth getting all worked up about it? Some call it passion. Others call it civil disobedience. Fear is clearly driving the emotions. A lot of people are living on the edge and see how easily they could lose their jobs, homes, dreams, hope. I think that’s a good time to calm down and take stock of options for adaptability. Of course, I’m retired. I know it’s always possible for me to lose everything, except my peace of mind. And my adaptability. I choose to keep those.

As the saying goes, Be Calm and … I pluck on (guitar and harp). Be Calm and Listen works if you’re not in the middle of a war zone or riot. Whatever works for you, please Be Calm. And when all else fails, try to adapt. Best wishes to all.

Terrorism/Fear/Divisiveness

#‎WeAreAllMuslims‬ ‪#‎WeAreAllBuddhists‬ ‪#‎WeAreAllJews‬ ‪#‎WeAreAllHumans‬ ‪#‎WeAreAllChristians‬ ‪#‎WeAreAllHindus

 

How do I put this into words?

How do I put this into words?

The first time we met, she sucked my nose. She slept with her left paw around my neck and her face on my face. Once I woke up and found one of her back paws in my mouth.

She loved flower scents, especially roses. If I had a vase of roses, she’d find a way into it. She liked the water. I picked fragrant roses for my garden so she could have fresh rose petals in her litter box. She loved that. She even took some bubble baths with me, but only with a floral scent.

She loved green tea. She was crazy about coconut milk, whipped cream, and ice cream (mint and vanilla). She also liked applesauce and pumpkin pie.

During three years when we lived just the two of us with parakeets, I didn’t bother with the dishwasher. When I washed the dishes and put them in the drainer, she was right there to lick them dry, and I was proud of her. Many times when I forgot, she led me into the kitchen to the counter where I kept my medicine and reminded me to take it. If I overslept, she woke me.

She seemed to understand my dislike of spiders. Twice she woke me up in the middle of the night by meowing incessantly. I turned on the light and saw she was looking up above me. Both times there was a spider on the ceiling above my bed. After that I learned to pay attention when she suddenly went into hunting mode, usually around my desk. That always led to discovery of another spider. She was my protector, my friend, my roommate, my partner, and my soul mate.

She injured her knee doing gymnastics when she was one. She became a champion at both ball playing and strings of all kinds. We usually played ball on the stairs, and she had all the moves—fast ball, curve ball, slow ball, you name it. She was published on each of two of my books in the author picture. She is prominent in the novel I’m currently writing.

Her full name was Chiana, the Panda Bandit Van-alike of Vancouver. She was named after a character in the Sci-Fi TV show Farscape. She was the cutest kitten I’ve ever seen. We met in the fall of 2002, and she grew up to be the most beautiful lady cat. She was partly raised by Flyer Tuck, parakeet, and went on to guard and protect him and three subsequent parakeets from other cats in the house. Her kitten (not litter) mate was Gracie, quite a personality and a gray long hair partial Persian. They were separated when they were only three for three years, and then they were reunited. That was special. Gracie brought Soleil, a timid though histrionic Maine Coon mix. Chiana and Soleil became playmates.

Gracie died peacefully when she and Chiana were ten—much too young, but it was cancer. Soleil and Chiana grieved with us, but then in 2014, a Bengal whose human mommy had died suddenly joined us. Genie turned out to be smarter than the rest of the household combined. Chiana adopted her, and they shortly grew to love each other. Eventually Soleil and Genie came to love each other too.

In the summer of 2015, Chiana appeared to develop an allergy. She started sneezing clear fluid. We got rid of the twenty year old carpet throughout the house and replaced the flooring. During that turmoil, she, Soleil, and Genie got to spend a week in The Cats Meow, a lovely feline hotel. The doctor treated Chiana for allergies and infection, but the culture showed there was no fungal or bacterial infection. The doctor also did a head X-ray. By this time the nasal discharge had turned bloody, and her eye was running. When Chiana let me know she was no longer able to get comfortable, my sister drove us to the veterinary hospital. I was hoping there was some sort of Hail Mary procedure that could be done to give her relief, but it wasn’t the case. I held her in my arms after we’d said our good-byes, and I felt her let go. I believe she felt relief.

I will always be her mommy. She will always be my lady love. I’m so grateful we found each other, she taught me so much, and we had so many good years and times together. And I’m so glad we spent time together the day before, me standing outside in the driveway and the sunshine holding Chiana in my arms, breathing the fresh air, watching the sky and the geese fly overhead, and watching occasional cars and people go by and wave.

“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, she became a butterfly.”—Proverb for Chiana, 1 Oct 2002–21 Oct 2015