A New Day Has Come

 

 

 

When I wake up each morning, I don’t necessarily open my eyes to be awake. My brain wakes up first. Oh, it’s the same with you? Cool!

 

 

Sometimes, I’m not sure I’m really awake or whether I’m still dreaming. What confirms one state of consciousness over the other is the pace of my thoughts. When I’m dreaming, I … wait a minute, I don’t think. Stuff just happens.

 

 

But when I’m truly awake, with eyes still shut, I become aware of certain things. The sudden, mild chill feeling over my arm or leg that is not covered by my sheet, the uncomfortable angle of my head or other body part, Mum’s breathing, Shlaap cleaning herself at my feet (my pesky pet feline’s inbuilt alarm clock goes off before mine) or some sound around the house or outside my home.

 

 

As I process all of this, I’m still drowsy and floating.

 

 

But when I realise I’m awake, my mind springs to life like a tightly coiled and released jack-in-the-box.

 

 

With eyes still closed, I say, with mouth closed actually, “Thank you, God. I’m alive.” This mental utterance has no exclamation marks, just full stops.

 

 

Then I go on to figure out think about where I am (since I move around a bit on work) and what day, month and year it is.

 

 

Next, I try to recall all the events of that particular day. Not just events in my own life, but events in the lives of those I know as well. A birthday, an anniversary of some sort, someone travelling, undergoing surgery, appearing for an exam, someone sad, someone happy. I think of each of these people and mumble something to The Dude Upstairs; to give each one of them and me the courage and strength to climb our mountain. Or if we’ve summited, to give us a push and let us ‘whee!’ downhill.

 

 

I, um, do all this with my eyes still closed and mouth shut, too.

 

 

When I’m done dumping all my demands wishes in His ‘Incoming’ tray, I feel good and haul myself out of bed. Actually, not yet. I do a few stretches (with eyes and mouth still shut!) and then, I begin my day.

 

 

So those are the very first things I do every day.

Today is no ordinary new day.

It is a new month, you say? Oh, a new year?

D#mn straight, Peeps!

IT’S A NEW YEAR!

So this first!

Of course.

This image is from http://blogginggateway.blogspot.in/

Pease, pease keep ‘em an’ their blogsies as pink as the tips of me earsies.

On this

brand new day

of a

brand new year,

I’ve got some

brand spanking new good news

and some

brand spanking new GREAT news

to share with you!

 

 

 

The good news first. I will no longer blog …. no, I’m not going to stop. Pssh. Good luck trying to get rid of me.  I’m going for a change of pace. Instead of publishing a new post every fortnight, I will now do so once a month. See? I told you it was ‘good’ news!

 

 

Now, the great news. Yaay! I am so excited about this, I can barely type straight. The reason I will blog (even) less frequently now is because I will be busy jumping around in excitement … and getting a headache at times. Really.

 

 

More about the headache another time.

 

 

More about the jumping around in excitement RIGHT NOW!

 

 

Late last year, when I went away on assignment, September-October, to be precise, two of my cousins gave me a wonderful surprise. The timing is uncanny because these two cousins are not related to each other.

 

 

One is Mummy’s younger sister’s son and the other is Daddy’s younger brother’s son. Both are from different parts of the globe and though they have met each other on occasion over the years, they are not in contact with each other. But they both came up with the same thought, and they both approached me with the same request at almost the same time.

 

 

They both wanted to do something about, what I call, their Personal Social Responsibility or PSR for short. Since I switched careers to social service 4 years ago and am thriving* in it, they decided to seek my guidance.

 

 

*Not in terms of salary earnings, but the emotional millions I’m raking in.

 

 

So there. That’s what’s been eating my time since October last year. Because this is completely new to both my cousins, and I work alone with each of them via Skype, I have had to spend time I didn’t quite have. Looking at my priority list, I decided to forgo my personal surfing time after work. As a result, I have not been reading the handful of websites I used to visit regularly, and I haven’t commented as frequently as I used to on others; some of your blogs included. (I even missed The Hook’s mummy’s birthday!)

 

 

And all that is just wrong.

 

 

I have stated in my ‘About My Blog’ page that the people I know personally are important in my life. Since I began blogging 14 months ago, the people I have encountered via this medium have gained importance, too.

 

 

There is a rich variety of Followers, Likers and Commenters on my blog and I want to spend more time with each of you on your blogs. Not to return the favour as such, but because you all are so very different. I like learning about, being inspired by and ultimately, copying certain aspects of the way people live, complete strangers included. Doing so from people who are aware of my quirks (via my writing) makes it a little more comfortable for me to learn from and adopt.

 

 

I tried my darnedest not to compromise time with people I got acquainted with out here, but I still fell short of my wish, so some other area of my life has gotta give.

 

 

And I’ve chosen it to be my blog.

 

 

The reasons I began this blog are still important to me, so I do not feel the need or compulsion to quit entirely; only take it a little slower. I have decided to tailor one of the rules in my real life to fit my cyber life.

I believe that me being there with/for people in my cyber life

> 

Me merely talking out here (on my blog). 

WITH the most important people in my life.

Santa in my right hand represents BFF Two who was with us two years ago and hopefully, again next Christmas.

Right before the camera flashed automatically, I chirped, “I’m striking a pose for Facebook!” Everyone laughed. Why? Because I do not have a Facebook account. Those in this pic who do have Facebook accounts have used the next picture where I’m being my normal self – giving my nephew devil horns.

Being unable to surf my entire (self) allotted time these past three months, I also missed learning new things. Learning nourishes my soul. If my soul is happy, I will give more and better of myself to everyone I come in contact with.

 

 

And that is very important to me, too. To give my best, to do my best, to be my best.

 

 

I will share some details of my work with my cousins in a future post. Oh, don’t worry about making me cross my heart. I will brag.

 

 

[Editor’s note: You can get the lowdown of why I downgraded my publishing schedule from Once-a-fortnight to Once-a-month in my post of 1 May 2013:

 Loves’ Labours Not Lost

http://foryoudaddy.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/loves-labours-not-lost/
 ]

 

 

For now, I will share the nicknames my cousins and I have for one another.

 

 

 

I call the cousin who is older than I am – Gun.

Because it’s his high school ‘street name’ for his biceps back then; which he only used to peacock around with, not beat anyone to a pulp.

Gun calls me ‘Chick’.

Not because I’m female, but because I’m the younger of two sisters. Chick is not offended in the least. She cheeps in delight, in fact.

 

 

I call the cousin who is younger than I am – Dawg.

Because we both like dogs. That’s a lie. But I really can’t tell you why I call him that.

Dawg calls me ‘Dude’.

Because I spent 5 years in my earliest career in his city, and during that time, I spent a lot of time with him and his (then) school and college bloke buds, who are still his closest mates today. I was (and still am) like just another dude to them.

Chick/Dude/Kate/A Thorn Rose By Any Other Name

wishes all of you,

my lovely readers,

This image is from http://www.newyear2013.in/

and

all good things

in

2013!

I chose this image because it reminds of my Yuletide celebrations at my other home in Mississauga.

Also because I have a bit of teetotaller-style, Christmas hangover.

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Thank you, ATTILA OVARI and The Real Facts, for signing up to follow my posts. 

 

Thank you, You’ve Been Hooked!, for commenting on my last post.  

 

Thank you, Art en Motion, usmanhashmi, HOPPING ACROSS CULTURES, Raising 5 Kids With Disabilities and Remaining Sane Blog and You’ve Been Hooked! for liking my last post.

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P.S.: Cheerful Monk adds a footnote to every post acknowledging those who comment on her previous post. She also links the commenters’ names back to their own blogs.

 I like both these practices of acknowledging the time and effort made to comment, and the free advertising! So I’m doing what I do well – being a copycat! 

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