Noury's Creative World…

I have to admit, before I start blabbing away, I don’t think there is another soul like me.  I really have an incredible imagination.

So, ok, something is happening during my meditation time in the mornings, before I have my breakfast.  Just after having water and coffee.  Maybe it is the coffee.  Too espresso like.

This morning my mind took off to India, the region south of Chennai, in Tamil Nadu.  Supposedly I am staying there for a week of mind cleansing and also the body, mind you and me.  Need lots and lots of cleansing.  Need to totally change my life around, but have no idea where the heck I should be heading.  So…after getting up at 5 am, half asleep yet, I head to the room where the meditation takes place.

There, very quietly, because I know how awkward I can be, I find a place to position myself in the Padmasana pose (Lotus pose).  As soon as my derriere hits the cold surface, I know this is going to be one unforgettable experience.  I have no derriere and my little bones are alerting me that they will not put up with this hard surface.  Never mind, I tell my monkey mind.  Then, as it is the case, most of the time in my life…a big humongous fly comes flying at supersonic speed around my nose.  What the…!  Not even in India I can have a moment of tranquility!  Needless to say, profanity is not allowed in meditation or anywhere close on these grounds.

Silence again… the superfly just disappeared from my life.  I can breathe better and concentrate in my mantra.  Which one again?  So hum it is.

Out of my left field, there comes not only the superfly (remember that movie?)…but her whole entourage.  They are only surrounding me with an infernal buzz.  What can I do?  I bathed, I am clean, so why the convention of flies around me?  Losing my pose, my calm and my good intentions of being a little bit holy, I start smacking back and forth around me, when then I noticed that insects probably are to be appreciated and allowed to do as they may, by the looks of the others towards me.

Or maybe it is that I don’t have any makeup at that time of the day and I look like the mother of all superflies?  That thought just hit me.  No mirrors around to double-check how I really look with nothing on my face to cover up the bride of Frankenstein look when I first look at myself on the mirror, mirror on the wall…which by the way, I have trained my mirror to tell me I am the most beautiful of them all.  It is that or seven years of bad luck.

Well, that did it for me! This meditation session is just a supersonic nightmare.  I am going back to Central Florida to my Queen Anne chair to meditate as I please.  Must admit, for the past few days, I have definitely not been successful.  Is it Mercury too close to Earth or just that I must change breakfast choices?

Life is very long when even your meditation time turns out into a gargantuan fiasco moment.

Namaste!

 

There you have it!  I had this incredible experience while hiking the Himalayas in the cutest, very trendy and fashionable outerwear outfit.  Cute with kind of all colors, colors such as the ones you see while you are hiking Machu Pichu.  Those vivid and so bright colors of the Native Peruvians.  Lots of polka dots in my stockings.  Love polka dots.  But I was not at Machu Pichu, I was at the Himalayas.  Boots, hat, scarf, my Ray Ban sunglasses and full of energy, gusto and ready to conquer one of the top places in the whole wide world.  Mount Everest!

So I am with all these people from all over the planet, all of them very nice, amiable, kind, like the ones from the era, “Peace, Love,” if you know what I mean.  If you don’t know what I mean, well…that’s tough, because I don’t have the space and the time to go deep into it.  Use your very smart imagination.

Back to my hiking…there I am pulling myself up with a rope that I don’t have the foggiest idea who’s holding, maybe someone already at the top.  I made sure I had cute undies, in case the people below me were looking up.  I didn’t want to offend anyone with my all white gramma’s underwear.  Oopsie, getting too personal.

There I am…good hair day, the fresh air from that altitude, maybe 25,000 feet up, feels marvelous.  I am handling that rope like I am a total expert doing this.

Suddenly, and very suddenly…a mountain goat shows up from nowhere, the one with the arched horns, and his face is not at all friendly.  He is on top of a space in the mountain that I must conquer if I want to make it to the summit.  To the summit it is at all cost.  But, the mountain goat is facing me down like saying, what the heck do you think you are doing here with the cutest outfit ever to have graced this mountain.  He stared at me and started to bite on my rope…that’s when the situation went very sour…I thought, two things are going to happen here, one, I am going to make it to the summit, or there’s going to be a death splattered on the ground mountain goat.

My meditation time was up, so I must continue my hike tomorrow, or maybe leave the story hanging loose just as it is.  Don’t worry, the mountain goat survives, and I reach the summit with half of my undies shredded by the goat.  It was a sight to behold, me on that rope going as fast as I could, and the goat chewing as fast as he could.  We compromised halfway through and…pop, my oatmeal was ready.

It is so much fun being a writer.  I just write stuff.  That’s exactly it, just stuff.  Tomorrow I may decide to go to Atlantis the lost continent, or…

 

Décor comes, décor goes…Autumn has officially arrived at my tiny kingdom.  I can really feel the spirit of Thanksgiving just around the corner.  Life is so very good and I am so very thankful for still hanging around in this precious universe I call my place.

It is wonderful how a change here and a change there, also in the color of the flowers and tiny details I place around, that can make such a difference in my mindset.  I am so looking forward to my daughter coming to visit, and then I will be going back to North Carolina to visit my family for Thanksgiving.  So very excited!

All this excitement takes place in my mind.  I wish I could be in this happy mindset all the time…but then…there’s always a but…

I think I will be exhausted from so much happiness and excitement.  Life is just like that…too much of anything, even if it is a really good thing, can make you start to take it for granted and then one day, it goes unacknowledged.  So is life.

In the meantime, I am like Snoopy, the go happy doggie from the Peanuts.  I just flip my flip-flops every morning and like Dorothy, there I go into the streets of Central Florida and see and watch what new stuff comes into my life.  Sometimes have to be careful…some things come and want to grow roots in my heart, and then, that’s not such a good thing.

All and all, these things keep me busy, happy and challenged.

Think… what’s your favorite part of this season…

 

“Lila” is her name.  I saw her (I thought it was a guy by the way she is always dressed) for the first time almost two years ago.  She was looking into a dumpster at a botanical garden where I occasionally go for my walks.  She spent a good amount of time looking through garbage.  I did not give it a second thought.  I thought it was a homeless person with one of those shopping carts next to her.

As time went by, I used to see her and would wave at her or say good morning.  She just looked at me.  Even though she intrigued me, I just went about my life as most of us do.

Back to the future.  During the last blossoming of the night cacti at the botanical garden, she went around the neighborhood to alert us as to the blossoming in her bike.  The next day, I went to take some pictures of the cacti to illustrated the day-after look of the plant.  That’s when I saw her close up.  She was conversing with the maintenance guys, so I joined in the conversation.  The closer I got to her, I noticed her beautiful blue eyes.  Also noticed the same clothes she has been wearing for the past years.  That was not important, but it is one of those things you just notice.  I asked her if she wanted to be in a picture next to the cacti, because she was part of the event, but she declined.

Yesterday, Saturday, I had to take a detour due to some sprinklers blocking the usual route of my walk, so I decided to go to the botanical garden.  There she was surrounded by her cats.  I forgot, she feeds lots of cats and they look clean and very well fed.  I approached her to greet her and she got close to me.  Her body odor was making me sick, so silently I asked God to just do something for me to focus on her and not the putrid odor surrounding her.  A breeze showed up out of nowhere.  Thank you Jesus!

We talked for a while, and I found out she owns a house that has been condemned by the city, so she has been sleeping outside for months now.  This started during the winter and is going on right now.  Among the many things I noticed while she was talking, was her soft voice, her beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous hair.  You know me, it’s all about the hair.  Hey, I am just human!

Recap her situation…She moved with her parents to the area over 40 years ago from Miami, her parents died, so I imagine something must have triggered her actual situation, because obviously, no one decides one day to become a hoarder and mentally flip the switch, so one of my next mission is to ask her how all of this happened.  She is very willing to have a conversation, because just like me, she must feel very lonely sometimes.  We humans are so much alike.  The outer crust is just that, the outer crust.

After telling her I was going to find out if there’s any social services agency in the city or county to help her with some of the issues she is facing right now, I bid farewell and left.

Came home ready to fix my breakfast, and then the lightbulb went on.  I thought, “Noury, how can you think about breakfast, when there is a woman out there that only God knows what is she eating for breakfast.”  McDonalds to the rescue!  Got in my car, got a complete breakfast with coffee to go.  I was so excited and feeling so happy.  It is true what they say, it feels better to give than to receive.  The best $6.59 ever spent in my life!

Went back to the park, but no Lila.  Thanks God I remembered where she mentioned her house was.  Drove to her house, and yes, the house is condemned.  She was outside with her cats, so I gave her the bag with all the goodies and told her that coffee already had sugar and cream.  She looked at me and in her soft voice asked me…”do you like coffee?”  In a second I realized that she was being gentle enough not to reject the coffee, but hinting in a very nice way she did not drink coffee.  I asked her what she likes to drink, and she said tea and water.  She said to me that I didn’t have to do this, but that she appreciated it.  I responded that I knew that, but I wanted to do it.  After a few more words, I left with the coffee.  The Lord works in mysterious ways, that cup of coffee was the most delicious cup of coffee I have had in a while and was my only breakfast that morning.

I feel amazingly grateful to have been given this opportunity to do something meaningful for this woman and to remind myself of the important things in life.  We are here to rise beyond pettiness and to really look around and notice what may make us feel uncomfortable sometimes, but it is no other than real life, and an opportunity to show up.

I don’t know what all of this is going to translate to, but I am going to take it one step at a time.  Next week, City Hall and follow the energy and flow of things.

Why am I sharing this?  I don’t need any approval or anything to that effect, just wanted to share that there was a situation right on my face, and I was in such denial for such a long time.  Hopefully I will be more conscious, aware and sensitive to those around me when the opportunity arises again.  Life is a constant course in “Human Improvement.”

I know some of you are thinking that this woman is probably a millionaire and she doesn’t need my help.  Someone already made that observation.  And yes, probably she is a millionaire because her property is sitting within the limits of a city known for wealth and chic.  But, that is so irrelevant to me.  Mentally she is not doing well…and that’s all that matters to me.  Money is just that…money.

Thanks for reading…

 

This is my most faithful morning companion.  I was having healthy-good-for-you-tea, but on my latest visit to my mother, I got hooked on coffee again.  This is like the one sinful pleasure that I must have after my walk and a glass of water.  I taste every drop that goes into my mouth.

I also use these moments to ponder about the day, my particular personal philosophies, about noticing the new wrinkle on my face or elsewhere (yeah, they show up in places you will never imagine).  Enough of that.

Sometimes when I am almost finished with my espresso sinful potion, my heart wants to skip a beat here and there, but I think…what the heck, from something I have to die, so what better moment than this one.  I am sure my sweet heart (yes, it is a very sweet and lovely heart I have), enjoys this joyful ritual every morning.  Did I say I put a tiny amount of the other deadly sin, sugar.  White, yes, I like to live dangerously and push the envelope to the max.  What else is life for?

Rest of the ritual is really so so; oatmeal with an apple in it and whole milk.  Yep, living on the edge.  Absolutely, more white sugar.

Now you know a side of me that you were trying very hard to figure out.  My secrets and me.

Have an eventful day!

Moi

 

Walking towards the doors of my favorite supermarket, I saw a puppy and was trying very hard to establish eye contact with the pretty little dog.  As I am getting closer to the puppy, I hear in a baritone voice…”lovely and sexy pedicure.”  I looked around to see if the puppy had a pedicure, nope, it wasn’t she or he, and only the owner of the dog and me were standing around.  Then as I am looking at this muscular guy, he said again…lovely and sexy pedicure.  WHAT!!!!

I had one of my electric green flip-flops and some basic nail polish I had slapped on my toe nails before I went out.  As a matter of fact, they were not 100% dried.  So this muscular guy (not my type) caught me by so much surprise that I forgot what languages I was able to speak.  I just kept walking with my mouth open and looking at my feet, that I almost made a grand entrance by falling over my face at the door.  Was it the mini-skirt, the heat or that this guy had not seen anything decent that morning, before he saw me and my toe nails?

Oh, yes, my type, just in case…preppy looking and no big belly whatsoever.  God, please be gentle with me.  Now back to the story…

I am freaking out…now I am paranoid about all parts of my body…they have to look really good because I’ll never know what part of my anatomy someone is going to be looking at next.  I need a magnifying glass to check myself out before I hit the streets.  Stress on top of more stress.

Life is never boring on this side of the peninsula.

Moi

These are a few of my favorite things…My Williams-Sonoma kitchen towels, have lots of these, my newly acquired bamboo utensils for my every day stir fry, and a bit of rosemary that I stole this morning from one of my neighbors humongous plant.  These things make me feel special.  It takes very little to make myself happy.

Isn’t that the case in general in our own lives?  I think so.  Things that make me laugh are my own interpretations of moments of others or my own, that I give it that Je ne se quoi twist.  Pardon my French.

Wanted to share how I make my own life very special.  Old kitchen towels, simple utensils and my own imagination.

It is the memory of moments that matter.  Life reminds me of when I was a little girl.  I used to play house with big cardboard boxes and I remember using cans to put fresh flowers on my make-believe home.  I was very happy then, and I am very happy now.  Of course, there are moments and there a moments.  You understand.

What are some of your very favorite things?

Make it a memorable day!

Moi

 

 

As you have noticed, the tiara I wear in my castle is a bit crooked today.  The lady in waiting (me also) was too busy to check my hair, tiara, etc.  I cannot fire her because then there will be no one left to boss around.

Back to the headlines…I have decided that before I pass judgment or criticize someone, I should do the following; make sure all my underwear is clean, carpet is spotless, silver is shining, there is no garbage around, legs and other things are totally with not a hair to be found, I look perfect (this is the one that is never going to happen), I have read all the books and magazines on the piles all around the castle, car is waxed,  nails are looking smashing, all shoes are dusted and so on.  Hopefully you get the idea.

Oh yes, I have blessed every person that populates planet Earth.

After I am done doing all of the self-assigned tasks, I hope I won’t have the energy or the desire to pass judgment on anything or anyone.  That includes judging myself.

Think about this before you pass an opinion on my tiara or me.

Having a very non-judgmental and happy kind of day.

Moi

 

 

Enough already of standing still…I am taking this blog on a new direction.

It is going to be a mix of a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  I am going on a limb.  Hopefully all will work out so we can have some fun.

Allow me to explain the above photo.  That’s a super cute summer dress.  The latest trend is to show the brassiere’s straps (straps need to be pretty or sexy, otherwise don’t wear one.)  🙂  We are going to feel super liberated on this forum.  Get it?

Back to the headlines.  There is going to be fashion, jokes, stories, biographies, interviews, photos, lots of them, love stories (my very favorite), some gossip and of course, how to age very gracefully while keeping the grace (redundancy is acceptable), and have an incredible sense of humor.  This is the main ingredient to be able to age without losing your beautiful and crazy mind.

As you have noticed, of course, there has to be a picture, or two of yours truly to start this new adventure.  I have such an inflated super ego.  It works for me.  That’s all that is necessary.

I feel a Pulitzer prize knocking on my door already.  Told you.  Sense of humor or else.

Oh yes, the grammar police needs to relax and chill.  English is my second language.  Excuses, excuses.

I feel super good, look super cool and let’s go!

Moi

 

 

This was one part of the view I had during my morning walk in Central Florida.  Here is where I live in a tiny condo, that I call my kingdom.  I am the ruler in my castle and I must say it feels pretty good.  I sometimes wear a tiny tiara I bought for a project…kidding.  Must have an incredible sense of humor when you are the only inhabitant in your kingdom.

This is Moe, one of maybe two inhabitants in our not so golden pond.  He seems to be happy, trying to eat his breakfast.

All and all, it is a beautiful day in Paradise, at least my paradise.

Sending you all best wishes for a fun, happy and pondering weekend!

Happy Contessa

“I’ve learned that if you stay focused on yourself, you are guaranteed to be miserable.”  Someone at age 71.