



Quote from a colleague:
“The quest for knowledge can not be abandoned.”
So very true. Expand your mind. Don’t allow yourself to become stagnant, or, worse yet, frozen in time like this camellia in my backyard this morning.
The brain naturally shrinks with age, despite being filled with this “knowing” stacked upon that “knowing,” even without trauma or defects caused by medical situations or diseases.
…with increasing age and there are changes at all levels from molecules to morphology. Incidence of stroke, white matter lesions, and dementia also rise with age, as does level of memory impairment and there are changes in levels of neurotransmitters and hormones. (NCBI)
It’s hard enough to remember what you already know as you get older, but the best thing you can do for yourself is to continue to learn – even if that includes unlearning only to relearn from a different perspective. The only way to slow the shrinkage is to continue to learn.
Read. Think about things in an interactive way. Write. Do things to exercise your brain, whether with puzzles or word games or just deep conversations with yourself in thought. Train (and/or retrain) your mind. Remain active in mindful and conscious ways. You’ll thank yourself for it.
I suppose this is a big deal to me because of physiological psychology and being a scholar in that field, but more than anything it comes from what I watched my mother suffer as she deteriorated from the added and horrific bonus of early onset dementia that turned to Alzheimer’s.
Take care of your mind. Fertilize it. Grow it well. Maintain it. Keep it in bloom. ❤️
We have to stop shrinking ourselves so that others feel bigger and better than they really are. We have to stop doing things when we don’t want to do them, giving things we don’t want to give, accepting things we don’t want to take, and apologizing for things that are the essence of who we are when who we are has never done anything but love the person we are apologizing to.
Apologies should come from people who have actually done something wrong…and even from those people, apologies and respect shouldn’t have to be begged for. The best apology anyone can offer is not in words but in changing their behavior without us having to remind them what we need every time we turn around – the best apology is them just respecting what we ask without us having to ask it more than one time.
Is there anything you feel I need to apologize to you for? Is there anything I need to or can do for you that I don’t already do? Is there anything you want from me that I don’t realize you want? What can I do to contribute to your happiness, and to life you up, today (or any day)?
These are the questions people who claim to love us should be asking us. These are the questions I’m asking you to ask yourself every morning. These are the questions I am asking you this morning. Answer them with the nitty gritty, real truth. Your truth. Don’t be a version of yourself to placate me or anyone else.
BE AUTHENTICALLY, UNFORGIVINGLY YOU and accept nothing but what you deserve.
I have fallen in love with the imagination. And if you fall in love with the imagination, you understand that it is a free spirit. It will go anywhere, and it can do anything. —Alice Walker
Mextures Formula: FCIDCYX
Sitting with Mama alone in her bedroom
She opened her eyes, and then squeezed my hand
She said, I have to go now, my time here is over
And with her final word, she tried to help me understand
Mama whispered softly, Time will ease your pain
Life’s about changing, nothing ever stays the same
And she said, How can I help you to say goodbye
It’s OK to hurt, and it’s OK to cry
Come, let me hold you and I will try
How can I help you to say goodbye?
How can I help you to say goodbye?
—Karen Taylor-Good, Burton Collins
Mextures Formula: GDRSIDA
It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.
—Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
Mextures Formula: CLABPXZ
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Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. -Sam Keen
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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •As I have practiced it, photography produces pleasure by simplicity. I see something special and show it to the camera. A picture is produced. The moment is held until someone sees it. Then it is theirs. -Sam Abell
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Tools: Mextures (formula KFVIEXP)
Vision: Unsplash, Hotae Kim