help – Site Title

Beautiful Souls

I’ve mentioned many times that I live in a small village that time forgot. Each day flows seamlessly into the other without much excitement or noise. It is so quiet that you can hear a pin drop all day long!

Just recently I’m realizing that there is more to this village than meets the eye. I had an operation two weeks ago and even though I didn’t tell any of the neighbors except one, word has spread and the kindness that has been shown is unbelievable. They also have a gossip mill going and it seems to be working really well!

Anyway, the neighbor I told about the operation is someone I like and love talking with. I also bring her flowers now and then and her eyes light up each time she gets a bouquet. She is well into her 80s but is very active and loves working in her garden plot every chance she gets. Yes, the same lady who gives me a jar of homemade cherry jam made from cherries she had harvested from her garden each summer. She also brings me a beautifully wrapped bowl of baked cookies at Christmastime and they are delicious. This time around, she called after I got home from the hospital and promised homemade oatmeal cookies. That was a week ago and then nothing. I thought she had forgotten.

Today I got a call from a frazzled person apologizing profusely saying, “I’ve been so busy! I didn’t forget about you. I’m getting on it right now and I will bring it to your back gate!”

ME: ” I wanted those cookies yesterday!”

I was just kidding but the beautiful soul with the kind heart to match put a smile on my face. I will pick up a bouquet of flowers when I can and will watch as her face lights up again.

Just little acts of kindness but you can’t get this kind of caring from big cities. You become invisible there and get swallowed up in the hustle and bustle. Here it is different and I like this cozy atmosphere and the PEOPLE who make it HOME here.

I don’t miss big city life anymore. I love the peace and quiet, the feel that life is moving along perfectly, the fields, and most of all the “beautiful souls” who live here.

Time for oatmeal cookies! Just right with a cup of green tea.

Tech Klutz (2)

Photo by Photo By: Kaboompics.com on Pexels.com

The day started out like any other, peaceful and filled with promises of a nice new day. A blank slate waiting to be filled in. It was raining and the forecast called for rain all day long. It looked gloomy outside, dark and gray as a fall day sometimes looks like. Walking was out of the question so I decided to do what I normally would not attempt on my own.

I had a video of my book and decided to upload it. The folks at WordPress were really helpful and they had the patience of a saint! They needed that dealing with a tech klutz like yours truly! However, they kept their cool and tried walking me through the steps, one patient step at a time. All to no avail! The video didn’t want to cooperate and no matter what we did, we couldn’t get it uploaded. Frustrating? Absolutely. I spent half a day fooling with something I had no idea about, however, I did learn a few things along the way, don’t ask me what. I’ve forgotten already!

Anyway, we finally found out that the video was too large and get this, it needed to be compressed! What?!! I wanted to scream but they said, “No problem, we’ll try it another way.” After five different ways, still no success. There was no compressing anything! It (the video) refused to budge and preferred being the size it was!

I finally gave up and told them, I will get a tech person to come in and help me get this right. Later on today the person will show up and I hope he or she is a pro and can get the issue fixed without messing up my computer!

Kudos to the folks at WordPress. Thank you for your patience and your understanding. Did I drive you up the wall? I probably did but that’s because computers and tech klutzes don’t go together. We only tolerate each other!

Update:

Tech person did a great job and we found out that I needed to be a Premium member to get the video uploaded! So got that done and as you can see the video is up and running! 👍👍👍

Empathy

It is defined as, “the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling.”

An empath has the ability to truly understand other people’s feelings, however a narcissist, on the other hand, is only able to show empathy when they feel in control and their self-esteem is enhanced but since they are masters at exploitation, it is more likely they show no empathy at all. Not everyone is capable of being empathetic but that doesn’t mean you are narcissistic, just that it’s hard to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.

“Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feeling with the heart of another.” Alfred Adler

There are conflicting thoughts on whether empathy is a learned or a genetic trait. Some experts say it is “something we develop over time and in relationship to our social environment while others feel that it is “something we develop through our upbringing and life experiences – it is also partly inherited.” Then again there are those who say that in 95% of people, it is a learned trait like other human traits such as respect, kindness and honesty.

Whatever the case maybe, I feel it is hard to have proper connections if you lack this all important trait. I’ve met many people who totally lacked empathy and they came across as cold and stone-hearted individuals. They let nothing pierce the armor they wore and it was hard to tell if that was part of their DNA or a facade they wore to protect themselves from showing their vulnerable side.

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” Leo Buscaglia

Empathy is a lost art these days. In a world where we spend most of our time hooked to our gadgets be it an iPhone, cell phones, computers or social media, feeling with our hearts is next to impossible when everything is done with a swipe of one thing or another. When was the last time you really paid attention to someone close? When was the last time you really looked at a stranger and made eye contact? Or when was the last time you stepped into their shoes to experience what they were going through? Empathy is needed in a world where most things are superficial and going heart-deep is a really difficult thing to do.

This message came through when I met my girlfriend, the one who is never on time, for our usual breakfast meet. This time around it wasn’t centered around small talk, instead we had a heart to heart. She had suffered a stroke two years ago and her face droops on one side. She said, “I wish there is something I can do about it,” in a sad voice. It went straight to my heart. I felt her pain as I listened and let her talk. When she finished, I could see that the “listening” had helped. Her voice sounded lighter.

This is Empathy: Let me hold the door for you. I may have never walked a mile in your shoes, but I can see that your soles are worn and your strength is torn under the weight of a story I have never lived before. So let me hold the door for you. After all you’ve walked through, it’s the least I can do.” Morgan Harper Nichols

LET ME HOLD THE DOOR FOR YOU. Sometimes that is all it takes to walk that journey, to feel what someone is going through and to say, let me hold the door for you.

Have an amazing day.