Not Since Chemo

So, my family has been battling the stomach flu for several days this past week. My husband had it first. He complained of upset stomach and didn’t want to eat anything for 3 days. He had stomach-flu-like symptoms without actually being “sick.”  Me, on the other hand, sick, sick, sick. I haven’t been this sick since I was treating with chemotherapy. Only this time, I didn’t have the really good drugs to help with the nausea.

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Counting The Days

We’ve probably all heard the expression, “Don’t count days, make the days count.” Well, I believe that’s a good motto. It reminds us to be thankful every single day for all of the blessings that happen around us, most of which, sadly, we don’t even pay attention to.

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My War On Drugs

Health issues can be exhausting, especially ones requiring regular and ongoing treatment. I find myself in this position for at least ten more weeks. Daily radiation combined with weekly chemo. Each treatment has multiple and varied side effects.

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What Facebook Personality Type Are You?

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I try to pop in every day or so to see what’s going on with my “friends.” Sometimes I post stuff, sometimes I like stuff, sometimes I use those cute newfangled emoticons. Usually, what I do is snort, scoff or laugh at other peoples’ posts.

Ever notice that there are some people you can bet money on what their post is about? I have. I’ve comprised a list of the FB personality types I come across most often on my feed. Because – and I think I’ve said this before – I’m a giver, I’ll share my analysis with you. Please keep in mind that some people fall into more than one category and I am in no way asking you to unfriend me. This is simply my observations about the most commonly posted stuff. I, undoubtedly, have fallen into one or two of these categories on occasion myself.

Here goes:

Bragging soccer mom – These posts are ALWAYS pictures of their kids with some clever or cute sentiment about how amazing the littles are. I’m not opposed to these posts, I just get tired or seeing them. “Here’s number 412 of Johnny at X event.” “Here’s little Susie all dolled up in her ____ (fill in the blank).” “followed 2 seconds later by another of Susie in one of her other 800 cute outfits.” Are you living your life vicariously through your kids? Can we see just one picture of you doing something interesting?

Overjoyous grandmother – Yup, this one’s like the one above only it skips a generation. Again, I love seeing the cuteness, so don’t stop, but you might want to throw in an occasional instructional video about how to cook something sinfully delicious that no one’s ever going to cook up. Your grandkid didn’t get cuter in 15 seconds.

Perpetual sick-o – Do you, like me, have that the one (or a dozen) “friend(s),” who always has something ailing them? Sometimes their ailment is accompanied by a disgusting picture or description of their illness. Or, if they’re not sick, someone in their family is. Let’s find something positive and post that tomorrow shall we? I’m tired of hearing about everything that’s wrong with you and/or your loved ones.

Excessively needy –  These are the people who subtly boast about how awesome they are by posting negative stuff. Like how much pain they’re in because they’ve just climbed Half Dome at Yosemite in 15 minutes. Or they have injured themselves – again – for the umpteenth time in karate class earning their tenth black belt. Do these people just need sympathy or do they think they’re bad ass? I have no sympathy. I’d rather you just post the accomplishment and leave it at that. If it’s the pain you get off on, then just say that, don’t use the poor, poor me post to brag about yourself.

Humorous meme sharer – I think these are the people who appreciate good humor but are themselves not funny so they post cartoons or pictures with captions that make people laugh. I love a good laugh, and I have often shared some of these clever witticisms, but once in a while I’d love to see an actual post that you’ve typed up yourself.

YouTube abuser – This one’s pretty easy to figure out. Have you noticed how many videos are being posted on FB these days? Seems like I get dozens of them a day. They slow my computer down. Let’s use the video clips sparingly people.

Political activist – This one is self-explanatory. Just stop people. Stop right now. I know where you stand from the first hundred dozen posts. And – here’s a shocker – your posts are not going to get me to change my mind or my opinion. Stop already.

Nature lover – Only posts pictures of nature too beautiful to be real. (See photo above for example.)

Save the world prayer seekers – Again, stop with the pictures of grossly disfigured children. I don’t need to see them. I know where to donate charitable funds. I’ll pray for everyone not just these poor unfortunate souls.

Sales people – This one is tough because as an author, you want to make people aware of your books and where to buy them, but some authors seem to only put “buy me” posts up. I’d like to know a little bit more about you. Let’s see some clever posts by the author so I know whether or not your book might be enjoyable.

World travelers – Ever notice how some people always seem to be going somewhere or doing something? I am sure they have regular lives like normal people, but every day there’s a new post from somewhere other than their home. Yay for them and I love the super cool photos or super cool places, but sheesh, when do you do your laundry or pay your bills?

So there you have it, my analysis. Keep in mind, this is just my own personal FB feed and yours will look different. However, I’m sure if you take the time to look and keep track, you’ll find one of two of the types listed above on your feed too. And again, don’t hate me people; this post is mostly tongue-in-cheek.

If you fall into one of these categories and you think I’m making fun of you, well, I probably am, but that’s how I roll. If you really know me, you know that I laugh at myself as well and if I’m laughing at you, it’s because I really like you. If I ignore you, watch out; that means something else entirely. I scoff because I care.

How about you dear readers? What kinds of trends do you see on Facebook? Do you get tired of some of these offenders? I’d love to add to my list, so let me hear your thoughts.

Word of the day: Hautbois (alternate: Hautboy)

Fun fact about me: I think I’m one of these FB post offenders.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, April 2016. Photos courtesy Google Images.

 

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The Power Of Suggestion

Image courtesy Google Images

The human brain is an amazing thing. We have the ability to process tremendous amounts of information in a single second. Our synapses fire at incredible speeds for very long periods of time. It’s a wonder we don’t get dizzy with all of the information pouring into us and through us, triggering rapid-fire bursts of energy under our skin. But, what amazes me the most is the persuasive power of suggestion.

Photo courtesy Google Images

We’ve heard the expression we “will” ourselves not to do something. It is our will that prevents us from getting sick. Or vice versa, the power of suggestion can in fact make us sick. How many times have we traveled on a plane or in some other vehicle with close quarters and some kid or obnoxious adult is coughing and hacking without the decency to cover their mouth? Haven’t we all said, at least once in our lives, “I’ll probably be sick now?” That’s right, we “will” ourselves into illness. We’ve made the suggestion to our ever-powerful mind, and it happens just so.

That my friends is the power of suggestion. That is how trends become fads and fads become crazes. Someone “suggests” something and we all jump on the bandwagon. Someone in Hollyweirdwood decided to shock the world by wearing a see-through dress.  Now, everyone who’s anyone is wearing see through clothing because it’s all the rage. Someone suggested it, someone else pondered on it and voila, it’s a new trend. Not long ago I blogged about eating fads and the new trendiness of having food allergies. Someone with an honest to goodness gluten allergy got sick and tired of nobody believing them so they riled up the social media sites with their symptoms and bang – everyone’s gluten intolerant because they happen to have similar symptoms. That’s the power of suggestion.

Image courtesy Google Images

This persuasive tendency in our minds is very real and very reliable. Above I said that people can “will” themselves into being sick. Same works in reverse. Ever heard the expression, “where there’s a will, there’s a way?” That’s the power of suggestion my friends. We suggest that something may be possible and suddenly it happens. That’s how I became a writer. Someone from my past suggested that I write down one of the crazy tales spinning around in my head. I pondered that idea and look at me now, I’m writing books.

The power of suggestion has actually had a profound effect on my life very recently; life-changing in fact. If you follow my blog, you know that my house is for sale, which obviously means that I am moving, and you’ve seen my most recent post about the obstacle blocking the path I chose from the fork in my road. Well, it seems that that obstacle has been removed and I am once again cruising down the road to my future.

Photo courtesy Google Images

Here’s how it all started; my husband and I have been trying to move out of California for many years now, but something has always prevented us from doing so. I’ll not go into detail, but suffice it to say that the things preventing our move were huge and much more important at the time than us moving East. We decided at the end of last year that we would try again. We traveled to North Carolina (the State we’d decided on many years ago) to look at houses and check out the employment market. While we were there an opportunity presented itself to us and we sort of checked into it on a whim. That whim got us to thinking, which lead to suggesting that perhaps we choose another path; one not in North Carolina. Here’s where the power of suggestion changed our lives – that suggestion is going to happen very, very soon.

Photo courtesy Google Images

We are going to be the owners of a Bed & Breakfast!

That’s right, we’ll be innkeepers. The power of suggestion has transformed our lives dramatically. Neither my husband nor I had ever talked about owning or operating an inn, yet here we are, about to be innkeepers. (It should be noted that we both have experience doing this kind of work and in the hospitality and food industry.)

While we were looking at houses in North Carolina back in November, we can upon a really cute old farmhouse for sale. Even though it was out of our price range, we decided to check it out – on a whim. It was operating as a bed and breakfast, but only had 4 guest rooms. It was way too expensive to consider buying for a private home, but did not provide enough income opportunities (with only 4 rentable rooms) to make ends meet as a business. But, that got us to thinking – why not look into buying an inn? That way we’d have built in jobs when we purchase our new home. Sort of, killing two birds with one stone.

That’s all I’m going to say for now, because a couple of little pieces still need to fall into place to complete the big picture, but I’m fairly confident that in a week or two there’ll be an announcement with all the details. There is a clue in this post, however.

And that my friends, is how the power of suggestion can change a life.

Photo courtesy Google Images

Tell me dear readers, how has the power of suggestion had an impact on your life? Have you ever willed yourself sick? Or not sick? Have you ever stayed in a bed and breakfast inn? If so, what was your favorite part?

Word of the day: Rya

Fun fact about me: I worked at a bed & breakfast one summer a number of years ago. I enjoyed it.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, June 2015. Images and photos courtesy Google Images.

 

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I Don’t Get It

I have a love / hate relationship with Facebook. As a fledgling author, I understand the importance of building a brand and expanding my presence on social media sites. I’m trying to do this and to be as active as possible without giving away too much personal information for hackers or offending too many people.

I try to take notice of what my cyber friends are into and to be part of discussions where I feel I can make a difference or add some witty thought. I’ve learned who to avoid at all costs; you know, those “special friends,” who seem to only post negative stuff or comments about how sick they are or what’s wrong with their kids, cars, lives, etc. That’s just boring and nobody wants to hear about it.

I have some friends who only post inspirational quotes and some who are always posting questions or taking surveys. Others only beg people to buy their books. Some only offer one lopsided political commentary. And I have some friends who are all over the board with comments; good, bad, funny, sad, etc.

What I don’t “get,” are people who post something along the lines of, “I ran 47 miles today. I am so sore I don’t think I’ll ever be able to walk again because of the horrible shin splints, blisters on my feet, and aching calf muscles.” How are people supposed to comment on these types of posts? They did something really remarkable and impressive, but then they complain about it. Are they seeking recognition for the accomplishment or sympathy for the pain?

Facebook has quickly become a forum for people to be narcissistic, especially since the introduction of “selfies.” But if you truly enjoy doing something, should you be complaining about how bad it makes you feel? I mean, if it hurts when you bang yourself in the head, I’m thinking you should probably stop banging yourself in the head. Problem solved. Don’t keep doing it and then complaining about it because I for one, have no sympathy. If you do something awesome, be proud of it and graciously accept the commendation you receive. If you’re hurting and need virtual hugs, then just admit that you’re having a bad day and need some cyber sunshine. I’ll be the first to give it to you. But, it doesn’t work both ways. That only makes you look . . . I don’t know . . . confused. Or not very bright.

For the narcissists, if you want people to think you’re a badass, then don’t follow up the Herculean feat by admitting that you suffered injury. I mean accomplishing something one time and suffering pain because of it is understandable and you’re a badass for doing it. But every day? If you keep doing the same activity every day and you keep getting hurt, I’m thinking you’re not badass at all. You’re a ding-a-ling. If you keep coming home bloodied, bruised and broken, you must not be very good at whatever you’re doing and thus not badass at all. Right?

I’ve seen people post pictures of big horrible bruises, blackened eyes, and bloodied lips that they’ve suffered from wrestling, or judo, or running marathons, or some other such activity, yet they continue to participate in the same activity. If you’re looking for sympathy people, you’re not getting it from me. Keep doing it if you love it, but suck it up and don’t whine about the pain. I mean, should we praise the bruise? Is the broken arm or bloodied limb cool? Should everyone aspire to accomplish the same thing?

I’m just not sure how to comment on these posts. Should I say, “Gee, I’m so glad you’re in pain?” “I’m rejoicing in your agony.” “I wish I could hurt so bad like you?” “I want to run marathons too so I can have those awesome blisters.”

The same thing with people who always post about their dogs or kids puking. Does the world really need to know about these events? Kids and pets get sick. It’s not a news flash. Should we all slide down this slippery slope of negative narcissism? I’m thinking this is some kind of a sickness.

Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox now. But, I do wonder, what are your thoughts about Facebook posts? Do you engage in “discussions” where the original post is both good and bad?

Word of the Day:  Limbus

Fun Fact About Me:  I enjoy wearing high heels.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, May 2015. Photos courtesy Google Images.

Jansen Schmidt.

 

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