Calling all adults...let your kid at heart go play!

There should always be times when it is okay, times when it is almost necessary for us overwhelmed, over worked, over stressed adults to have those special hallmark days to be a kid at heart and recall what it was like to just have fun. We need to revisit that feeling of unabashed simple good ole' fun and quieten down those negative waves with innocent cheer. Go ahead and have that silly-goofy, make you belly laugh, can't catch your breath kind of fun a few times a year and just enjoy yourself! I mean you should go all the way back to that cool stuff that you waited for, anxiously, all year long like...Santa, the Easter Bunny, Halloween and that long night hoping the Tooth Fairy brought you something good...think back hard enough and we all have some golden memories from those different holidays throughout the year somewhere in our lives. I don't want parents to get the "kid fun feeling" from watching it through their own kids...no, get down on the floor and play Twister with your kids or build dinosaurs out of playdough or play Hide and Seek and tell ghost stories while roasting marshmallows around the campfire. Get creative and artistic and dye those Easter eggs and then join in on the hunt for them and let everyone dig way deep down in the bottom of their closets and see who comes out with the best Halloween costume to win the bag of chocolate goodies! Remember when the tooth fairy snuck under your pillow at night and took your newly lost tooth and left you a little surprise? Of course, you recall the joy of finding a gift in place of your tooth just like that "all over" Christmas glee tingle when Santa visited your house in the night and left you that ONE thing you had been hoping for all year...why, that was all some of the best things ever! That is the kind of kid fun I'm talking about folks...that kid in each of us who remembers those fulfilling happy things that swept us all away as we played games and lost all track of time until the summer sun began to fade, and it was time to go inside. So, for the sake of our sanity I am sounding the call to all adults to kick your shoes off and play in the rain puddles and try again to catch snowflakes on your tongue, even when it's only flurries. Shed the seriousness when the time rolls around or just unexpectedly presents itself and find that kid living in your heart, turn it loose, and just go play!

Pam's fun time thoughts...

We the People...

 This is not exactly an easy post for me because I am going to have to do some finger pointing, so to speak, towards those responsible for actions, reactions, and non-actions. I have asked my friends and social media followers to please voice their thoughts with me to help me write this blog. This isn't about me; it is about us...We the People. I thank those who kindly shared their thoughts with me to help me be a voice that cares. It was my promise.

       For those of you who have roamed about my blog page you already know that I do not blog about politics or religions, and I am not going to do so now. This discussion does, however, voice concern about our country, about our home. It is about what is happening to America the Beautiful and what is happening that is combating the growth of the land of opportunity. I wish to speak freely because I happen to think that we are all important and that our thoughts matter and that we are not heard near as much as we should be.

       The feedback that came my way, when I ask folks what they would do to better the country, were a bit sad and full of concern. The replies came from all over the United States, and it quickly became crystal clear to me how many people there really are who are just barely getting by. And what about the other ones, the ones who aren't getting by at all and will, after enough time, no longer care about getting by at all...many of those we call the homeless. The least fortunate are among us, they are our people, they could be any of us and, for whatever reasons they are there, there is no justification for the "powers that be" to allow such a thing to even exist. No person in this country should be without food, shelter, and a chance to make a life they can be proud of. Unfortunately, those are not God given rights, they are government given rights and can be changed at any time in the game. It seems like it has all become a big chess game and "we the people" are the pawns far too often.

         Welfare, I don't even know where to begin on that one. At its inception it was devised as a system and program to help people go back to school if needed, to help people find a job, to lend aide to childcare until they were established in a job, and to provide some kind of financial assistance during that time. It was to offer someone their chance to make it or be without but at least they had the chance. We are meant to help those who cannot help themselves and the original Welfare program offered just that but that was back when people still cared about one another, when they cared about the job they did, and when a hand, in a position to do so, reached out to help. Don't remember those times? I understand as it has been a long time ago; seems ancient history almost.

            We have been made promises that are seldom kept, we have simple questions that receive little or no answers. We have real issues concerning real people and as a government the blind eyes have got to stop closing or looking the other way. No situation of concern ever just goes away without being tended to. When does a better day come? When will things be said and done in a way that makes sense? The homeless-why? -we made many of them that way. Welfare? - what significant move has it made in policy to continue to better those who need it? We could go around and around with it all, for there is much in need of attention, but let's focus on some highlights. Let me be clear that I, in no way, mean any harm or offense towards anyone but I do not have any control over how something makes someone else feel. I mean, ask a simple question to any official about any ongoing concern and just see how many times you get brushed off. That puts up a red flag for me that is implying that no one really knows. Let us hope it is not a red flag implying that no one really cares about us.

           I am not looking to be wrong or right for there is this grey area out there and that is where I believe, and many of my responses believe, that we are stuck in. Our forefathers made things so simple. They stuck firmly to a plan that came from a blank page of paper and a gathering of thoughts and ideas. They knew they didn't know everything, but they knew it should not be learned at the expense of the people. My, that's pretty powerful for a time so long ago. They believed in the possibilities of where they could go, and they made it so that there could be an American Dream and I am inclined to believe that this is not exactly what they had in mind...

           There is little to no explanation to many of our existing concerns but there is one root that much of it stems from...hatred. We spend ten times more energy hating than we do trying to figure out how-to live-in harmony. It is a sad when any country has created much of its own misery and I think that the government overlooks far too many small issues; handle those and there will be fewer large issues. We, us out here who are just trying to make it, is who this country was founded for...its people. That is us, right?

           Where have our standards disappeared to? Why is it commonplace to compare one country with another when there will always be differences? And all of the speeches and debates simply are: if they can't sell it to you then they want to make you afraid of it. If you have a cause then please work towards it, if you have a voice of reason then please speak it, and if you have better ideas for us and our future then please share them. Those calling the shots figure that if they can keep us separated and angry at each other then we can be easier dealt with. It's a false bill of goods being sold, and the policy is "as is". I ponder often about the place we call home, and I am just not sure when it all began to stray off track as the down sliding has been gradually sliding for some time now. I would like y'all to please give some things their deep, logical, and long overdue honest thought and then ask yourself what you think about the short orders being served to us for we still are...We the People.

Pam's rolling thoughts...

      

Coffin for the Soul...

The pain of a thousand knives stabbing at my soul; the thud of a thousand shovels digging a hollow hole,

The scarce trickle of light is sure and certain to fade as piles and heaps of dirt and rocks are fiercely tossed to lay,

Upon my chest full of grief and my face bathed in tears; my head full of broken dreams quartered now by lonely fears,

For the sun is sure to set and to never rise no more; nor shall the rolling tide ever rest upon the shore,

If all there is to know is not known, there is no need now for me to cry; if all there is to do is not done then the chance has passed me by,

If all there is to dream is not dreamt, there is no need now to sleep; for you own what the conscious has bought and what you own is yours to keep,

And in the tunnel shadows of a thousand aches and pains, you wish to die and pass away and hope to be born again,

You wish to escape the rain, the lightening, and the thunder, and the murky call of dark reality that threatens to pull you under,

In the eerie darkness you hear the beckon of a distant call; and the hooves of demons and dragons rushing from their stalls,

Then the gates of heartache open wide, inviting you to come in; but you must bite and dare to resist the grip of such an evil friend,

For despair needn't be death for there is sun above the dark; and though all you want is an end, your soul will beg you to start,

To claw away the dirt and rocks and go gasping for the air that will fill your lungs with sweet sensation and soon begin to repair,

Your sight, your touch, your smell...your sacred sense to feel; for if you'll climb from your painful coffin, you'll find all wounds do heal.

(Author notes) 

Time can be one big beast of battle but even it eventually falls, and we find our way through things we never thought we could. With time we become stronger and more resilient...it forces us to pull our best out of our bag and to step up to the plate and take our turn. Do not succumb to some dark dungeon of a world that may call your name...you can battle back; it's in your nature to find your way out of the twisted path of the forest right out into the field of flowers.

Poem from my latest release "Through the Eyes of Life." Visit my website to get your copy and enjoy the read.

 

The calm comes after the storm...

 Saturday, June 15, 2013

Calm before the storm...

written by pamela(pam)scholes

As you can see above this very subject has come full circle from what I posted almost 11yrs ago to the day as I visit it now. I have had life rear its ugly head more times than I could count or guess in my life and the one, I believe, lifesaving turn was when I realized that at the exhausted end of every rocky storm, I had prevailed through, was the warm calmness waiting for me...welcoming me to just exhale. I look back, and sometimes I can see too far, and I can hear myself having always told myself to, "Buck up and get through it so the storm can pass, and the calm will come." And it always did, and it was my time to relax, to reset, and to refuel myself and to refine my next steps forward. I would far rather spend my time enjoying the calm as opposed to wasting it gearing up with nerves torn inside out about what the next storm will be. Let me just tell you folks, the next storm that comes your way won't be the last and what makes them winnable depends on how well you stare them down.

You anchor down and you hold that ground steady no matter what waves roll your way, you stay anchored...no matter how hard those waves try to pull you under, you stay anchored...no matter how relentless the tides crash trying to knock you off course, you stay anchored. You stay in the battle and just like the clouds that always move on by so will the storms. The thunder will soon be a distant rumble and the lightening will be mere sparks fading out and the air will be fresh and crisp. And when you hear the noises of good cheer, such as the birds singing again then it means, for this round, that the storm is over. You may now lift your anchor and relax into a blue sky as you just lean on back and coast on the smooth ripples that are the stillness of calm waters. There is no, nor can there be, a "calm before a storm" as no one is calm while they wait and anticipate what damage the next storm will do...that is not calmness by any terms.

So, my friends when you look around and find yourself in the next tailspin storm of your life think back on this blog, think back on these words and know that if you will anchor down and face the turbulence, and out ride the tidal waves, then your precious reward is the calm that comes after the storm...

Pam's life long and late night thoughts.

To Value Time...

Time is a funny thing…a constantly moving, never looking back, irreplaceable funny thing. As for me, I find nothing more valuable that one can give you than their time. Time is of essence indeed…always has been, always will be. But we have entered a whole new frame of time as far too many do not value or recognize the value of someone else’s time. You can question “why is that?” The answer is simple…far too many do not value or recognize the value of their own time…time means nothing to them…they spend it foolishly…they go wandering thru each day completely unaware that while they are wasting their precious god given gift of time, the world moved on and progressed. It’s the only thing in your life you can never get back…when it’s gone, it’s gone for good. So, try to appreciate the mere fact that you were thought worthy enough to be given your allotment of time and treat it as a daily treasure all day, every day and extend that same respect for other folks' time. Stop blowing minutes, hours, days into thin air like you can just go out and buy yourself some more time...it never stops going tic toc, tic toc. Value now the time you have and value always the time others give you for the value of time itself is priceless.

Pam’s late-night thoughts…

What Do You Think?

I’m going to try a different kind of blog…how about we all try to have an actual little chit chat…just pleasant, friendly, and respectful input between us regular folks out here; I’d love to hear from you! So, I have chosen three different topics that will hopefully catch your eye and draw you in and interest you enough, in some way, to share your thoughts. How about we take it out for a spin and see what happens... 

1) Sunsets or sunrises…boy, now that's a tough choice for me; I’m a Gemini (😊) so I love them both. I see a sunrise as a fresh new start to greet a fresh new day. Sunsets take my breath away and I if I’m sitting before one with a smile on the face of my heart then the day closes as a success. What do you think?

2) Books and authors…when asked what my all-time favorite book is my reply is quick; “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. It’s a make you feel good and hit you in the gut kinda book…I like those kind. One of my fav authors, however, would be Lee Childs…he’s a get you, grip you, got you till the end kinda writer…I like that kind too. What do you think?

3) Those “just can’t ignore them” late night snack cravings…I usually lose the argument with my tummy and raid the kitchen. I’m having chips right now in fact! My fav “go to” late night snack lately is a peanut butter and banana sandwich. I’ve got a kick for them. I am also weak to Queso Potato Chips, Kettle corn popcorn, and vanilla bean ice cream! I’m not even going to get started on the cheesecake wants! Those are my favs and I’m sure y’all have some favs too. And I’m totally guilt free for nibbling them while in bed! There is no more fitting place to have that late night snack. What do you think?

Pam's late-night thoughts (and cravings)...

Be the hand that helps someone...

Everywhere I turn there is someone in need of help. Not pity, money or sympathy…they just need help and/or direction. For instance, if you are one who has never had to deal with healthcare, available resources, and insurance fine lines and you get sick then here come the bills! Unneeded tests are done, too many trips back and forth to different doctors because, to the other side, it’s clear you aren’t familiar with the arena. I know that arena well from experience so when I see a situation that I know exactly what needs to be done and save one time and money and worry…then I’m damn sure going to do it. If I have someone in a parking lot ask me for money my answer is no…but I will gladly offer to take them in the store and buy them a bite to eat and a few bottles of water. If you know someone who suddenly is some legal issue, and you are familiar with the law at all then let it be a duty to help them understand the inner workings and offer up your suggestions…they need that help. If one needs a ride to a doc appointment or to the grocery store and such but they have no car then I am going to help them get where they need to be and home again. I am proud of the fact that I am built with enough compassion to notice one who needs helps and with enough “grit” to get that help provided. When you see that something is wrong then it’s a human kindness rule to bring that to the forefront for someone and get it resolved as it should have been from jump. I am just not one who can walk away from someone needing help when I know what to do to help. I try each day to end it knowing that it was a personal success because I was able to guide and advise someone who had no clue what to do next...that I was able to make Pammy Magic happen. See, I shall maintain my belief that kindness can’t be cured, and that compassion will alter lives and that’s two things we should all believe. I leave you now with your thoughts on this and with hopes beyond hope that we are able to salvage more kindness and more compassion…it’s the heartbeat and soul strings that keep the wheels of life turning. Step up to the plate and be that hand that helps someone…the reward is almost immediate and the outcome of something better is always a win/win thing. Don’t turn your head, don’t shut your eyes, and don’t not listen…someone is going to need you and if you can at all…you best show up!

Pam's late-night thoughts...

In light of things...continued into 2024 from 2015

On Saturday 8/1/2015 I wrote my only blog of that year "In light of things" and it was my final blog until January of 2024. Upon revisiting it, after seeing so many new views of it, I decided to resurrect it and post it again with minor 2024 touches. I truly can't believe how so many things remain unchanged in a world that advances and changes every moment. That's a profound statement...still in the same light of things.

            Depending on where you are it is either early or late as I sit in the quiet and dark of the Atlanta skyline at 2:00am as I cannot sleep. I have been awake just pondering so many things and in light of things there is much to ponder. The world is on center stage and yet no one seems to be maintaining their part. This is one where everyone must participate and become a formidable, "not for sale" part of this movement we call Life.

             I do not understand how so many things backslid into the state they are in, nor do I understand how some of these messes can possibly be justified or be remotely acceptable. I sat here wondering what news was breaking, at that moment, far and wide that I would see on the 6:00am news. We have gotten entirely too much negative reactions and entirely too little positive actions. We have pedaled backwards in so many areas that I just can't wrap my head around how so many can bear to just sit by and allow so much that was fought for just now become things of the past or just mere mentions of history. The rule seems to be that if we don't like it, we will amend it a tad and that, my friends, is not betterment or a push for change.

              I am not ashamed to say that we have lost sight, not the way but the visual of where we were heading and where we want to go. People are so confused, frustrated, and just flat put out that humanity has taken a downward spiral. I have days when some small action occurs that restores a small piece of my faith in humanity. Those are the moments we now breathe for...those of human kindness. An extended hand can move mountains when one knows they are not alone. And people, we are not alone for we are all here and like it or not we are the cards we have been dealt but we don't have to be alone. Why make that choice when unity can be just as simple? There is far too much complicating the system of simplicity.

               We are back to living in a world of survival by any means necessary and without care or regard for the consequences. Things are looming larger all of the time as folks agree on less every day. We have to believe, way deep down, that we each matter enough to pitch in and to push forth for change for the ball has been dropped. I have to ask the fair question: how can technology help change so much and yet leave so much unchanged? Let us step up to the plate and take a swing...let us step up to the mic and have a voice...let us take hold of the person next to us and be a link in the chain...let us stop just seeing things and start really looking at them instead. What harm could it do to try to address our challenges from a new angle? In light of things...I can see no harm; I see hope and that is a much clearer light for things.

Pam's own evening thoughts

 

The mysteries that sustain us...

 As a child I became fascinated with the sky and to this day I still silently remain mystified. Astrology and Astronomy have always been such phenomenal things to me. There are plenty of mathematical formulas out there I am sure would offer me a scientific name or explanation about it all but for me those science opinions don’t cut it. I hope I always look at the moon, the stars, the lazy rolling clouds on sunny days and feel the mystery. How do those planets and stars just sit there, suspended by empty air? Where do you think clouds end up after we watch one roll out of our sight? Much is known and much is hypothesized but I choose not to question it. I revel too deeply when I look up at night and try to fathom how far away the moon and stars are. I have always known and shall always know that I don’t know everything and that I am just fine with that. I need something huge to contain and sustain my thoughtful, questioning mind. I want everyday things to amaze me with that phenomenal mystery for all of my life. Grab the tail of something that you hope always keeps your mystery alive. Hold tight to it…whatever it may be. Mine just happens to be the endless elements of what sits above us as well as the space that surrounds us. I enjoy, with pure heart, watching the sunset slide down the horizon and see that multitude of stars break open. I like to look at the pyramids and the many amazing coliseums and such that remain standing through time and only to admire them as I keep their mystery of “how” alive in my thoughts. We all need something that we admire or have an interest in but remains elusive of definition. It is often solely those things of phenomenal mystery that does sustain us! I don’t wish to know how the stars and moon and sun just hang themselves on some invisible force which is assigned to keep them suspended. We don’t know everything because of the limitless mystical forces at play but WORD…we are not designed to know everything just so that we remain moved and captured by something we cannot explain. And when I gaze up at that star filled sky or that clear blue sky with lazy white clouds rolling by, I find all of the proof I need to enforce my belief in the constant presence of that high power. The sky is one glorious phenomenon and when it greets you in the day; greet it in return. And when it bids you goodnight; then bid it so in return. Everything we currently know was once unexplainable. And I shall leave many things that awe me just as they are so that they may always take my breath each time I gaze up. And I shall remain mystified by the pyramids and such unexplainable structures, including the City of Atlantis, so that my curiosity shall always be peaked and remain steadfast with wonder. I shall keep tight to the mysteries that sustain me.

Pam's late night/early morning thoughts...