There's some good in this world… and it's worth fighting for.
Music can be a great source of comfort and inspiration when you’re feeling down.
Why this song’s so cool: It is SO beautiful. And it’s a good wailer/belter to get really into. I have definitely karaoked this more than once. Vocal-wise, it has a nice range of mood variety and dynamic options, so lots of potential to expressing a broad emotional range.
Why this song’s helpful: Perfect song for dealing with a loss. And I don’t necessarily mean a death. A loss of any kind. Also a nice jam for just feeling sad and/or lonely. Or if you’re looking at the stars.
Edith Nesbit is one of the authors whose works testify to the eternal flexibility of light fantasy. It was just recently that I became familiar with her work and her influence on children’s literature. I came across the story “The Dragon Tamers” through a sleep and meditation app on my phone, called “Calm.” The app provides a variety of stories, fiction and non-fiction, read in soothing voices to help people fall asleep. I listened to the reading of “The Dragon Tamers,” and stayed awake for the whole story, and I’m glad I did, as it quickly became a favorite. This story is a perfect example of creative light fantasy.
This is a story about a dragon that the poor blacksmith John discovers in his dungeon, and over time, the dragon is actually the character who grows, changes and exhibits the most character development. John and his family’s various interactions with the dragon are what really drives the story and moves it forward. There are many unexpected twists and turns as well as fun Dr. Seuss-like word play, rhymes, and alliteration.
After becoming so interested in and taken with this story, I wanted to know more about Edith Nesbit, so I bought her biography, which says she is considered to be the first modern writer for children and to have basically invented the children’s adventure story, which is amazing. It was so surprising to learn that this particular story had been published over 100 years ago. I would never have guessed that! This story really demonstrates the timelessness of fantasy and fantasy themes. If you want to know how to get your baby stop crying, apparently a dragon is extremely helpful, and you should be careful about what you feed your cat if you want your cat to stay a cat, and not turn into the beginning of dragons.
Music can be a great source of comfort and inspiration when you’re feeling down.
“I’m the sea that surrounds you
The garden that grounds you
The sun and the wind and the rain
I am every season
You’re every reason
To start it all over again
Soon you’ll sail a wild river
We’ll set sail together
And oceans will call out your name
And by stars you will follow
Your hopes for tomorrow
And start it all over again
And if you stagger or stumble
If dreams start to crumble
I’ll pick up the pieces of pain
I will cradle you cry with you
Pray that you’ll try to just
Start it all over again
Who has eyes that can see
All the things you could be?
Who has ears for the sweetest refrain?
May your heart sing forever
Where the sea meets the river
And start it all over again”
Why this song’s so cool: Don’t think I could say it better than this guy in the comments: “Makes me feel like I’m in The Shire, smoking a pipe with Gandalf. In a good way.” – Dane Cobain
Oh, HEY, apparently he has a website about writing and music…. 🙂 http://danecobain.com/
And also a fun book blog!! http://www.socialbookshelves.com/about/
I guess I could only add that if I could marry someone’s voice, it might be Heidi Talbot’s.
Why this song’s helpful: Still don’t think I could say it better than this other guy in the comments: “With a little faith, this lovely song allows for hope beyond what at times feels as if there is only hopelessness.” – Legrand Bakker
No website for this deep thinker. 🙁
More about the Mahogany Sessions:
http://mahogany.blog/about/
*It feels like a Monday to me…
Daylio is the name of a free habit-tracking app that I find really helpful.
and now I can check my little ‘writing’ bubble AND my ‘blog’ bubble for today!
THESE ARE ALL FREE (with options to upgrade, cause that’s how apps work)
Calm: The only app I actually paid for. This app has tons of music, meditations, and sleep stories to help with insomnia. I believe the free version had three or four sleep stories, and some basic meditations as well as “The 7 days of calm,” a week-long series of guided meditations focused on relaxation. It keeps track of your statistics and has a variety of background moving images with sounds you can choose to activate or not. I tried the free app for about a month and really loved it! It quickly became an integral part of my night-time sleep ritual. Finally, I made an investment in my well-being and bought a year-long subscription. Totally worth it. The meditations are organized into categories such as ‘relationships,’ ‘calming anxiety,’ ‘forgiveness,’ and ‘deep sleep,’ then time, and most of them are guided – great for a beginner like me! They also have many 7-day programs on different topics: ‘7 days of managing stress,’ 7 days of gratitude,’ ‘7 days of self-esteem,’ and more! The sleep stories are awesome! They have a variety of readers reading a variety of types of stories of variety of lengths in soothing voices.
My favorite non-fictions are “Blue Gold,” a story read by Stephen Fry about harvesting lavender in France, “Scotland’s Hidden Hideaways,” a history of the bothies (free adapted shelters for hikers and travelers) of Scotland read by May Charters (yes, she has an accent!), and ‘The Sequoia,’ a nature essay about the Sequoia tree written by John Muir! My favorite fiction sleep stories are many! They have Greek myths, childhood favorites, fairy tales and more! The Dragon Tamers by Edith Nesbit is my favorite new story! I even bought her biography! But I am almost too into the sleep story to be able to fall asleep! Fortunately, the app provides a vast range in level of monotony. There’s one story that is just the British shipping forecast. “Dr. Orma’s Sleep Science” is also a great non-fiction one to listen to when your especially frustrated about sleep – it reassures you and dispels common myths about insomnia. This app really makes me feel better about the time I spend in bed, not sleeping. Because I am meditating during that time, I can see that I am accomplishing SOMETHING.
Relax Melodies – This app has a free 5 day meditation program to help you manage your sleep better and stay asleep longer so you wake up well rested and energized. It teaches you about the benefits of meditation and each 10-minute meditation is designed to guide you to sleep. There are a couple other meditation programs on this app that provide you with the first few free as well. You can create your own custom combination of relaxing sounds to lull you to sleep and set them on a timer length of your choosing. I didn’t know there were types of noise other than ‘white noise,’ but apparently there exists ‘pink noise’ as well as ‘brown noise?’ (Sounds gross…lol) The melodies included are fairly simple and repetitive, but they get the job done. They also include isochronic tones and binaural beats if you’re into that.
Atmosphere – An app to customize your atmosphere, this helpful tool provides a variety of sound options organized by environment. So you can choose to hear rain as it sounds on the beach, in the forest, in the city, etc. You can also import your own sounds, program favorite combinations, and set the timer for whenever you want. Like Relax Melodies, this app also includes binaural and isochronic sounds that are supposed to help reduce stress and anxiety and stimulate creativity and mental clarity. There are some unusual sounds – who wants to fall asleep to the sound of construction, sirens, or a rooster? But hey – whatever floats your boat!
Sweet Sleep – This is another free app for your phone and/or tablet that plays soothing sounds and music. My favorite is ‘lullaby of the forest’ combined with ‘gentle rain’ and ‘morning beach.’ You can customize melody/nature sound combinations, adjust the volume of each one in your mix, and set them on a timer. This app has somewhat more variety in music choices, which is nice. And they are less repetitive as well in addition also too.
Forest – Not specifically for napping, but if one of your sleep-related obstacles is your phone, this can definitely help. Basically this app helps you reduce the wasting time on your phone, keeping you focused and in the present.. I tend to just browse or play games on my phone at night when I should be trying to sleep. And we all know electronic devices are supposed to be a no-no at bedtime! With this app, you choose an amount of time to commit to being phone-free and you plant a ‘tree.’ As long as you leave your phone alone during this time the tree grows and flourishes. But if you interact with your phone, your tree dies 🙁 and your forest is ugly. With your rewards you can buy fun trees shaped like octopi, or made out of candy, or with awesome treehouses in them. ALSO, If you plant enough trees in your forests, the app is partnered with a tree planting organization that will plant a real tree! (Alas, I’m not focused enough for that yet…) But it is also a great way to commit to focusing on getting daily tasks done, studying more efficiently, working, etc.!
One of my ultimate favorite fantasy books as a child, and still today, is the reworked fairy tale, “Ella Enchanted” by Gail Carson Levine. It retells the classic literary fairy tale of Cinderella with some new twists: Ella is, in fact, under a fairy’s gift (curse) to always be obedient. The tale is a familiar one, but provides more depth and detail about the protagonist and her own journey to discover herself and break the curse herself. In addition, it answers that question that was always infuriating to me about the size of Cinderella’s feet – surely there was more than one girl in the kingdom whose feet could fit the glass slipper! Well, in this story, Ella has fairy ancestry, and fairies have significantly smaller-than-average sized feet, so THERE! Levine’s attention to details such as these really grounded the story and made it more believable to me – it was definitely logical and made sense within the framework she created and expanded upon. While it certainly shares many patterns and characteristics with both more traditional fairy tales as well as reworked fairy tales, this is by far my favorite retelling of Cinderella. I like that it addresses the real-life issues of the importance of being strong by making your own decisions, standing up for what you believe in, and the worth of sacrifice in relation to love and the protection of those you love.
“Ella Enchanted” provides a universe that is similar to one children have already experienced, but includes a great deal more in the way of explanations, possibilities and self-driven opportunity. It is a great example of a way to challenge a reader to see beyond more simplistic explanations and search for new perspectives and explanations. A retold fairy tale is a great example of this, because the concrete universe has already been established, and by telling the same tale from a new perspective, new questions can be unearthed, alternate mindsets discovered, and previously unconsidered horizons can be expanded. This particular retelling is also consistent with the idea of concepts carrying over from the fantastical worlds to the real ones. In “Ella Enchanted,” Ella is a real girl with a flaw that she has to work to overcome. This is certainly a concept that is applicable to many people. While Ella may not fit the traditional archetype of ‘hero,’ she is still heroic. She becomes, through her own strength of will, her own knight in shining armor – in the process, saving herself, her prince, and the entire kingdom. If someone as seemingly average and insignificant as Ella can create such a vast and positive impact, surely this will inspire those who read about her to feel hope and optimism that they, too, can overcome significant challenges and obstacles to create a positive impact on themselves and the world around them.
Fairy tales have been around for a long time. And with each retelling, they have continued to change and grow ever since their inception. “Ella Enchanted” is a distinctive example of 21st century fantasy with an alternate world that is still attached to a familiar and long-standing one. While it may lack the grandeur of Tolkien, or the epic tragedy of Rowling, it is accessible in its realism and its message – one that, while not political or catastrophic, speaks to the more personal internal battles that still must be fought and are no less important than those larger-than-life clashes between good and evil. “Ella Enchanted” has no evil villain to be abolished or grand quest to be completed. There are good characters and bad characters, but the main struggle is simply one between a girl and the unwarranted chance restrictions and conditions to which she finds herself bound. Ella is ordinary, but she is strong. And it is that kind of inner strength and conviction that is an amazing resource in struggling through such challenges as anxiety, depression, and insomnia.
Read it. Or else.
(If you were Ella, you’d HAVE to obey me, but as it is, you have the freedom of choosing.)
You’ve gone away and left me
I spend each night alone
Just Waiting and awaiting
for you to come back home.
I miss our days together,
and our nights as well.
Each day I am without you
Is a day akin to hell.
I miss the way you made me feel;
You kept me safe and warm.
And I could conquer any mountain
With you to calm my storm.
You always left me brimming
With the strength to labor on.
The way you clung to me in mornings,
Anchored me past dawn.
You’re no longer here beside me –
I miss your soft caress
I mostly miss your company:
Without you, I’m a mess.
Vitamin D deficiency is actually pretty common (especially here in the Pacific Northwest), and can make you feel crappy and tired.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/vitamin-d-deficiency#1
http://www.healthline.com/health/vitamin-d-deficiency#overview1
Ideally, you could take advantage of the sun when it’s out, participating in fun, outdoor activities like hiking and picnics and frolicking and having adventures with your friends and loved ones!
However, when you can’t leave the house and don’t want to interact with people, but you know that vitamin D is good for you, just go somewhere as private as possible that is in the sun. If you don’t feel able to make your way to some special nook in your favorite local park, take advantage of your yard (preferably the back yard). A friend or neighbor’s yard will work too! I usually sneak out around back and hide in the corner of the yard where no neighbors can see me. Sometimes I bring a pillow and soothing cool beverage, and if I’m ambitious, a book.
Just don’t forget the sunblock.
But I still try to do it.
You know when I thought about the topic for this blog?
WHEN I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FREAKING MEDITATING.
Right now, I’m primarily using this app called ‘Calm,’ which is not that bad. The free features are perfect for a beginner like me to keep busy I mean CALM. After a couple of weeks, I decided to actually pay(!?!?) for the whole app, and I’m surprisingly glad I did. There are meditations for everything. And for each category, you can choose what length of time works best for you.
My favorite feature is the sleep stories. They’ re just someone reading a story in a soothing voice. Sometimes it’s super boring. Sometimes it’s a metaphor. Whatever. They’re great. There’s one non-fiction one that I have never been able to stay awake through! And there’s one fiction one about how cats basically came from dragons! LOVED IT!
