What I Pay Attention to?

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights of your life to choose love and light.

When the Blog Queens, Sarah McDermed and Judith Ashley, get together to brainstorm blog topics/themes, their creativity runs wild and ideas pour forth. This is one of them inspired by The Ides of March, the day Brutus killed Julius Caesar. Perhaps if Caesar had been paying attention to his surroundings a bit more, he could have escaped being stabbed?

However, although there is not as much peace in the world as I’d like to see, I’ve found for my own mental health I do not spend copious amounts of time worrying or agonizing over what is happening in another part of the world. It isn’t because I don’t care about other people, it is more that I’m reserving or perhaps saving the energy I do have for issues over which I have some control.

I’ve written an entire blog post for The Glasser Institute for Choice Theory©- US on The Ides of March – Power and Self-Worth. It should be up by March 7^th. You can read it here.

Other things I pay attention to in no particular order are:

My Family – How are they doing? Pictures of my great grands always brighten my day.

My Friends – How are they doing? At my age, I’ve lost several over the past few years.

Weather - I know I can’t change it. And yet I do want to be prepared for the winter storms, possible power outages, excessively cold or the increasingly hot temperatures of spring, summer and fall.

My Health – Actually this could be the first item on the list. I’ve found as the years go by, my vision of what I’d be doing now was off a bit. That is an adjustment I find more difficult than I thought it might be.

Traffic – I swear people are driving faster, running red lights and jumping green ones. I’m very careful to enter major arteries at traffic signals and if I’m the first in line, I wait for a few seconds and make sure ALL vehicles are stopped before I start into the intersection.

And one last item here:
Commercials – yep, television commercials. Why? This summer one of the themes Genre-istas can write about are Favorite Commercials. I’ve got a few that I enjoy watching. Can’t always remember the product though. Those that I Really Do Not Like? I can tell you the product and I do not purchase it. 

And I no longer watch the commercial. Mute is my favorite button on the remote and it gives me the opportunity to get up and move around, something that is a positive for My Health.

There is a longer list of things I’m aware of. I do what I can here like recycle, vote, keep a few of the essentials on hand.

Climate change
Politics
Supply Chain issues
When geraniums are in stock at Costco
When the daffodils bloom (they are several inches tall right now)

Looking at that list, now I’m wondering...Should the Geraniums at Costco be moved to the Pay Attention to list?

You can find my books at your favorite e-book vendor as well as through my website www.JudithAshley.net and Windtree Press. Print books are available at Jan’s Paperbacks in Beaverton, OR and Arte Soleil in Portland, OR. Get the addresses from my website. And be sure to ask your library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshley.net

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2024 Judith Ashley

March is Busting Out All Over!

By: Marcia King-Gamble

www.lovemarcia.com

I love spring, don’t you? The smells, the sights, the sounds. While this may seem odd to you, considering the region of the country I live in, (we do have spring down south). The first sign is the Forsythia in full bloom. Yellow has always made me feel happy.

 March is here, and the first signs of Spring are in the air.  The stores are deep in it. There are bunnies and tulips just about everywhere.

 Beware the Ides of March they say. That would be March 15^th! Known as the day that Julius Cesar was assassinated. Ironic, that in Rome, back then, it was known as the day most debts were settled. I guess Cesar certainly got his.

 While the Ides, though memorable. is not considered a holiday, there are other celebrations in March, that are hard to forget, some more than others, given the below list.

Have you even heard of some of these celebrations?

• Irish American Heritage Month
• Music in Our Schools Month
• National Celery Month
• National Craft Month
• National Frozen Food Month
• National Irish American Heritage Month- designated by Congress in 1995.
• National Nutrition Month
• National Peanut Month
• National Women’s History Month
• Red Cross Month
• Social Workers Month

Where is St. Patrick's Day on this illustrious list? 

In March, most of us look forward to The Oscar's and the outrageous gowns worn. This year it was hosted by Talk Show Host, Jimmy Kimmel. 

It's known as quite the fashion show and some of the gowns are just unbelievable. Who would really wear them out? All I can say about the one below is "OMG!" People are still buzzing, and perhaps that's the point. 

My favorite I call "Lady in Red" worn by the British model, Cara Delevingne. Elegance personified.

 

Whatever your opinion, March is busting out all over! I sure would like to hear your opinion of who wore it best. 

About Marcia King-Gamble

USA bestselling romance writer, Marcia King-Gamble originally hails from a sunny Caribbean island, where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue. This former travel industry executive has spent most of life in the United States. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned over 34 books and 8 novellas. She has contributed to Michael Fiore’s DigitalRomanceInc and served as a moderator on the now defunct eHarmony advice boards. Having witnessed the bad, the ugly, and the not so good in relationships, she still prefers to write about happily ever after. Caring for her animal family keeps her grounded and sane.

The Ides of March by Lynn Lovegreen

We’re almost at the Ides of March, which is the start of either the spring or fall season depending on whether you’re in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere. Most people notice the seasons where they live. Even warm equatorial regions might have a wet season and dry season. But where I live in Southcentral Alaska, it’s a big deal. It’s temperate here, not like the Arctic north, but we still have a big difference between our warm and cold seasons.

Right now, we’re at the end of winter, almost at break up (so-called because the ice breaks up and melts). Break up is when mud puddles and muck cover the ground, and meltwater fills the streets. But it’s also an exciting time of year, as we all anticipate warmer times when we don’t have to shovel the driveway, scrape off the frost before we drive our vehicles, or bundle up to go outside—all those things we get tired of doing by the end of winter.

 

Spring is short here, just a few weeks long, but it is one of my favorite times of year. As the leaves grow on the birch trees, delicate spring green infuses the forests. Grass and shrubs grow again. Many of our migratory birds come back in spring. Energy seems to flow around us.

What season do you have now in your part of the world? Or do you have a favorite season?

 

Lynn Lovegreen has lived in Alaska for most of her life. After twenty years in the classroom, she retired to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering for her local library. Her young adult historical romance is set in Alaska, a great place for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com.

It's That Time of Year Again

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights and choose love and light.

When I worked in child welfare and later in domestic and international adoptions I became aware of the importance of time of the year. I was amazed at how many of the children with whom I worked had traumatic events happen at the same time year after year after year. The infant in Vietnam who was taken to the orphanage in the spring and then adopted by a family in the United States or Europe and moved there one or two years later---in the spring. And what would be confusing is that it is spring in Vietnam and fall in the US or Europe. Upheaval, the loss of security and love has now occurred twice in this child’s life. Following along, I could see behavioral issues every spring and fall. Add to that the adoptive parents did not speak Vietnamese and the child, while have receptive Vietnamese language did not have receptive English.

Seasonal Trauma Can Happen To Anyone

For some children I worked with, every placement happened around one of the holidays. Those parents who paid attention to that background and talked to the child, made adjustments to holiday gathering, etc. always had a better outcome than those who continued to expect the child to make all the adjustments.

To be clear, it doesn’t have to focus on traumatic events. Many of us have fond memories of recurring events in our lives and we go through a grieving process when they stop. I remember our family Christmas celebrations. My mom started the baking in September/October. The hunt for the perfect Christmas tree was An Event. I only missed one Christmas and that was because I was too sick to get off the couch (it was closer to the bathroom than my bed).

Do You Have A Death Month? I Do

I’ve written about my Dad’s last Christmas (December 1997) and the lengths we all went to make it perfect for him.

Christmas 2001 was the last family Christmas. My mom died March 4^th 2002.

Wonder why I'm even talking about last Christmases in March? It is March 2023.

If you read this post on the first day it goes live, March 3, 2023, you’ll know that I will be remembering family members who died or passed or crossed over or transitioned (we have lots of words/phrases to mark this final life event).

Jean Elizabeth Rawson Johnson – March 25, 1918 - March 4, 2001 – mom

Margaret (Marne) Rawson Gannon – December, 1919 - March 5, 2012 - aunt

Donald Christian Johnson – September 19, 1917 - March 8, 1998 - dad

James Foster Johnson – October 25, 1944 - March 26, 2004 - brother

Helen Foster Rawson Kirshman – July 31, 1910 - April 1, 2015 – aunt

Some years I struggle through my Death Month and other years I seem to almost forget. I used to wonder what made the difference. Now I just accept that there will be times when I remember and grieve and other times when I remember and smile as the joy from the memories surrounds me.

Time has passed and I have my own traditions that fill my heart. I celebrate the beauty of Mother Earth most days. I focus on gratitude for what I have most days. I am doing better at being mindful. And I’ve become less upset with my “recovering independent high achiever” description. It doesn’t mean I’m a failure only that it takes me longer to achieve and I may not reach the higher marks…but then I said in my January post that I would work on being kinder to myself. That has translated into setting goals that take into consideration where I am at this point in my life.

Choose I tell myself. Make it a conscious choice regardless of what it's about.

Choose to work a crossword puzzle instead of doing a computer task.

Choose to have a piece of chocolate instead of wishing I had a piece.

Choose to take on a task and be realistic about how much I can do, how long it might take, etc.

At the end of the day, even in the darkest night, it is up to me to choose love and light.

You can find all of my books at your favorite e-book vendor. Be sure to ask your local library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2023 Judith Ashley