Category: Veteran Affairs

18 October 2021

by saymber, posted in Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, Food, Home, In the News, Leading Life by Example, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello there how are you? It’s a gray and overcast Monday as I write to you. There wasn’t light until 8! How is it where you live?

So yesterday I went over to my Aunt and Uncles to help make jalapeño pepper jam. I had never done that before. I was in charge of measuring the sugar and other odd jobs. My two cousins and cousins daughter were there and it was good to see them. I was so in the moment I didn’t get any pictures of the jam! My uncle John was the only man in the outfit!

I didn’t get to stay too long as my bowels were acting up. They made about 4 batches of jam and they used the jalapeños after they were juiced for salsa.

I heard the sad news today that Colin Powell died from complications of Covid-19 and cancer . He was the first black Secretary of State . One of my favorite quotes is from him :

The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”

For fun: https://youtu.be/rZSaD4QLjxE Breathtaking AI Generated Portraits by Bas Uterwijk

“We stand in this moment a foothold in time. Where do we go from here? Do we reach to the top shelves for the hidden best or do we continue to grimace in pain as we stoop for the obvious? The stream of life flows forward so swiftly with hands still reaching back. Grasping anything to steady us as we lose our footing. What is our identity? Who are our tribes? We think we are standing still but the sand continues to give way. We are but mere little children in this vast cosmos. Time stretching forward and backwards in a snapshot of space. The all seeing eye of time a voyeur to our rise and fall.”

16 October 2021 Doors

by saymber, posted in Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, drawing, Home, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello there. It’s Saturday as I write to you. It’s looking like it’s going to be a beautiful fall day. I like watching the wind play with the leaves .

There is a simple but powerful prayer my Aunt and I came up with a long time ago; “May the doors that need to open, open. May the doors that need to shut, shut. Amen.” I am finding I am having trouble shutting doors that need to be shut lately. As I’ve mentioned before I’m a softy. I don’t like to hurt other peoples feelings even if it means my own feelings get hurt.

Sometimes even shut doors aren’t completely closed

The door that is stuck partway open right now is Idaho. It’s been over a year since my cousin and his wife brought me here and I still feel like a newcomer. I just haven’t found a way to fit in yet. This is a similar problem I have faced most of my life. It’s always been hard for me to fit in. I have always felt like an outsider.

When I was in the military it was a very transitory lifestyle. As soon as you got comfortable some place it was time to move. It really messed with my head. Leaving Texas after living there 12 years was hard; but I don’t feel like I had much of a choice though. I couldn’t stay there. So here I am in Idaho a place I never expected to live!

I guess I have to reach for my gratitude list. For whatever reason I’m at this place in my life and I need to be grateful for a soft landing for a very hard fall. Looking at the rest of the world today it could be so much worse for me. There is a place for me I just haven’t found the right door yet.

19 September 2021 Oddball

by saymber, posted in Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, drawing, Mental Health, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you ! How are you this Sunday morning ? I am hoping for more rain so my car will be clean again ! We got just enough of a spittle to turn my car into a mud ball .

My thoughts are inspired by my drawing today….being an odd ball. Not being like everybody else. Most of my life I have been the one that doesn’t fit in. It’s not that I didn’t look the fitting in part it’s what was going on inside of me. I was a goth girl before it was a thing. I used to visit cemeteries and talk to animals all the time. I can remember looking in the mirror and wondering who was behind my eyes .

In my drawing I am the one standing alone looking at all those who are in line. I never quite fit in to the group. It’s usually because I don’t want to have to compromise my beliefs and or thoughts so that I will fit in.

Oddball spirit

For as long as I can remember it’s been this way for me. I was an outsider in school and in the military . The only time I really belonged is when I did sports. I was a runner and played volleyball . There is a camaraderie to sports that you don’t find in other group settings . I might have to consider sports again once Covid settles down again.

Nowadays my being an oddball has to do with having so many mental health labels. I just have to keep reminding myself that I am not those labels – they don’t define who I am as a person . The labels are for the doctors ! I sometimes let my labels rule my life and I miss out on things as a result .

I have always been a little odd, my ways a mystery to most everyone but God. My eyes a mirror within a hall of windows, my spirit trapped between life and the gallows. Walking between worlds tangible and the unseen, a balancing act of sweet and mean . I am indeed odd but that is between me and God ……

11 September 2021 Memory

by saymber, posted in Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, history, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you! How are you today ? I’m doing alright. It’s hard to believe it’s Saturday already . The week went by pretty fast.

Today is a milestone of a horrible day in world history. Sometimes it seems like it was just a collective bad dream but we never woke up. There are still a few first responders suffering and as a world I think we still suffer from what happened that day. I know I was broken for a long time I couldn’t believe something like that could happen here!

Was it one or quite a few, not knowing what to say or what to do? When the walls of tower fell, it looked like a scene right out of hell. So many years have past since that fateful day, the roars have turned to whispers not much left to say.

13 August 2021 Anniversary

by saymber, posted in Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, Television, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello! How are you ? I’m doing ok.

Today is my service anniversary. If I was still on active duty it would be my 35th year anniversary ! It’s hard to believe how much time has gone by ! The thing I miss is the comradeship. There were a lot of good people I worked with over my 16 years of service . I was stationed at Travis Afb CA, Bitburg ABS Germany, Falcon Afb CO, HQ Space Command Peterson Afb CO, Patrick Afb FL. All pretty good assignments ! I would have to say my favorite place was Europe .

Remembering my past

11 August 2021 Learning

by saymber, posted in Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, Mental Health, trust, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you in your where and when. How are you ? I am having kind of a rough morning. Words have power . Sometimes you can think you are safe in saying something a certain way and learn later that it hurt someone. I never mean to hurt anyone with my words here!

This blog is a place I’ve had as an outlet for many years now and I guess I’m still learning how to use it !

4 August 2021 Chalk Therapy

by saymber, posted in Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, Exploring numeric value of words in English language, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you . It’s Wednesday and it’s nice out here in Middleton. This morning I tried to get the boo bear out for a walk and he wasn’t having any of that ! So I got a mile in by myself. After some cereal and coffee I decided to take advantage of the fresh driveway canvas. Some chalk therapy! Being outside and drawing is like being in church for me – both peaceful and stimulating for my brain .As of late I like drawing Metatrons cube in chalk the best, the pattern soothes me. I haven’t felt like drawing some of the stuff I used to draw like faces.

Onward soldier we go through the hazards of today we flow we recognize very little of where we have been and most surely will retrace our steps back again. The finger of God points the way to go we will eventually arrive even if our progress is slow

Chalk therapy

“Chalk therapy ” in the English Ordinal system equals 128 – (a man) ( one process of light and shadow in eternity)

30 July 2021 Forgiveness

by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Spirituality and Religion, trust, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you! How are you today? It’s really hot here today. I’m about ready for summer to be over! I’m sure I’m not alone with that sentiment.

Well yesterday was a day of sudden changes and today is about forgiveness. Sometimes people do things that they regret. I had to pray a lot about this…. Let God. I could have chosen to shut the door on this person but I don’t think that’s what God wanted me to do . I cannot ignore the red flags and warnings but something tells me these are growing pains. The person in question has been through a lot of troubles too and made mistakes. I have been through a lot too, made mistakes . What if everyone had shut the door on me ? I try to keep that in mind when I am dealing with these sorts of things.

29 July 2021 Sudden Changes

by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, Mental Health, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you how are you today ? I’m doing alright I think . I am in the midst of sudden changes again. I thought I had made a friend but I was wrong . So I am on my own again and I’m lead back to blogging more regularly and drawing pictures that are kind of a reflection of what’s going on in my life . Today’s drawing shows an upside down world in the blink of an eye . I haven’t been using the gematria system lately because it only seemed to make sense to me!

Sometimes it seems like God throws curve balls and the reasons aren’t immediately clear . I have to believe something better is in store for me .

Drawing for today

28 July 2021 Helpful or Harmful

by saymber, posted in animals, Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, drawing, Mental Health, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you, how are you doing on this hot day in July? I am doing ok. I was taking an afternoon nap and some thoughts and images started to filter into my my mind . Some of them painful memories like the day my cat Amber passed away. I had to force my mind to think of other things. I had to ask myself if thinking about such a traumatic day was helpful or harmful. The verdict was it was harmful. I don’t want to think about sad/depressing/traumatic things! So I thought of when she was alive sitting in a sunbeam instead. I forced myself to get up and draw too.

I have had to learn mental gymnastics like these past couple of years. If I let my mind wander it can lead me to some pretty dark places if I let it. It’s the same place my feelings are at and I have found that as an empath living by feelings can be emotionally draining and paralyzing .

Drawing for today