The Sunday Scoop
Happy Sunday.
Special thanks to the few extra peeps who completed the 2-minute survey and told me what you want to read about. Still, the #1 interest stands at "Communication Stuff and Skills." The second place is shared by "Travel Stories and Pictures" and "Mental Health and Wellness."
What do you want??? Speak up. 😊
As for travel stories, they'll be out shortly as I am about to begin a 1-month-tour of Bulgaria, visiting places I've never been to!
As for mental health and wellness, expect a post on emotional intelligence as a key to better mental health this Wednesday. Wednesday posts are for paid subscribers only!!!
Speaking of which… I've lowered the annual subscription to $60 from $80!!! Upgrade if you are on a monthly or subscribe.
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In this issue, you will find:
A short story
What you missed this week, videos, and more
Your weekly meditation prompt
Tip of the day.
I am visiting my mom in the countryside. It looks like Autumn everywhere. I even caught a storm going over the mountain. We woke up to fog creeping through the trees and down the mountain, quieting everything down. The last time I saw fog was back in March in Morro Bay. Nope, I don't miss it. But this fog feels melancholic and brings memories of a sunny, playful childhood. I remember childhood friends, long summer days, and warm nights sitting outside, nattering under the stars.
I don't know where any of my friends went. I don't know anything about their lives. I don't know if I want to know. The way things go with people, I think I should keep my fun memories unspoiled by reality.
I asked my mom what people do around here other than tend to their houses and gardens. Everyone looks weathered and tired, even the few middle-aged ones doing business in town, like the lady working in her mini grocery shop while also raising goats. She complained her joints hurt.
"Hard worker," my mom said. "They lost a baby goat while grazing in the mountains yesterday."
"So, they graze the goats in the mountains, then," I thought. It explains why the cheese she makes is so delicious. I am going back to the city with another stash of it and extra respect for her because I wouldn't do half of what she does no matter how much you pay me.
It's grape-picking season. We no longer have a vineyard. Many older folks abandoned theirs when they could no longer care for the vines. After growing in the family for over 100 years, my grandfather pulled our vines out, leaving behind a bare hill. More than 20 years later, my mother still hasn't gotten over it. But at least two canopies of old grapes still shade the front and back patios.
There I was, plucking grapes from overhead, munching away, and listening to my mother's story of how she battled the extreme heat all summer to keep them alive. Extreme heat and drought killed many trees, and most of what people planted this year and last. But still, this is nothing like what's been happening in Southeast Asia, where thousands of people dyed, were displaced and starved due to losing their crops.
I guess, from now on, we'll just be saying, "It's worse in other places," and go about our daily business of overconsumption and burning fossil fuels.
Mom survived the hottest August on record thanks to an A/C she installed in the Spring. But her tomatoes weren't that lucky. Still, in good old Bulgarian tradition, she managed to send care packages to me in the city via a neighbor in the village who also lives near us in the city.
Back in the communist 70s and 80s, city folk pretty much survived on produce from their countryside-dwelling relatives. My grandparents grew, picked, and processed enough stuff to feed themselves, us, and my uncle's family. We helped. I remember weekends of canning hundreds of jars of jam, tomatoes, and whatever was in season. Meat got canned, too. There was a cycle and a production rhythm from early Spring to late Fall where everything edible was grown, harvested, and prepared for the Winter.
Dozens of drying red peppers hung on the eves of the old house. Chicken stock expanded in the Spring, with baby chicks destined for food, and it slowly dwindled by Fall. Goats and sheep lived for years, but not so their babies. The fruit we couldn't eat ended up distilled spirits. I remember two or three barrels of wine fermenting in the cellar along crates of apples, carrots, and potatoes stacked for the Winter.
Life had seasonality and a built-in schedule, occupying people's imagination, expectations, and conversations. Most importantly, in a place and at a time of dread and repression, it gave them purpose and meaning.
So, maybe purpose and meaning are easier to find when you don't have any other options and your survival is on the line. Just think about Victor Frankle.
Midday, the sun broke through the fog. Lulu and I took a stroll down the main street. We saw four teenagers loitering around the post office stairs at the village square. I remembered us kids walking up a side street to the local school. The village had a "movie guy" in charge of acquiring movies and personally projecting them weekly. I don't remember any of the movies, but I remember the squicking wood chairs and the sound of the old projector. I remember youth gathering in the back courtyard of the school, joking and giggling, most of us only there for the summer.
Part of me is sad to see so much being lost. But as my mother put it, “It’s much easier to get your needs satisfied now. We slaved and broke our backs back then and barely got anything in return.”
What you might have missed this week
Wednesday's post: Effective Gripes Communication (on I-statements done right) in which you learn how to get what you want like a pro!
Videos:
I am still trying to get traction for Life Intelligence on YouTube. I have 404 subscribers as of this writing, which sounds like progress. But my view hours are only 105 out of the 4000 needed. Clearly, I have a long way to go on that front!
Easy and Fun way to reduce stress and lose weight. (Cameo appearance by Lulu)
For the meditators out there, I made a recording of the singing bowls I used to use with private clients when I couldn't drag the singing bowls around. I had it on YouTube as a private video but recently made it public for those of you who may want a 6-minute break, shivasana, or a mini-meditation.
🌺 THIS week's intention prompt for you
"I will observe my thoughts, feelings, and surroundings without judging them as good or bad."
I hope you enjoyed this week’s free post. If you would like to support Life Intelligence but don’t want to commit to a membership, you can always tip your writer :) ME!!
Thanks for reading, your likes, comments, and shares. But most of all, thank you for being the kind of person that cares about being life-intelligent.
V.