Feeling nostalgic?

Come Monday morning and I was overcome by a wave of nostalgia and it got bigger by the hour. Living far from your folks across the globe, does that to you and it’s always a single thought that provokes a cycle of old memories. I googled about how to deal with ‘nostalgia’ (haha) and ended up even more overwhelmed than before as my eyes ran through some ridiculous and boring suggestions! The grey overcast and drizzle outside was not exactly helping me either. My dog was not in the mood for a conversation! There was leftover food from the day before so there was no cooking needed. And I didn’t know what to paint!

So I (reluctantly) stayed with my thoughts that were playing on a never ending loop – old memories, childhood, friendships, choices and on and on….but you can only take so much! Taking a cue from my kids who had played a you tube video on diwali lights the night before (I had loved it), I picked a video on nature – it was long and had some relaxing music to go along – and I let this video play for a couple of hours while I went around my business. Every time I was plagued by a thought, my eyes traveled to the screen, and I instantly felt better.

And so Monday went by (thankfully) and by Tuesday I was back in the mood for some painting. I started on a collage of scenes in watercolor from pictures I’d taken this summer. When I’m done, I’ll post them here for sure. I was still nostalgic but the colors kept me focused on the work.

But the universe was listening to me I guess…..

This morning I picked up Happiness is the Way by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer – these words stood out – “I can control my thoughts. My feelings come from my thoughts. Therefore, I can control my feelings”. As I continued to read, everything began to make sense. I realize now that every emotion stems from a thought and this is why it’s so important to pay attention to our thoughts because they will soon be accompanied by feelings! If I want to feel positive, I should magnify and encourage the positive thoughts and if I have a negative thought (sad, worrisome or angry) coming up, I should immediately discourage it – you know nip it in the bud!

Thinking about a happy past or missing a loved one is totally normal and it’s ok to do that as long as one doesn’t get trapped in the never ending loop of emotions. I have now learned that sending love and gratitude to the person or the memory and then moving on to the task at hand is more useful than wallowing in my thoughts. One might wonder “why not just distract yourself with a book or a movie or your phone”? Well this can work too but sometimes we are too confused to even distract ourselves.

Today is again a very cold and wet day. But I turned on the fairy lights inside and decided to share my thoughts (positive ones) with all of you.

Hope you find this post useful. Have a great day!

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Into the dawn

This morning as I was packing the last sandwich into the lunch bag, my eyes fell on a glow outside.

I opened the blinds on the door and there it was, a pale crimson halo on the horizon against the dark silhouettes of the bare branches of Bradford pear trees.

Usually my next step would have been to reach out for my phone and click away, but I did not do any such thing. Instead I stepped out into the chilly dawn, plunging my hands deep into the pockets of my sweater to keep them warm as I looked upon the horizon and up at the sky.

There was Venus, shining so brightly as always in the dark blue sky above me. A feeling of deep calm engulfed me as I stood there in the coolness, watching a golden hue replacing the crimson. A plane flew by, its lights flickering and then everything turned quiet once more.

It was time to go back inside.