We all use them at times, don’t we? A word, a sound, even a statement repeated over and over to focus us. To enable us to achieve perhaps. Even to give us emotional support at difficult times.
I recall the mantras given to me over the last three months:
1. Time is your friend…
2. One step at a time…
3. Patience, little cricket… (it’s actually young grasshopper but I like ‘little cricket’)
Each has been enormously powerful as I’ve recovered from surgery. Especially in those moments when progress is slow (which it is this week), or there have been medical hurdles that have tripped me up. I suspect too, that the sayings will now stay with me as a focussing tool for whatever situation in which I might find myself.
The idea of mantras and mottos popped into my mind today because my husband and I were chatting about headstones (not that we plan on popping our clogs in the near future). He was bemoaning his reaction to a shingles shot (not wonderful) and after having had bad Covid and being a bit below par, he decided his headstone would read ‘Well, that took a while!’ which made me laugh.
If I was having a headstone (which I won’t) this would be mine:
I have a print-out of this pinned up inside my wardrobe door and if ever I get the glums, I look at it, say it, and then say: ‘For crying out loud, get over yourself!’ Or maybe ‘Cowboy up!’ or even ‘Grow a set!’
It all works. So maybe they’re all mantras; call them what you will. The thing is, any or all work for me. Sometimes, I need that little push, that little mental prop. I wish I didn’t, but there you go…
Doing:
Cakes – a birthday week. I made the cake for my grandson. The kitchen was covered in green icing.
Ballet – as ever, the best day of the week.
Shopping for jeans. Ye Gods, I hate it! Hauling on pair after pair in different brands and then finding it was all a waste of time because the same old brand and style (mid-rise slim fit) is the only brand and style that suits. The only thing that is worse is shopping for bras. Swimwear is easy with shopping online for La Blanca. The same size fits and has done for years and what a range of colours and styles! I trust them absolutely.
Gardening. The very act of getting into the garden is balm.
Stitching. Vibrant hearts for a memorial in honour of my loved late friend in culture, gardens and humour. 15 down and another 15 to go before the required date.
Walking. Moving meditation. Trying to walk between 8000-11000 steps daily as I rebuild stamina and also leg and core muscles after being a mashed potato for 3 months too long.
Reading:
Antoine Laurain’s French Windows. Delicious as only Laurain can write. Perfect for these last few weeks too, as French air wafts through our house, firstly with the Tour de France and now the Olympics, with the Para Olympics to follow. All to the sound of Attitude Français which is an hour or so of French music that I created on Spotify.
I finished Matthew Harffy’s Dark Frontier, my first sortie into the western genre. Oh-my-goodness! Who’d’ve thought I’d ever read a western. But it was good! Harffy creates soul in his characters like few others and his British protagonist and American supporting cast were three dimensional. It’s an eminently believable story of raw life on the range.
I’m listening to Maggie Smith’s biography on Audible because I quite like Maggie Smith. One of those august actors we are lucky to have seen and heard in our lifetimes. But this unauthorised bio does Ms. Smith few favours and I feel as if I have wasted a credit.
Today I purchased a print edition of Robert Hardman’s biography of Charles III. It’s a sympathetic biography with some amusing asides and I think I’ll enjoy it.
On Substack, I try very hard to avoid US politics and global situations and just concentrate on beautiful things, like:
It was lovely.
and
which made me laugh. Elizabeth has such a perfect handle on the English language.
This as well.
Glorious.
Also (not on Substack) I happened across this. https://stacieflinner.com/ because I like looking at elegant clothes now and then and to dream (if only I had her budget). My life is leggings and denims! My last elegant sortie was to the theatre and a ballet performance a year ago last month. Too long!
As I watch the Olympic Games, I wonder what mantras the athletes have. We see them whispering to themselves, performing rituals, and I want to know what they say.
Do they say One Step at a Time, or Time is Your friend?
No. I don’t think so – that’s not the path down which medals will be won.
But I tell you what! I do know that I want to learn to rock climb and to row a scull, and when I told my husband, he said: ‘Oh God, she’s off on a bender again!’
Song for this week: this, so that we keep the French flavour for a little while longer. It’s very cool!
A lovely post, Prue! What a stunning cake - happy birthday to your grandson! One of my favourite birthday cakes as a child was an edible version of our sheep paddock - the bright-green grass was desiccated coconut shaken in a bag with a load of food colouring, and it ended up EVERYWHERE - we found bright-green shreds of coconut on the kitchen floor for days afterwards - and there was a small heap of grated chocolate on the cake with a little sign reading 'Tiny was here'. Tiny was my favourite lamb at the time - the smallest of a set of triplets. Her appearance had been a heck of a surprise in the middle of the night, just as we'd been taking care of what we'd thought were twins!
Ugh re jeans shopping and bra shopping. Sorry to overshare, but I have NEVER had a bra which properly fits me. I am very broad in the the beam, with a shallow ribcage and depressed sternum. At my most recent attempt to kit myself out in the lingerie department of a major chain both the bra fitter and I were in tears! 🤣
The "mantra" that got me through a really terrible two years from 2020 to 2022 was the Sufi saying, "This, too, will pass."