I am working on managing my time. The problem with overwhelm is one I have been trying to tackle for years. The problem I have is trying to get a lot of work done, and feeling stressed out with it all.
So I have been trying to take smaller steps in shorter amounts of time. It’s hard to digest how many areas of my life demand my time and attention.
Life is a journey. Take it one step at a time.
We are having some very cold weather here. It really stresses me out. It’s very much like Winter today instead of Spring. I like to get outside, but when the weather is windy and cold I tend to feel sorry for myself. So last night after work I had my husband James take me out to a local restaurant for an Impossible burger. No supper dishes to deal with this morning and a little less stress.
Listen to How I Did It# Day 1 Of Week 10 by Amy Zents Shy Singer on #SoundCloud
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Here is a very long poem I composed for my honey James for Valentine’s in 2014 called “Cupid’s Dart.”
Love has come to me
Finally.
As from a distant shore,
After many travails and treacherous paths,
My prince of valor,
My handsome companion,
My dearest friend has arrived,
I am so grateful for my romance!
Finally, after the longest stretch I get to live with my deepest love.
I can only desire longer life so as to be with him.
I have everything because of him.
Complete and in league with his wit and wisdom.
Our wisdom only gets stronger as we grow wider.
Sharing the jokes, the smile, the laughs,
And the tears with one another.
A poetic monarch lives with me.
A man of mental prowess beyond my realities
His incredible use of language meets my ears from lofty places of thought.
His words are wrought from years of pain, study, and reflection.
How do I answer? Mainly in jest to many of his queries.
Nevertheless, I must spark some inspiration in his mind, for him to go out on a ledge.
We start designing metaphors like pearls from our kissing lips.
Truly, this wife and husband do not match the old marriage cliches.
Only do we match sometimes, when I forget I am with my best friend ,
and speak a sharp word or two of thoughtless rebuke before I catch myself.
Love is the Bliss, you cannot easily find in a quick tryst.
Our union is blessed with two rambunctious dogs.
Our pets add their fervorous frolic to the family fun, and they
wag their tails excitedly when home we come!
Our bed is a haven of comfort where we wind up watching TV and
eating a hot, healthy vegetarian meal.
The joy of making music brings us up to higher and happier places as we transcendent feel.
More than the soft ticking of the clock.
“Marriage” is but a name to describe a synthesis of mind and heart.
Two souls with similar goals.
Both knowing each others faults,
but not making each other the target of blame,
but rather the target of Cupid’s dart;
Because love is the alchemy that unites a loving pair.
It’s a private world that keeps sacred the secrets of two hearts!
Two hearts who will shield each other’s confidences with care.
Peace comes from patience.
We talk things over to learn the ways of life.
We teach one another how to deal with stress, and how to react to disappointments.
What does one do if one cannot ask a question of one’s true love?
One must break through the silence and seek the answer anyway.
It is wiser to be thought of as a fool and speak up, than to appear to be wise,
and be a silent fool full of doubt!
By Amy Zents
I believe that our generation will be the most well-documented generation of all time.
Everywhere you go, you see people with cell phones taking pictures.
People take pictures of everything, not to mention video. It’s amazing how everyone now aspires to being a movie star.
The Me Generation.
It’s not bad to be self-conscious. Like it or not, you will be in somebody’s photo whether you want to be or not. It’s just dumb how people indiscriminately take photos of everything.
There’s very little that is secret nowadays with cameras and video.
If you would like to see inside the Vatican or you would like to see inside somebody’s garage, you could probably find a way.
Signs that say no video photography or no camera photography are ignored.
From movie theaters, to the live theaters on Broadway, to the great concert halls around the world, people in charge have a hard time preventing audience members or others from taking photos or video.
Documentation for representation.
The paper trail is getting smaller. They have stopped automatically giving paper receipts at the liquor store or at the grocery store in my town. Everything is going electronic, at least that’s the way it seems nowadays. Even plastic, aka credit cards instead of currency is becoming more common. I saw someone pull out his checkbook this morning and I thought, Dark Ages! LOL!
Whatever happened to honor and respect?
Some people don’t care what they say, what they look like, or even live like, much less do they care if it offends you!
You may call it freedom, but it comes with a high price.
I understand some people have real mental issues. There are people who have real problems dealing with their issues, and would like to let everybody know it.
On a different note, many have been enticed into believing the world owes them a living, and they whine to everybody who will listen to garner pity for their feelings, or else make major excuses to justify themselves.
No matter how you slice it, most people have lost touch with two basic human values, honor and respect.
It is evident everywhere you look.
So what’s to be done about it?
The underlying principle is always the same. It boils down to personal responsibility.
And the question to ask is always the same.
Who or what do you want to be?
You decide to be the person who shows honor and respect because your attitude affects everybody in one way or another, including you.
It’s time for an honor and respect wake-up call.
Start with yourself and you are guaranteed you will make your life easier, better and more valuable.
If you show honor and respect for yourself in everything you do and say, others will respond in a very good way.
Don’t tear yourself down, and don’t beat yourself up. Be the change you want to see in the world.
After that, show respect and honor to your family. Show respect and honor with people at work and at play.
I don’t wish to lecture anyone, but I believe the lack of honor and respect is at the core of society’s problems.
Things won’t get better until a sacred sense of honor and respect pervades all the spaces in our minds, hearts and homes.
You may love to shop. You may feel good after you buy an item or two that you love! Just like a drug or a drink, there is a high after you buy.
Especially if you live in the Western world, you can’t escape fashion. It’s everywhere!
You look good, you feel good, right?
The words fast fashion have a negative connotation. It means you consume cheap trendy goods to dispose of them quickly because they don’t last.
Why waste your money?
You may buy a top for $3 made in India or Vietnam or any other place, but the lack of durability and value is the basis of fast fashion. The low-cost is really a high price when you consider the lack of biodegradability of the fabric.
What was the provenance of the top you bought?
The origin of your new top may belie a horrible history in it’s creation, especially if it’s made by underpaid, uninsured workers.
Once you’ve used your purchase to your delight and have consumed it’s considered worth, what will happen to your used-up cast-off?
The top may perhaps be made of a fabric that lacks the ability to disintegrate into the earth, and will only wind up burned or buried under the ground. Fast fashion pollutes.
It’s excellent to look good. It’s excellent to shop thrift stores as well. It’s best if you look for good quality first, low price second.
Recycle your clothes, instead of throwing them into the landfill. Donate them to others. Let them be recycled or upcycled!
When you buy, consider avoiding acrylic and highly-flammable petrochemical-based fabrics, such as 100% polyester and go for biodegradable textiles such as wool, silk and cotton.
However, don’t always consider cotton to be the best, if it pollutes and drains earth’s natural resources, in order to ensure production.
Just like you find out where your food comes from, find out where your garb comes from.
Make sure that it’s not being made by exploited workers paid slave wages.
In order to keep everyone up to standard there has to be more transparency in the fashion industry.
If your favorite brand won’t tell you where your clothes originate from or what is in them, skip the brand and shop local.
There are companies in the world that will tell you where they harvest their textiles and how they make their products.
Find out how earth-friendly they are, and not only will you be better off, the whole world will benefit now and in the future.
Plus, you’ll be able to wear your fashion with confidence. Then like a good citizen of this planet you will really be in fashion!
Did you take a double major like me? You may have thought you wanted to become a Superstar multi-billionaire too by going through music, art and English classes.
College professors don’t tell you how slim the chances are out there for budding wannabe movie stars.
Well I do not begrudge an education for you, just remember there’s those student loan bills that show up on a constant basis without guarantee of employment.
I think you are wise to do what you are drawn to rather than what you are forced to do out of necessity.
I was one of the fortunate few who did exactly what I wanted to do. I took over 500 credits in my college career. I had a very strong thirst for knowledge, and I took a variety of classes from nursing to the art of the science fiction novel.
It took me 14 years to graduate because I quit part way and then returned to finish up. Also, I kept changing my mind and my career focus.
I did walk away with a beautiful career as a radio announcer, but I had been doing that prior to college and I did not need a degree for that. With a college degree, I was able to add another couple of jobs to my resume, that of being a professional music instructor and singer-actress.
In planning your success route you need to keep in mind that being able to communicate is one of the highest qualities a person can possess.
I was happy to learn to communicate and to create meaning in my life through my college degree and college education, but I knew what I was searching for once I found it.
It’s a pity that a lot of people go into writing, music and the arts with very little to say. They usually wind up working in a furniture store miserable and bitter.
Mind you, there’s nothing wrong with working in a furniture store. It’s just the part of being miserable and bitter that is the problem.
Nevertheless, the world needs people who can clearly communicate information, inspiration, mind-opening ideas, along with entertainment to enliven and inspire others.
You actually do not need a college degree to do any of those things if you were born with the gift of gab and a great curiosity and interest in others. Talent surely helps, and a college degree doesn’t hurt.
If you feel that you qualify to be an expert on something, it helps to be able to write or create in a way that you feel will benefit others. Giving is living.
But if you choose to quit trying and lie around all day doing nothing but drink beer and smoke pot thinking you’re an artist, a writer or a musician you’ve got another thing coming.
If you are so young you feel you haven’t really lived or if you feel you have nothing important or interesting to say, perhaps you would be better off forgetting that career in the Arts and becoming a young professional in a high-paying job, and not waste your productive years lying around or working on trifling low-paying unrelated and uninspiring work.
Why not get a career that will benefit you financially? Decide what you want and go for it.
Then you might earn more money now instead of waiting for that magic opportunity that might never come.
With your income you might also afford to take specialized classes in future days that will allow you to learn to better appreciate life, music, and the arts.
And with your specialized knowledge you might be able to communicate in a way that is just as beneficial or even more valuable than somebody who just decides to write or create without any purpose, outside of a desire for fame and self-aggrandizement.
The grass may always seems greener on the other side, but I always think you should bloom where you’re planted.
Zents Music Studio 