(A robin at sunset. July 2007)

One of my favorite bloggers wrote a thought-provoking post that had me stopping and wandering (pardon the use of your title, Amuirin). I started writing this up shortly after reading Amuirin’s post. I ended up putting it on hold because I wasn’t sure where I was going with it. I’m still not sure. Just rambling, probably.

I have two blogs that I’ll claim publicly. Life in the Bogs is where I write about the everyday stuff. I do the occasional review of restaurants, bars, beers (because I’m a brewster which is the only feminine version of the title I like because brewmistress sounds so whips, masks, leather, and chain-like), concerts, venues, and books, but I don’t believe reviews are my forte. Or if they are, someone else hasn’t come along and offered me a job in that field so I do them for my own pleasure or remembrance. Mostly, it’s where I write for family and friends. People who know me in my so-called real life. I avoid anything too terribly personal or revealing in ways I don’t want to be revealed because I know my sons, my parents, my siblings, friends, and former co-workers read Life in the Bogs. Maybe not regularly, but they’re reading it from time to time. I don’t want to embarrass them or myself with any kind of Big Reveal, especially on a regular basis. It would make for awkward get-togethers.

Bountiful Healing, as I’ve mentioned before, is where I write for me. No, that’s wrong. I wasn’t doing much writing here. It was mostly about setting a tone for my day. I’d come here in the morning, post a photo with a quote, and hope that would bring some peace or comfort or whatever it was I needed into my day by way of cyber-osmosis. I didn’t advertise BH far and wide. I wanted it to be separate from Life in the Bogs because I didn’t want my parents dropping in to see what were for me private thoughts. Oh, I know. They don’t look private. They’re photos and quotes. But for me they were private and I wanted a bit of anonymity even though I knew someone would manage to connect the two blogs eventually.

People did find me, through a variety of connections. That was ok, too. I really hadn’t put much of myself out here, if you know what I mean. People continue to find me, lots of people I don’t know. Visitors are a bonus for me. A very nice bonus in most instances. My visitors have given me things to think about as well as some nice ego-boosts (much appreciated on those days my ego takes a long dive off a high cliff). They’ve also given me places to visit, enjoy, and learn by having blogs of their own that I can indulge in.

Still and all, I’m careful about putting a lot of myself out there for all to see. Or at least in putting it all out there at once, doling out small bits and pieces of myself each time I write a post rather than rely on the photos and quotes.

BH, as I mentioned above, was about intention when I started it. Anyone reading for a while knows that I was in a lot of pain in the beginning days of Bountiful Healing. My days were about popping pain killers and muscle relaxers in order to take enough of the edge off the pain to allow me to think beyond taking my own life just to relieve the pain. There were no comfortable positions in life for me at that time. I couldn’t stand, sit, lie down, hang upside down, turn sideways, stand on my head, or in any other way find myself comfortable, much less pain-free.

Months of living that way wears a person down.

So I started a blog at a place other than WordPress that had a name other than Bountiful Healing. The idea behind it was to get my head together because I believed that if I got my head together, my body would follow. As it turns out, this was true. But not without a lot of hard work.

From that blog with the other name at the other place, Bountiful Healing evolved.

I still have aches and pains. I suspect that’s not going to change much with age. I’m off the pain meds except for the occasional aspirin or ibuprofen. I keep active, I try to follow the healthy living plan I set up for myself (through trial, error, and research) and I continue to come here to set my intention for the day. I come here to start my day in peace, contemplation, or if I need it, an attitude adjustment.

That’s what Bountiful Healing is for me. Time changes things and may well change this blog and my intentions. But for now, it’s all about intention and attitude.

Intentions, processes, and attitudes won’t change things by themselves, but they do help start my day with good energy, for lack of a better way to put it.

Can’t ask for much more than that.