tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post6672975118084700333..comments2023-06-28T22:58:28.247+10:00Comments on Sixth In Line: The luck of the drawElisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-10286930728078671952010-12-29T10:05:39.439+11:002010-12-29T10:05:39.439+11:00Physical therapy works well, as you say, Enchanted...Physical therapy works well, as you say, Enchanted Oak. My leg proves it. <br /><br />I'm amazed at the progress, but still it's hard to make myself remember to do those exercises. The prompts slip under my radar all the time. Thanks.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-54733343035339708442010-12-29T10:03:38.403+11:002010-12-29T10:03:38.403+11:00My 17 year old daughter and yours, Bella, are simp...My 17 year old daughter and yours, Bella, are simpatico as far as the lot of asylum seekers is concerned. We all need safety nets. We all need to feel welcome. We all need a home. Thanks, Bella.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-70862422895352976692010-12-29T10:01:17.881+11:002010-12-29T10:01:17.881+11:00Thanks, Erin for your thoughts on life's strug...Thanks, Erin for your thoughts on life's struggle. The rolling pin exercise has released the tightness in my muscle to the point that it no longer aches when I use it.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-61782043553113613312010-12-28T02:56:26.012+11:002010-12-28T02:56:26.012+11:00No comment on asylum seekers from me, but a note a...No comment on asylum seekers from me, but a note about physical therapy: It works. Do it. No quick fixes, but you'll be very glad you invested the time and trouble.Enchanted Oakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14815997287116818456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-34970922796112770942010-12-28T01:20:44.217+11:002010-12-28T01:20:44.217+11:00My daughter (17) said she could not imagine how aw...My daughter (17) said she could not imagine how awful life must be for the boat people; to leave all they know and have grown up with and take flight. If they are successful in their struggle they are all too often met with suspicion and distrust. <br /><br />I live my life in the knowledge I have safety nets and good folk out there willing to help if I stumble. <br /><br />I take it for granted. Thank you for reminding me of it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15750612346248811323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-38623558615906320622010-12-28T01:09:57.485+11:002010-12-28T01:09:57.485+11:00I hear you, Elizabeth. Really hear you.
We all n...I hear you, Elizabeth. Really hear you.<br /><br />We all need to ache. Ache for injustice and fairness. Ache for understanding. Ache because empathy is the worthiest of emotions, worthiest state of spirit.<br /><br />And then we need a rolling pin. And we need to use it.<br /><br />Beautifully written. Beautifully felt.<br /><br />xo<br />erinWoman in a Windowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14747858840088922077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-1929640988588388752010-12-26T13:04:03.129+11:002010-12-26T13:04:03.129+11:00Christmas is all but over for us now in the southe...Christmas is all but over for us now in the southern hemisphere, Claire. Though for some, including my mother, Boxing day is still Christmas. Christmas for her is not over until the epiphany. <br /><br />In that spirit then in the spirit of the so-called festive season, I wish you a happy Christmas time, too, and thank you for your kind thoughts here. <br /><br />I agree the universal is always reflected in the personal, for good and for ill.<br /><br />Thanks again, Claire.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-88261694733027044392010-12-26T08:03:16.564+11:002010-12-26T08:03:16.564+11:00Dear Elisabeth - I am continually inspired by your...Dear Elisabeth - I am continually inspired by your capacity to look life squarely in the eye and by your insistence on turning things (events, questions, pain, joy, healing, bewilderment and much else besides) around and around until you have a clearer perspective and understanding of them. And by inviting us along on the journey, you allow us the privilege of a shared process. Who was it said 'we get to the universal by going through the personal?'. This post echoes this statement, i think; it seems so relevant and right that your private pain and recovery process be placed alongside the pain of a very shocking, public reality such as the plight of these asylum seekers. Ought not our conversations ideally include both us and the other? <br />Thank you for this year's wonderful, insightful musings, Elisabeth. And for generosity, so much in evidence around the blogosphere. I wish you and your family all good thins for the Christmas season and on into the new year. <br />ClaireClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-27736927532873755042010-12-26T08:01:51.295+11:002010-12-26T08:01:51.295+11:00Dear Elisabeth - I am continually inspired by your...Dear Elisabeth - I am continually inspired by your capacity to look life squarely in the eye and by your insistence on turning things (events, questions, pain, joy, healing, bewilderment and much else besides) around and around until you have a clearer perspective and understanding of them. And by inviting us along on the journey, you allow us the privilege of a shared process. Who was it said 'we get to the universal by going through the personal?'. This post echoes this statement, i think; it seems so relevant and right that your private pain and recovery process be placed alongside the pain of a very shocking, public reality such as the plight of these asylum seekers. Ought not our conversations ideally include both us and the other? <br />Thank you for this year's wonderful, insightful musings, Elisabeth. And for generosity, so much in evidence around the blogosphere. I wish you and your family all good thins for the Christmas season and on into the new year. <br />ClaireClaire Beynonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005365677016923903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-28072602299162666932010-12-25T03:54:49.443+11:002010-12-25T03:54:49.443+11:00Elisabeth...
Merry Merry Christmas and I hope your...Elisabeth...<br />Merry Merry Christmas and I hope your New year is filled with Joy ...<br /><br />cheers, parsnipangryparsniphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17236094827257446781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-1407590958977783992010-12-25T01:44:26.018+11:002010-12-25T01:44:26.018+11:00Such wonderful empathic words Elisabeth. Thank you...Such wonderful empathic words Elisabeth. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with us. It's heartfelt. This year i made a heart of gold for my Christmas card. Although we have a crisis we still are a rich nation. But it seems that people don't wanna share their luck and happiness, that worries me. Don't retrench on your heart was my thought.<br />I'm happy to find in blogland nice people like yourself with golden hearts.<br />I wish you a wonderful Christmas and a great 2011 dear Elisabeth!<br />xoxoMomo Luna S!gnalshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00170657311754852851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-57142767198618056922010-12-24T15:08:06.509+11:002010-12-24T15:08:06.509+11:00Thanks for the good wishes and Christmas cheer, Ja...Thanks for the good wishes and Christmas cheer, Janice. I repeat mine to you.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-78940947063631770712010-12-24T10:19:43.231+11:002010-12-24T10:19:43.231+11:00It is a truism that the cure is often worse than t...It is a truism that the cure is often worse than the ailment. I wish you stamina in your long haul to fitness. More than that, I wish you and yours all the happiness of Christmas and a healthy and fulfilling 2011.jabbloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12176958811589489979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-60008276448378882552010-12-23T22:33:25.802+11:002010-12-23T22:33:25.802+11:00Thank you for all your wonderful Christmas wishes,...Thank you for all your wonderful Christmas wishes, Alberto. <br /><br />The world is so mixed, good and bad everywhere, as you suggest. We can only do our best to stay in touch with an awareness of other people's struggles. <br /><br />Tonight it is difficult for me to type. I nicked the top of my finger with a sharp knife preparing dinner and now it's hard to use the keyboard. It's not painful, just difficult through the bandage.<br /><br />I hope that you too, along with your love ones, have a terrific time over Christmas and the New year.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-27057594517129562902010-12-23T16:45:13.783+11:002010-12-23T16:45:13.783+11:00It is hard to find steady ground, as you say, Magg...It is hard to find steady ground, as you say, Maggie. <br /><br />You must be feeling this strongly at the moment. I remember such a heightened sense of vulnerability and sensitivity with each one of my babies. It's a powerful time. <br /><br />Thanks, Maggie. All the best of the season to you.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-10019565449416089782010-12-23T10:08:57.592+11:002010-12-23T10:08:57.592+11:00I loved reading this, it so reflects thoughts and ...I loved reading this, it so reflects thoughts and feelings I have often about the world, and suffering. It's hard to find steady ground to stand on in the heart.Maggie Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14699674732274478502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-37207256802906450842010-12-22T20:34:52.064+11:002010-12-22T20:34:52.064+11:00Some people think that, by ignoring some unfair an...Some people think that, by ignoring some unfair and cruel aspects of life, they are showing to theirselves and to the rest of the world some kind of unexplainbale courage and braveness, when i think it is quite the opposite. So i admire your compassion and mercy Elisabeth, because, even when many times we donĀ“t even take some action in order to offer some help and consolation to the one who truly needs it, at least is a nice gesture to show some solidarity. Cruelty and many tragic things in history were born from indiference and it is unnecesary to give examples.<br />And changing completely of topic. I want to use the ocassion to wish you a nice Christmas and, as i always insist to say, the best in your life not only during these days but for the rest of the year and the life if possible. I wish you a lot of wisdom, health and learnings. and happiness for you and your beloved ones. <br />Thanks for all your fantastic essays and stories plenty of sincerity and trust, i want you to know that i really apreciate it. Receive my best regards and may all your wishes come true, even better, may you have all the energy and determination to achieve them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-31832168726877535032010-12-21T12:58:18.466+11:002010-12-21T12:58:18.466+11:00"Sometimes things are just too hard for some ..."Sometimes things are just too hard for some people to bear."<br /><br />That's too broad a generalization for me to sign onto. I rather think it's a matter of priorities, which means that grown people can, generally speaking, accept that which is important to them to accept. For example, when my mother was dying, my sister left the room because it was "too hard" for her, poor thing. Then, when my father could no longer live on his own, my sister's answer was to ship him off to a nursing home in another state because helping him was just "too hard" for her, poor thing. So, I held my mother's hand as she died, and I took care of my father with no help from my sister--but a lot from my wife. However, when my father finally died, who you think came round with her hand out for her half of the estate?<br /><br />I fully believe that, had someone offered my sister a million dollars for caring for her ailing father or sitting by the side of her dying mothers, then her priorities would have done a 180. People have the strength to accomplish that which they are motivated to accomplish. To think otherwise is the ultimate disempowerment in that it makes victims of them.Snowbrushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-47527705781322833462010-12-20T22:19:58.042+11:002010-12-20T22:19:58.042+11:00I don't know why we are so restricted by all t...I don't know why we are so restricted by all that red tape, Kleinstemotte, both metaphorically and literally, but I agree with you, we cannot do as much as we might both for our own good and that of others because of the restrictions placed on us simply living in a so-called civil society. <br /><br />All we can do is our best.<br /><br />Thanks Kleinstemotte.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-13723186246192152622010-12-20T22:16:42.916+11:002010-12-20T22:16:42.916+11:00It sounds as though you are getting stronger, Art,...It sounds as though you are getting stronger, Art, and that's wonderful. <br /><br />As for what you write here about the way emotions come and go, I agree. <br /><br />I think in some ways that's the whole point of them, they shift as long as we can allow ourselves to think about them, and as long as we can allow ourselves to feel them.<br /><br />Our emotions are like our friends however much we might at times fear them. They are like warning signals, barometers of the weather. <br /><br />Thanks, Art. Keep getting stronger.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-32911079055929456822010-12-20T22:11:51.790+11:002010-12-20T22:11:51.790+11:00The physiotherapist explained to me about the soft...The physiotherapist explained to me about the soft tissue damage, Snow, and how long it takes to heal. <br /><br />I had thought the only thing damaged was the bone. How wrong I was. <br /><br />I feel so ignorant when it comes to matters of the body. I specialise in matters of the mind. The two are intertwined in our constructions, where we use them as metaphors for one another but there are also differences. <br /><br />Denying our emotional response to other people's pain can be a defense against that pain, Snow. Sometimes things are just too hard for some people to bear.<br /><br />Thanks, Snow.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-21341276200574203942010-12-20T22:05:58.527+11:002010-12-20T22:05:58.527+11:00I had no idea that the term terrorism has been wit...I had no idea that the term terrorism has been with us for so long. Terrorism is such a problematic word. As they say, one man's terrorist is another man's freedonm fighter. <br /><br />As for healing, I'm with you, I had thought if I busied myself in my ordinary daily life as before then my leg would heal just fine, but I understand from the physio that because of the pain factor I have not pushed myself far enough to the point that certain muscles might give up altogether. If I want these muscles to work I need to push them against the pain threshold. Tedious plus plus but I shall persevere.<br /><br />I catch myself in the reflection of shop windows these days and I detect a frailty in my gait that wasn't there before. I walk more like my mother these days than I like to admit. I must get myself up to par.<br /><br />Thanks, Jim.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-9610197296630629612010-12-20T21:58:11.300+11:002010-12-20T21:58:11.300+11:00It takes time to recover Melissa, as you say, and ...It takes time to recover Melissa, as you say, and surprising when you consider how fast it was for me to break my leg. <br /><br />I did it in the proverbial twinkling of an eye. <br /><br />Other ailments of course sneak up on us more slowly, including that inevitable one called ageing.<br /><br />I hope you're on the mend, Melissa. Thanks.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-28628944742838853972010-12-20T21:54:44.263+11:002010-12-20T21:54:44.263+11:00It's so easy to stereotype, Kirk. I'm sur...It's so easy to stereotype, Kirk. I'm sure I do it all the time, especially in the blogosphere where we make judgments on the basis of so little information. <br /><br />On the other hand, when my father landed in Australia straight off the boat in the early 1950s he worked for some time as a carpenter. <br /><br />Migrants often wind up in blue collar and labouring jobs. Not so surprising really, but very sad, and for some humiliating. <br /><br />Thanks, Kirk.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-64833541896581301022010-12-20T21:50:46.646+11:002010-12-20T21:50:46.646+11:00Eryl, I see from yours and from other people's...Eryl, I see from yours and from other people's responses that my brother's concern over my excess emotionality comes from my response to the asylum seekers but in fact my brother's concern about my so called excessive emotionality comes from his response to me at our family gathering. <br /><br />I put these two things together here. They both apply , but I suspect this same brother would also grieve for the asylum seekers. <br /><br />Thanks Eryl.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.com