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Thank you for your reflection and Haiku today, Tyler! Wonderful as always!

—— Some times, life gets a little complicated for me. You know that everything connects somehow, but things really can seem to get out of hand. ——

After I had a stroke five years ago I had a battle with Aphasia. I could not decipher reading anymore and therefore could not write— a death sentence for me! I worked so very hard to recover — and still do — to learn it all once more from scratch with “Harold and the Purple Crayon” — my wee grandson helped me! Writing prose and poetry is still my therapy. It allows me to make sense of my thoughts. I often speak of “distilling” the jungle of my thoughts. I am a fighter, and to my amazement, I managed better than I had feared. I had helpers, my wonderful grandsons, my Buddhist friends above all, but also my animals — dogs, cats, sheep, goats, chicken, rabbits, and a neighboring donkey called Xavier. They has taught me for many decades to untangle things, because everything in their life’s was pretty straightforward.

———

Poems, such as the Tanka verses here are the only way I can often manage my mind. You untangle everything, and then deal with things one at a time.

(When you have Aphasia, your mind works just fine, but you can’t express the right words to communicate them to others complicating this more: I’m hearing impaired and English is my third language). Here are my Tanka!

Keeping Things Things Simple

———

animals teach you

how simple all things can be

with uncluttered minds

taking a walk is simple

with no further agenda

——

keeping things simple

is so very critical

to focus your mind —

and don’t multitask ever!

just live in the here and now

———

one thing at a time

is the way to get focused

here and now matters

all else is a distraction

try it, and you’ll be transformed

———

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As I read this, a storm has come in from the West, from the deep Pacific.....I've watched the dark clouds and the sudden high wind come up. Branches break, rain pours down.....the wild flexes its muscles and it's beautiful.

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Thank you so much for this beautiful post! I just found out my whole family has Covid and I'm feeling pretty terrible, so these posts are part of what keeps my day bright!

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