Clary's Travel Digression

Go with the Willow! As long as you aren't a Weeping One, I will!

Good (uh, middle of the night?) Asia!

I didn't realize it was your 31st! Congratulations! Boy, time goes by.... I'll be happy to join you with a prayer of health to the languishing one. I was wondering how best to celebrate the Resurrection beyond a ham and a sunrise. You believe in a hands-on, non-Christian prayer? Fascinating. Did you hear that some strange Christian church held a "celebration" where a person dressed in an Easter Bunny costume was WHIPPED as Jesus was and then the children threw colored Easter eggs to show that THIS wasn't the reason for the season. We Americans are NUTS!

Coach potato? Café potato? It's all good! Wish I could be there in person to chat. I love to people watch.

Is it necessary to know where your heart is supposed to lead you? Can't we sometimes just muddle along, doing whatever seems to come our way? ... though, I think, hopping a plane to a different continent requires a certain amount of intent.

Smiling and waving!
Piffka

I'd like to at least check out the shopping in HK. Are you rewriting something or going all new?

Happy midnight it nearly is, Piffka my dear!
Prayer, yes, interesting, just believe it's worth a try. Part of me is dead cynical, and part of me thinks magic can happen.
Easter is a way-preChristian spring festival, so bunnies and eggs ARE what it's all about, to my mind. Resurrection is just another word for spring, isn't it? The very word Easter isn't Christian - how dare they hijack a perfectly respectable fertility fest?
My guidebook will eventually see the light of day both sides of the Atlantic, I think, it's in a series called Culture Smart! (the exclamation mark is compulsory) It's all new. all singing, all dancing, all smiling, all waving!
Have some fun while I sleep!!

Oh, I've read one of those, have it here somewhere...

Dear Clary,
I suffer from depression as well. I'm going through a particularly bad bout right now myself. I am a Christian (kind of ironic, huh), and I will pray for your husband myself. I don't think distance matters when it comes to prayer. BTW Happy Anniversary!

It's not ironic that you're a Christian and suffering from depression, devriesj. There are lots of us. Our faith does not give us immunity to any kind of suffering. Perhaps a few more coping skills, though. Hang in there. It will get better. It always does.

Thanks for the kind words, Eva. I'm hangin'in there & yes, I know it will get better.

Well - I wasn't suffering from depression, until I started to read the posts from this "coach potato" (love that!).

Now - waaaahhhh! Wanna go!!! Itchy feet!!!! I've never been to Hong Kong, or Thailand, or Cambodia.

Going to Melbourne just isn't the same - although there are some things to look forward to - like MsOlga!

Didn't mean to bring you down, margo! I wanna go travelin' too, just like you! I'm glad Clary's packed us along!

You didn't really bring me down - I'm just a travel tart....I'll go just about anywhere, given the chance. See my sig line - I used to be a forum guide in the travel forum, when the forums had guides! Too lazy to change my sig - now that I'm no longer a guide/staffer

And Margo, by staying lazy (Excellent plan!) you get to keep some color in your signature line. If you change it in the new a2k setup, apparently it can only be block letters; no fancy text available.



Clary,
Surely you know that I'm an Ostara kind of gal?
I'll be hard-cooking some eggs in onion skins today or tomorrow so they'll turn reddish for my celebration, but in truth, I'd have to say I'm a religious accretionist. (Hmmm, just corrected accretionish ... that too, I suppose.) It's all good if you let it happen.

So I'm sorry to hear that ANYONE is depressed. It is such a waste of a perfectly good life... I wish that no one had to suffer that way. Depression is a kind of self-crucifixion. I wish that anybody suffering can try to to pull themselves off that cross and see there is more to life than sadness, fear, guilt, or bad feelings. It's all in your mind and your attitude, as the Dalai Lama might say. Whatever God there is WANTS you to be happy, or should to my way of thinking! Of course, things in your mind are the strongest force around, so I KNOW it is hard to change. A <HUG> and my sympathies to you.

In fact, it sounds like this series of yours, Clare, CultureSmart! is more on my wavelength... waving, smiling, singing and dancing! Funny too, that the exclamation point is compulsory. I'm the "program director" (hah) for a tiny new film series in my little world and we're calling ourselves CinemaGig! where both the italics and the exclamation are meant to be there... each and every time. Really, I had nothing to do with its design but I like it! It seems so festive.


Giddy,a little silly and leaning to the side, I am,
Piffka

Thanks for the encouragement, Piffka! I like your point of view.

Piffka, thanks for your input, it is no surprise that we as December 17th people, feel naturally optimistic and that depression is somehow almost a sin against life. But having seen what depression and unbalance does to a perfectly good man, I know that if positive thinking could help, he'd be OK. There has to be a genetic/chemical component to this which you can' t just think away. The doctors haven't cracked his particular type of depression yet but it doesn't mean it's uncrackable. A little chemical help and a lot of psychotherapy may be the answer for most people. My heart goes out to you, devriesj, because it must be terrible... I am SO fortunate in only having had the odd day of bleakness, sadness, whatever you may call it, and I do know it will pass. But on that day, you can look at the flowers in sunshine and they are meaningless and that is so scary.

On a lighter note, I have to write about Night Life today... all very secondhand stuff! Girlie bars and karaoke aaaah!
I think travelling to Melbourne would be so great; I'd go back to Healesville too, there's a wonderful secondhand bookshop started in memory of my cousin by her devoted partner, collecting money for wildlife projects, as well as good wine tasting and lots of nature! When is this momentous meeting, Margo, Olga? Have you met before?

I'm so glad you're having a good time, Clary! You're definitely right about the chemical/genetic thing. Of course you know by experience. I'll be all right. Yep, this too shall pass...

What a good attitude, devriesj! That will help.

Are you seeing a doctor for antidepressants? They've saved my life. When my estrogen levels started ratcheting downwards, depression set in immediately. Doctor says it is directly caused by hormone levels working on brain chemistry. He also said it is the second most common symptom of menopause (hot flashes being the first, of course.)

But regardless of what is causing yours, I do hope you're being treated for it. No reason to suffer needlessly these days...

Oh, yeah. I've been medicated for a few years now. My 'thermostat' went whacko when I had my kids! My oldest is 10. So, you can say I've been 'crazy' ever since I became a parent!
Thanks, Eva!

Oh geez, I hope you didn't think I was implying that anyone should not be taking medication. I think the newest drugs are amazing and have helped a lot of people whom I know. Whatever is available that helps! Go for it!

Oh, I didn't take it that way, Piffka, and I'm sure no one else did either. It's just that nobody had mentioned medication, and I felt very strongly that someone should, so I did.

Glad to hear you know where to get help, devriesj! Have you spoken to your doctor lately about the sudden downturn? Could be it's time to switch prescriptions.

Oh good! I just want everyone to be as happy as possible (despite our existence in this vale of tears).

I've heard that it is tricky getting those meds right and that our bodies changing hormone balance is the probable cause for the problems that people have. But it is worth trying to get them right for your needs.

Hi Clary! and others.

Just thinking, if you are prone to a little homesickness, then Easter away from home might bring it on.
I am not a churchgoer, nor a believer, myself, however, and so maybe am not the best person to say this.
But just to say, I hope Easter in Honkers is as fulfilling as Easter at home....wherever home might be.
(A holiday amidst a holiday..)
I have a friend who is retired, who jokes that he should be compensated because he cannot enjoy Bank Holidays any more!

Have you got your Easter Egg? Sorry

McT