Monday, October 25, 2021

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I just marked the two year anniversary of moving into my sweet little condo.  Best decision I ever made, as the neighborhood is full of wonderful people that enjoy each others' company and house sit when someone goes away.  I have built-in dog sitters, and they have an animal sitter and plant watered in me as well.  It's miraculous that I found such a perfect community, completely by chance.


I love that the weather is cooling and I can run my gas fireplace, judiciously, for some warmth both visual and physical.  As you can see here, I'm watching a movie on my computer because I couldn't get the damn t.v. to upload it!  I'm pretty hopeless when it comes to technology.  I'm better at it than, say, my 89 year old father, but I still find myself relying on the kids to get my tech problems solved.  64 years of age, and I started using computers at 30, strictly for work.  What do I know?  Only that it frustrates the hell out of me when I can't solve a problem.  I am also frustrated no end when my dad calls asking me a question that we have gone over time and time again.  He uses a PC, I a Mac.  I don't speak PC.  I can't help him.  He's written four books using his computer and he still can't remember how to save a document if someone doesn't walk him through it.  And he has no filing system, so can never find anything!

On the medical front, turns out I have arthritis in my cervical spine.  "WTF?!" I shouted when I got off the phone with the doc.  "This is not my beautiful life!"  I have a physical therapy appointment in a couple of days.  If that doesn't help, then they'll do an MRI.  Why?  I don't know.  Once step at a time.

My Zoom church gathering today of 9 people (it's an extra curricular thing) focused on the topic of what is essential in our lives.  What I shared is that just taking care of myself is THE essential thing.  Like a building that needs major maintenance after decades of use, my body is rife with ailments that require diligent and timely mitigation efforts.  It's a bloody full time job.  I don't like it, but it's what I've got to deal with, so I deal.

It still feels odd to me to say "my church."  I've never been a fan of organized religion, and I don't believe in the Christian theology.  I feel I need to explain that I've joined our local Unitarian gang, er, church.  My need arose during the pandemic lockdown, where I was coping with the death of two significant people in my life, and my own health problems.  I was looking for a caring compassionate ear(s) and a community of people who did the work to build a more loving, inclusive and compassionate world.  So I started going to Zoom services; participating in additional on-line UU groups; meeting others, many of whom I really enjoyed talking with.  The Dali Lama has said that you can be any religion or no religion to get a benefit from Buddhist teachings and meditation.  I feel the same way about the Unitarian church.  The diversity of the membership, in terms of thought and belief, is vast.  Racial diversity of our particular area is not so vast, and is reflected in our church.  LGBTQ folks are well represented in the leadership and the congregation.  

I feel well supported and truly appreciated by the people I've been through this church.  They put their money where their mouth is.  They are generous with their time and attentions.  They are thoughtful, and practice loving kindness both to themselves and to the community.  There is no need to identify as a particular religious belief or dogma (theology).  We are practicing becoming our best selves and offering that best self to the world.  

And, that, my friends, is how this agnostic/atheist joined a spiritual community.


7 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you found such a good supportive community there, both spiritually and on the home front. It's hard to imagine that it's been two years already that you moved in to your home. it seems like it was just a month ago. It looks like such a comfy home. Love all the beautiful art.
    I hope the therapy works out for you arthritic neck. If it does, let me know. My neck is aching for some pain relief.
    Stay warm there... the winter season will be starting very soon.

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    1. Did your doc ever prescribe physical therapy for you? I'll let you know how mine goes.

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  2. Your spiritual community sounds wonderful. Much like the one my husband found for our family. He is a churchgoer but I am not, but I love that little activist church and all the strivers in it. They do good works to shore up and secure the so called "least" among us. Inclusive on every human front, they are all faiths and no faiths. They are a community. And even though I am not in the sanctuary but once or twice a year on Sundays, I still feel as if I belong there. I am glad you found such a community, and your condo community sounds wonderful as well. I hope PT does the trick for your spine.

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    1. I hope PT works, too! Your church sounds a lot like mine. It feels good to have a community such as this.

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  3. It is a joy to know that your life in Colorado has turned out so well. So many ch-ch-changes over the years, leading up to finding yourself a part of several supportive communities now, including the blogging community. Taking care of our bodies and spirits is essential. We do what we can as our bodies age, but our spirits remain ageless. Here I am with hearing aids and probably needing a work-up for recurrent low back pain that I keep hoping will go away. I'm grateful for feeling a part of several supportive communities. We can't do this alone.

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  4. Amen on "We can't do this alone." And yes, on the ageless spirit. That spirit gets surprised all the time with the effects of aging. But we get through it. I remember when, at 35, I was diagnosed with diabetes. I literally thought I was going to die soon. But I learned how to manage. Physical challenges call to me to work through them. Until I die, I am ALIVE!

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  5. When we lived in Mexico years ago we used to go to UU meetings/services from time to time and found them to be a good group of intelligent people. We are both non-believers and resistant to organized religion too.

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