Hopefully everyone is doing well and staying cool! There's been an intense heat wave here; it went from 50 degrees to over 90 degrees (and over 105 degrees with the heat index). It's been all week long. Tsuki hated it; it sapped her energy and left her snoozing practically all day long. I'm hoping we'll get a bit of a reprieve because it's been a long week.
My dream recall was fuzzy when I woke up on Monday morning. I think there was something about writing emails and helping people, but I couldn't remember specific details. I had somewhat better dream recall when I woke up on Tuesday morning. While overall I couldn't remember many specifics, at one point in the dream I was working with Ralph Smart. He might have been giving me pointers or we might have been collaborating for some kind of project. There was also something about choosing templates/layouts for a website. Otherwise, details were pretty fuzzy.
My dream recall was fuzzy again on Wednesday morning. I think there was something about establishing a website and working with April and Corliss. I remembered one specific part. I dreamed that I was at a store/mall with my family and Iris. Iris was playing with a drinking fountain, soaking her clothes. We entered a plaza-type area and found Tori and Jaxon. They were excited to see me but frustrated that they were waitlisted to try out this maker space. Eventually, we all went into the maker space to create and experiment, but that's all I remembered upon waking.
I struggled staying asleep Wednesday night/Thursday morning and kept waking up. I didn't wake up particularly exhausted, but my dream recall was incredibly fuzzy. I wasn't able to remember a thing. I couldn't remember anything from my dream when I woke up on Friday morning, either. Not sure why dream recall has been so hazy and elusive.
My dream recall was a bit fuzzy when I woke up on Saturday morning, but I remembered more than the previous day. It involved what seemed to be superpowers or special abilities. Not sure if everyone had them or just some people. I was with a group that had them, and some kind of organization was tracking the group to hunt them down. The group wasn't doing anything wrong (they were just trying to live pretty regular lives), but the organization felt threatened. They seemed to believe that if others had these abilities/powers that the organization's role/importance would be rendered obsolete. Maybe by the group existing it meant other "normal" people would realize that they had special abilities, too, and the organization seemed determined to control everything. The organization seemed to love the status quo and didn't want people realizing they were capable of more, changing things. Thus, anything the organization viewed as a threat was to be eliminated. But since the group worked together and watched each other's backs, they were able to stay out of the organization's reach, although sometimes just barely. Staying one step ahead of the organization wasn't easy, and the group didn't always live comfortably; they were determined to not let the organization win, though. More happened in the dream (I think I was with the group at a school with some of the kids from before care), but that's all I remembered upon waking up.
My dream recall was a bit fuzzy when I woke up this morning, but I could remember two parts. In the first part I was babysitting the boys. We were in this room (it could be their new home since they're going to be moving closer to their new school, but their family hasn't selected the new one yet). The room seemed to be outdoors. There were these little, round nuts/seeds that came from a tree scattered on the ground. I decided I felt like tossing a few, so I did. A rabbit appeared out of the ground, apparently wanting the nuts/seeds. I thought it was cute, so I continued to gently toss more towards it. Two more rabbits appeared, and I started getting this intuitive uneasiness, feeling like something bad would happen (like rabbits would keep coming out and overtake the area). I decided to stop tossing the nuts/seeds their way because it felt like that would only encourage more of them to appear. I felt intuitive nudging to leave the area. I tried to get the boys to leave the room when a honey badger suddenly appeared from the hole the rabbits came from. It had long, sharp claws and gave off this deadly, aggressive attitude. I swiftly got the boys out of the room, closing the door. The honey badger immediately was at the door, trying to claw its way out. It left me unsettled, but since their dad was supposed to be back soon, I decided to let him figure out what he wanted to do with it. The boys and I went upstairs to put some distance between us and it. Their dad got home. I explained what happened, but he didn't seem concerned. He ended up letting the honey badger out (although, it had started to make a hole in the door anyway). I closed the door to the room we were in upstairs. The boys were resting, and their dad made some comment, requesting that I turn the radio down. I decided to just turn it off. It refused to turn off, remaining on even when I pressed the power button. I held the button down repeatedly, but it refused to shut off. I even unplugged it. Even pulled the cord completely away from the outlet wouldn't shut it off. I tried lowering the volume, but that wouldn't work, either. I was extremely confused. I explained it to their dad, but he couldn't turn it off, either.
The next thing I could recall, I was outside somewhere with some group. I seemed to be familiar with them in the dream, but I had no idea who they were upon waking. There was something about using chalk to write messages (I wrote something about loving someone's car). The police showed up, believing there was something like vandalism going on. I was fine; they were unbothered by the chalk messages. More happened, but I didn't remember anything else upon waking.
The kiddos in before care had me draw more pictures this week. They wanted me to add to their Pokémon drawing collection. It was interesting to see what creative projects they were working on. They picked interesting color schemes for coloring sheets, like this girl that they gave green hair and another that got rainbow hair. They also enjoyed working on puzzles and creating flipbooks. We also got into deep discussions about crystals. One of the girls went to Mystic Valley over the previous weekend and bought her mom a crystal necklace. She commented on how she wanted to get her an emerald one since her mom loves green, but she had to get something else because they didn't have any emeralds. She commented on how she didn't know what it was called; I asked her if it was green aventurine and showed her a picture, leading her to exclaim, "THAT'S IT! That's what I bought her!" She showed off her new amethyst bracelet, and she wanted to see pictures of some of the crystals I have in my collection and to learn about crystals from me. It was pretty cute, and more and more kids joined our conversation. They showed off the new buddy bench they made by collecting plastic bottle caps for over a year; they were so excited about it, and it looks pretty awesome. They also put on a "movie" (they acted out a creative story) using their water bottles and a doughnut, basing it loosely off The Lord of the Rings. My art buddy declared that she loved my heart and then proclaimed that she married my hair. It was an interesting week.
The boys are excited for the upcoming summer break. They hope to hang out with Iris (they think she's hilarious). They also received their yearbooks, and they eagerly searched through the pages for people they know. The boys also wanted to see which of the school's teachers had been my teachers back in the day. It was pretty adorable. The boys got into a deep conversation about magic and the supernatural, and it was interesting to listen to. It started off revolving around the concept of Harry Potter's magic. Then it evolved into other supernatural beings and superheroes and the realistic nature (or lack thereof) of them. Plus, since there's been an intense heat wave, we got some ice cream to cool off (it's been crazy hot).
Tsuki was extra lethargic this week due to the extreme heat. I can't blame her; it left me feeling rather beat, too. She was extra cute, though. Plus, she loves searching for bugs, often staring up longingly at the ceiling.
Art projects for the week included more Perler projects and a painting for my former coworker:
I spent time writing, reading, and watching anime this week when I wasn't working on online business projects. I wrote a new short story, Interstellar Journey, based on an experience I had at before care; one of the girls created some doodles of aliens, and when I inquired about them, she shared some information about them. They were pretty generalized details in her story, but the concept itself was rather intriguing. The doodles were pretty cute, too. Feel free to read it and share your thoughts! I'm also open to suggestions and recommendations for future stories! I have other pieces in the works, so stay tuned for more stories! Fanfic for the week included: Look Who's Talking!, His Brother's Pup, and Love is a Funny Thing.
I watched season 1 of Re:ZERO Starting Life in Another World this week. I was super intrigued by how the story started; giving the main character the power to return from death to a prior "save point" is a new twist that I've never seen in an isekai. As the story progressed, certain developments were rather ugly and cringe-worthy, but it's true to real life. Humans can be rather ugly in their behaviors and choices when they operate from the ego. All the control and manipulation. I'm super glad that they were able to overcome the egoic mind. The plot twists made me feel deep sympathy for the characters; their world can be quite dark. I don't envy them for facing those challenges. It's so overwhelming. I'm curious to see how they continue the story in season 2.
Let's overcome the ego. The ego loves to act self-righteous and convince you to do things that are "best" for you. That doesn't mean it's true. The ego will convince you not to act due to fear. Be mindful. Be present. Live in the now. Be gentle with yourself as you are doing the best you can and know that more blessings are soon to come. It may be challenging at the moment, but easier days will come. Life consists of cycling ebb and flow; your challenges won't last forever, and you will overcome them. Take care, follow your joy, and have a fabulous rest of your week! Be blessed with love and light, everyone~
Food for thought from Ralph Smart on Infinite Waters:
Food for thought to consider for the week:
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