The Roaming Stevens

Early this week I was summoned to the hospital for tests ~ you reach this 'vintage' and this sort of 'stuff' begins to take hold.  Yeeeegads.  Is it the socialisation or the medicalisation of society trying to keep us under control?  It feels like BOTH.  I do my best to resist labels from educators and labels from physicians. No need for you to know any more than this was a trip to the hospital.  But, apparently, hospitals in Adelaide and throughout the world, MUST have performed the WRONG operation on the WRONG patient more than once, so a patient is asked multiple times by numerous people their name - they want your name said AND spelled , address, the day you were delivered on Mother Earth and they want to hear from your lips which procedure you are having.  Nice.  Repeat process, repeat again, repeat...and so on.  After 3 suspense-filled hours, I am led to the double-wide, swinging doors in front of the operating theatre and instructed to 'S...

Yesterday was an incredibly difficult day filled with bittersweet memories and a river of tears. My son, Cory, would be 44 years of age this coming July. Nineteen years ago, yesterday, Cory made a decision that he did not want to push forward with life - he had had enough of the pain and the dark, menacing clouds hovering over his head and his heart.  Cory was the first male born in 4 generations of our family...so, to say he was special is an understatement.  He was my tall, handsome, thin, funny boy with corn-flower blue eyes...as his maternal great-grandmother had.  I remember how his sweet lips felt every time he kissed me on my cheeks.  I loved the way he had to bend down to hug me.   I remember vividly and loved his scent.  Sound strange?  No.  I am his Mother.  Some characteristics I remember like... yesterday...and I can make him appear in my dreams now.  For years I was never able to do this.   I remem...

Never would I have imagined that placing a heartfelt post for the loved ones murdered in our neighbouring New Zealand would have people responding in so many conflicting ways.     Animals, on some days, receive a much higher rating in my book...than humans!   For the most part, like many, I love people until I have a reason not to do so.   I do not care what c olour people are.  I do not care if they worship in a synagogue, a mosque, or a church.  Do you think for one minute I would have responded any differently if Christians or Jews had been slaughtered in New Zealand instead of Muslims?  OUTRAGEOUS.  A loss is a loss.  A family is missing a beloved member - a community is missing an integral facet to the community - a country is suffering.  PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SLAUGHTERED in their place of worship, at their most vulnerable time. Folks are complaining in the States that Christians killed in Africa did not receive proper...

Tinto and I are still reeling from the murderous attacks on our peaceful New Zealand neighbours committed by a narcissistic, uneducated Australian white male filled with fear...filled with hate.   Hate closes doors.  50 human beings lost their lives and their doors are now closed...forever.   The shooter's door is permanently shut now, too, as he will hopefully, never see the light of day again, for which we are grateful.   When a person hates, everything shuts down, doesn't it?  We are all raised with different 'cultural capital'.  We learn from our families through conversations and observations.  If we are fortunate enough to be exposed to theatre, the arts, classical or country, pop or rock music, or Broadway musicals, ANY music - and/or travelling, we are the charmed ones to experience the special aspects of living.  We learn, too, eventually, if we want to vote intergenerationally or choose a different political pa...

While it is true that writing means a great deal to me ~ it is calming, reflective, poignant, constructive, stimulating, action driven, motivating, beneficial, and relaxing (to me), I have to admit on some days it is AS important AS breathing.   I miss it when I do not write.  I think about it when I am not writing.  I get very grumpy when days go by and due to some very serious university commitments, I need and have to avoid this blog, and then I begin to get truly agitated.  It is even astonishing to ME how much I enjoy the very basic exercise of writing. Writing helps with your mental state, too, and can, at times, clear the cobwebs.  As you write, you will begin to think of 'other things'...like a mind-map...that continuously grows, developing new ideas and ways to look differently at situations.  I personally do not think how writing can be ANYTHING, but healthy. And, then, shocking news enters your life and the world stops, doesn't it?...