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    Word Remedies
    Word Remedies
    Word Remedies
    Ebook347 pages1 hour

    Word Remedies

    By Jane O'Shea

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Word Remedies help us to hear ourselves above the chatter and bustle of our daily lives. These words help to make sense of our messy inner landscapes, help to untangle the complexities of our relationships, and they reflect both our wonder at the world around us and our worry about what is happening to it.
    With Word Remedies, we can begin unfamiliar and sometimes overdue conversations with ourselves and with others.
    Word Remedies are soothing, provocative, and healing.
    This book is a collection of 259 word remedies. 85 are included in my first book Follow Yourself Home, 110 are in my second book In Your Smallest Pocket, and the last 64 haven't been published before.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJane O'Shea
    Release dateOct 5, 2021
    ISBN9780473558000
    Word Remedies
    Author

    Jane O'Shea

    Jane lives in Wellington, New Zealand with her husband Peter. She spends her days tending her garden, walking her dog, and writing. She still sometimes works as a mediator, facilitator, and communications coach and presenter. She has written two other books: In Your Smallest Pocket and Word Remedies. For more information and for book purchases, go to her website: www.wordremedies.co.nz

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      Book preview

      Word Remedies - Jane O'Shea

      PREFACE

      ––––––––

      Word Remedies help us to hear ourselves above the chatter and bustle of our daily lives. These words help to make sense of our messy inner landscapes, help to untangle the complexities of our relationships, and they reflect both our wonder at the world around us and our worry about what is happening to it.

      With Word Remedies, we can begin unfamiliar and sometimes overdue conversations with ourselves and with others.

      Word Remedies are soothing, provocative, and healing.

      INTRODUCTION

      ––––––––

      One day it happened. I couldn’t wait any longer. Out of nowhere the thought hit me you are halfway through your life and it’s time to get on with it. I knew exactly what I was talking to myself about. Writing.

      Realising that I couldn’t hide from myself any longer, I rearranged my schedule so that I could have one morning a week to start doing the thing I’d been putting off for as long as I could remember. Thursday morning was it.

      The first Thursday morning arrived with no distractions, no interruptions and to my great alarm, no words. With pen and paper, I first sat at my desk, then in my garden, then by the river, then tried walking through the forest – but nothing. By lunchtime I was agitated. Had this life-long dream to write been a delusion.

      The next Thursday arrived and I pulled on my big-girl pants to give it another go. But by the end of morning, just like the first week, I had nothing but a few pages of crossed-out words. I was very unhappy and called myself a few choice words.

      Deciding there had to be a better way, I called a writer friend and asked for help. He gave me two great pieces of writing advice.

      First, to write only about what was important to me – what I felt, experienced, thought. So I starting writing about self-doubt and fear, and about the messiness of relationships. To write about what was right there, right then.

      Second, he taught me to bear the first awful drafts, explaining that writing was a big messy word-vomit followed by editing, editing, editing.

      So the next Thursday I had a huge word vomit – pages and pages of it. This gave me enough material to edit away for many Thursdays to come.

      Somewhere along the way I have learnt to endure all the bad writing that comes out of me. I’ve also learnt to discipline myself to edit for as long as it takes, and to be unafraid of discarding something no matter how long I have worked on it.

      That was 2003. As you will see, I have distracted myself over and over since I started this writing lark 18 years ago.

      This book is a collection of 259 word remedies. 85 are included in my first book Follow Yourself Home, 110 are in my second book In Your Smallest Pocket, and the last 64 haven’t been published before.

      I have written about what has meaning for me, and what I have observed in others. Writing is my most challenging, and at the same time, most rewarding endeavour. The plan is to keep writing for the rest of my life as there are still a few books up my sleeve. Though judging from past experience, I’m sure to wobble off course from time to time.

      Writing this book has been remedial for me. I hope that reading it will be the same for you.

      STARTING

      January 2003 - February 2004

      ––––––––

      A TIME WHEN

      ––––––––

      Words and phrases keep popping into my head, reminding me that I have always wanted to be a writer. I realise that I’m half way through my life and it’s time to get on with it. All those things I would do someday ... that day was now.

      I’d given a copy of my very first poem to a friend and noticed it stuck on his fridge. He tells me that he reads it often and it helps. I’m dumbfounded. Maybe I can do this, maybe it’s time to give it a serious go. Maybe.

      THAT SOLID PLACE

      ––––––––

      I am no longer content

      to let anyone else’s opinion of me

      mean more than my opinion of myself

      ––––––––

      I am no longer content

      to give up my own true

      wants, needs, thoughts and opinions

      because someone else

      believes something different

      ––––––––

      I am no longer content

      to let my mind get caught in those old traps

      that take me to that old place

      that does me no good

      ––––––––

      To go there

      leaves me collapsed

      leaves me lost

      leaves me confused

      leaves me exhausted

      ––––––––

      I own and treasure that solid place inside of me

      and nurture it and cradle it

      and won’t give it up

      for any reason

      at any time

      for anyone

      ––––––––

      It is mine and I need this

      more than I need anything else

      more than I need love

      more than I need acceptance

      more than I need validation

      ––––––––

      I need me to believe in me

      ––––––––

      January 2003 (1)

      ––––––––

      THE STILL SILENT TREES

      ––––––––

      All you need do is breathe out

      and everything else takes care of itself

      ––––––––

      With each breath

      the air, christened by the silent trees

      enters you warmed and loved

      then is released into a waiting world

      ––––––––

      From your first breath at birth

      rhythmed and measured

      until the last breath of your surrender

      ––––––––

      And each breath in between

      announcing your blessed place

      ––––––––

      Breath after breath

      connecting you to everything

      in this lively sea of air

      ––––––––

      February 2003 (2)

      ON OUR KNEES

      ––––––––

      Marriage is sacred

      Not because it is sanctified by God

      but because it brings us to our knees

      ––––––––

      Kneeling on the cold wooden floor

      we are asking for blessings

      we are asking for answers

      How to love

      How to be loved

      ––––––––

      A yearning heart

      sitting before the altar of love

      candles lit in worship

      ––––––––

      A screaming heart

      standing before the vast despair

      arms raised, raging

      ––––––––

      A silent heart

      kneeling before itself

      eyes closed in hope

      ––––––––

      All asking

      How to love

      How to be loved

      ––––––––

      March 2003 (3)

      THE WHOLE OF MY LIFE

      ––––––––

      For the whole of my life

      I have hidden myself

      believing that I am not good enough

      ––––––––

      For the whole of my life

      I have stood behind someone else

      complaining they are in my way

      ––––––––

      For the whole of my life

      I have denied my creative spirit

      by spending my time

      doing every thing else

      ––––––––

      Now, I can stand on the mountain of my life

      and appreciate all that I am

      Now, I walk beside the seemingly infinite ocean

      and watch as the river empties

      itself into that great expanse

      Embracing the creative emptiness within me

      ––––––––

      And now

      I honour my creative spirit

      to breathe

      to create

      and to celebrate

      ––––––––

      July 2003 (4)

      A DIVINE SWEETNESS

      ––––––––

      I woke this morning

      to a divine sweetness

      in my mouth

      ––––––––

      In the night

      someone had forgiven me

      ––––––––

      Or perhaps it was I

      who had forgiven

      ––––––––

      July 2003 (5)

      THE MARRIAGE VOWS

      ––––––––

      I will hurt you, this I can promise

      for if I don’t, then this is not love

      ––––––––

      I want you rough and raw

      not some smooth and shiny version

      that may suit me better

      And I will not always change for you

      We will not always fit

      This I can promise

      ––––––––

      Sometimes when you come to me small and fragile

      I will fail you

      This too I can promise

      Forgive me

      ––––––––

      You will know my fury

      You will know my withdrawal

      I will blame you

      This I can promise

      Again - forgive me

      ––––––––

      In the sometimes conflict and confusion

      I will not dull myself

      so we can live in numbed compliance

      I promise to stay present and alive with you

      ––––––––

      And yes, there will be love and lust, laughter and joy

      that’s the

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