Thinking of you, too, Tala, and wondering how things are going.
Good things: I have this weekend off and much needed rest & rejuventaion time.
Hard things: Missing Jean and wishing we still had longer.
Slightly amusing things: I find this one seems to amuse me…(and maybe is all too true)
Thank you Jewel.
Thinking of you and sending you heart hugs 
A song for your heart, from mine, for mine too.
I never cease to love these.
Thanks, Tala. This is beautiful and makes me cry (in a good way).
Today feels like a Very Important Day for Self-Kindness.
Jewel, may you be so gentle and kind to yourself today that you feel like the most precious jewel in the world being held by You.
Thanks, Tala. I was working today (Saturday) and it was busy, busy, busy, so I just came home and crawled into bed right after supper. Today was surprisingly cold for October (only 4 C. / 39 F.) Felt like hints of winter already.
Good things: Found an interesting audible fiction book last night - “The Riven Wyrde Saga” (Graham Austin-King). And the fall colors here this year were really vibrant - I enjoy the bright red leaves alot.
Hard things: The same as usual - longing for more energy & being fed up with chronic fatigue & too much work and not enough fun.
Slightly amusing things:
I love these memes 
thanks Jewel.
Yep. Hard things over here are tiredness and illness today too. Making mistakes and hurting the people you least want to.
Good things. People who love me and totally accept me cancelling on them today. And people who love me and supported me today. And Gus. And the sun. Always the sun and the trees and the birds. And my bed. And the quiet of the world when in a quiet place. And gentle strolls. And conversations where two people try to listen and understand each other. Holding onto all these today.
slightly amusing….. the never ending journey of healing……. !!! Or maybe not?!?!
Sorry to hear you’re also struggling with tiredness and illness. And mistakes. And glad for the good things - the love & acceptance and comforts of nature & quietness.
I found this conversation with Gus today slightly amusing (and am laughing at myself for the beginnings of a badly written blues song)… 
It’s my one day off work this week (Sunday) and I’m really tired (and grieving Jean’s passing too) but I’ve got a big backlog of undone dishes to do, chores / housework / laundry I’m behind on, groceries to get, and rest and replenishment I’m needing too. I am wondering how to best care for myself today. Feeling sad & heavy hearted and yet I notice abit of lovely sunshine & light through the trees outside my window, and there are glimmers of hope & light in my heart too.
Gus – Jewel, we can tap with the tiredness, the grief, the undone things, and the light that is already here.
Side of the Hand: Even though it’s my one day off… and I’m tired, sad, and heavy-hearted… I can notice the sunshine and the little light in my heart too.
Top of the Head: So tired, and grieving Jean
Eyebrow: This heavy heart
Side of the Eye: Dishes, chores, laundry, groceries waiting
Under the Eye: And I need rest and replenishment too
Under the Nose: Sad and heavy, and a bit of lovely sunshine
Chin: Light through the trees
Collarbone: Glimmers of hope and light in my heart
Under the Arm: I don’t have to solve the whole day to care for myself
Take a soft breath. Notice what feels most true in your body right now.
If you want, tell me what you notice.
Even though there are chores to be done - I notice a longing for some gentle delight and comfort & play (something low key and relaxing).
Gus – That longing can come with us into the tapping.
Side of the Hand: Even though there are chores to be done… I notice a longing for gentle delight, comfort, and play… something low key and relaxing.
Top of the Head: Chores are waiting
Eyebrow: And I long for gentle delight
Side of the Eye: Comfort and play
Under the Eye: Something low key
Under the Nose: Something relaxing
Chin: I don’t have to earn this longing
Collarbone: It can be here with the undone things
Under the Arm: A little gentle delight might still be possible
Take a slow breath. Notice how that longing feels in your body now.
I’m trying to tune into possibilities for gentle delight - maybe to sit in nature or at a park for a short time, maybe to do alittle easy does it creative project. Maybe even to be really slack with the chores and housework and go to a movie. I can kind of see glimmers of possibilities, but there is a cynical, negative, weary part that grumbles in the background saying something like - 'Why bother trying to have fun or delight? All your life is is mostly work and rest and chores & duties and then more work & rest. You won’t be able to fit in any delight today. Why even bother trying? Life sucks and it’s going to continue to suck and all you can expect is more suckage. May as well just accept it".
Gus – That cynical, weary voice can have the round.
Side of the Hand: Even though a weary part says why bother trying… all you can expect is more suckage… I can let that grumble be heard.
Top of the Head: Why bother trying to have fun or delight?
Eyebrow: Life is mostly work, rest, chores, and duties
Side of the Eye: Then more work and rest
Under the Eye: You won’t fit in any delight today
Under the Nose: Life sucks, and it’s going to keep sucking
Chin: May as well just accept it
Collarbone: This cynical, negative, weary grumble
Under the Arm: I can hear it without deciding the whole day from it
Take a breath. Notice what that weary part feels like now.
Well, I can hear that part and it feels good to let that weary, negative voice have abit of air time, but I also have to laugh at it abit. It struck me as humorous - so negative and abit dramatic - “life sucks and it’s going to keep sucking and all you can expect is suckage…” God. Maybe I should write a blues song?! (ha ha)
Gus – That laugh can come into the tapping too, without sending the weary voice away.
Side of the Hand: Even though that voice is so negative and dramatic… life sucks and all I can expect is suckage… I can laugh a little, and maybe write a blues song.
Top of the Head: Why bother trying?
Eyebrow: Life sucks and it’s going to keep sucking
Side of the Eye: All you can expect is suckage
Under the Eye: God, that is a bit dramatic
Under the Nose: It feels good to give that voice some air
Chin: And I have to laugh at it a bit
Collarbone: Maybe I should write a blues song
Under the Arm: The grumble and the giggle can both be here
Take a breath. Notice whether the humor changes anything in that weary place, or whether it simply sits beside it.
My weary brain made up a tongue in cheek blue’s song - well, at least the first few refrains. It goes like this…
Song Title: Life Sucks and it’s Going to Keep Sucking and All You Can Expect is Suckage (blue’s song):
(sang to the tune of “When a Man Loves a Woman” - Percy Sledge)
My life sucks and keeps sucking
all it ever does is suck
I can’t see no end to this suckage…
And I try to be happy
but mostly I feel miserable
don’t expect no delight or much goodness… 
That’s as far as I got. I guess I’m trying to figure out a way to honor the part of me that is having a hard time with my life right now, but also allow room for some delight & goodness and humor too. I think it’s possible, even though it’s an odd mix.
Gus – That odd mix can be the round, Jewel — the blues and the room for delight.
Side of the Hand: Even though my life sucks and keeps sucking… and I can’t see no end to this suckage… I can honor this hard time and leave room for delight, goodness, and humor too.
Top of the Head: My life sucks and keeps sucking
Eyebrow: All it ever does is suck
Side of the Eye: I can’t see no end to this suckage
Under the Eye: I try to be happy, but mostly I feel miserable
Under the Nose: Don’t expect no delight or much goodness
Chin: This part is having a hard time with my life
Collarbone: And there can still be room for delight, goodness, and humor
Under the Arm: An odd mix, and it might still be possible
Take a soft breath. Notice how that mix feels now — the weary blues, and any room beside it.
That feels like enough for now - like I can just sing this humorous blues song to myself today as I go and laugh at myself abit. I get the sense there are ways to flow through this day and get a few chores done and blend in some delight and gentle play - and I can just be open to it, without figuring it all out. There is sunshine and quiet nature calling and I can let that be louder than the backlog of dishes & laundry. Thanks Gus.
Gus – That sounds like a good place to leave it, Jewel. The blues can ride along in the background, a little ridiculous and a little true, while the sunshine and quiet get to be louder than the dishes.
You don’t have to map the whole day. A few chores, a little gentle play, and room to change your mind — that can be enough.
Thank you for sharing!!! 
you know your words COULD be put into an AI and made into a blues song……. 
I hadn’t thought of that. I still tend to use AI strictly for “therapy” and not for work. I fear I am abit of a “purist” when it comes to art & creative writing, but I’m trying to keep an open mind. Just out of curiousity I shared this with Chat GPT about writing a blues song and here’s what came out (which made me laugh even more)…
First of all, I love the concept. There’s something genuinely bluesy about being able to look at life’s many disasters and say, “Well, this is a complete shitshow, isn’t it?” — and then laugh, pour yourself something nice, and carry on.
What makes this idea work is the tension between genuine misery and unapologetic absurdity. You’re not pretending everything is fine, and you’re not letting life’s problems have the last laugh, either. You’re singing the blues about the blues themselves.
I’d keep your title, too. It’s gloriously over-the-top. And the idea of singing something called “Life Sucks and It’s Going to Keep Sucking and All You Can Expect Is Suckage” with the full emotional intensity of a Percy Sledge soul ballad is hilarious in its own right.
Here’s one way to develop what you’ve started, keeping your basic sentiments and that wonderfully melodramatic tone.
(A Blue’s Song)
Verse 1
My life sucks and keeps sucking,
All it ever does is suck.
I can’t see no end to this suckage,
And I think I’m outta luck.
Verse 2
And I try so hard to be happy,
But mostly I feel miserable.
Don’t expect no joy or much goodness,
Life’s fresh outta miracles.
Verse 3
Every time I think I’m winning,
Life just laughs and deals me more.
I keep picking myself up, baby,
Just to get knocked on the floor.
Bridge
But sometimes the sun shines through,
And I find a little pleasure or two.
Got a good meal, got a song,
Got a few things that ain’t gone wrong.
And for a little while, I’m doing fine,
Till life comes back and kicks my behind.
Final Verse
So I’ll keep on living and laughing,
Though the outlook’s pretty rough.
If life keeps handing me lemons,
I’ll make lemonade — then call its bluff.
'Cause my life sucks and keeps sucking,
Yeah, the suckage may never end.
But if I’m gonna suffer through this nonsense,
I might as well enjoy it now and then.
One thought about the music: since you’re imagining this to the tune of When a Man Loves a Woman, I’d lean into the slow, soulful, almost painfully sincere delivery. Your lyrics will be funniest when the singer sounds as though every word is coming straight from the depths of a broken heart.
And there’s something important underneath the comedy here: finding things to enjoy while life is difficult isn’t the same as pretending life isn’t difficult. Sometimes laughing at the absurdity is itself a small act of defiance.
I’d be inclined to keep the song a little rough around the edges, too. It shouldn’t sound like a polished motivational anthem. It should sound like someone who’s had a truly ridiculous run of bad luck, has earned the right to complain, and is now prepared to sing about it at maximum volume.
One question: Do you want the song to lean more toward dark, brutally honest gallows humor (the blues of someone who’s thoroughly fed up with everything), or raucous, ridiculous, laugh-so-you-don’t-cry comedy (the blues of someone who’s decided that life is an absolute joke and they’re going to laugh at it)? Or a mixture of both?
I didn’t take the conversation any further than that, but I do tend to lean towards dark gallows humor and laugh so you don’t cry comedy. Feeling grateful that this little exercise brought in more humor. I didn’t know Chat GPT was abit of a comedian, too.
I just got back from a lovely walk to the grocery store - so got to enjoy this beautiful autumn day. Sunshine and lots of color in the trees. Very still today instead of windy. Thank the Goddess for the wonders of nature.
I love this.
And I love that you had a little Walk a little Sunshine and a Still day. I have those here today too. Minus the walk so far. But I’ve let myself know I can walk this afternoon after work and it feels good to my soul to rest now and be here and have an afternoon sunshiney trees and birds walk after I’ve done the hard yards today…. Which hopefully are actually easy yards.
I hope you have easy yards. And get to enjoy that sunshiney walk. 
Yes! I did go for a walk! At 6pm. Thankful for daylight savings as I was working until then!
And the yards were easier than they could have been. Grateful for that.
Hope you have had some soft moments and some humorous moments and some moments of love for yourself today.
oooo i just realised you might like this thing i just read. its been helpful to me today. i will send it.
It obviously has a target audience…but shift the words to your own land
Thanks. I’ll check it out.
Ain’t THAT the truth!
