reading in my survival kit...

I am reading daily at the moment to survive a massive upheaval in my life + dealing with my distressed reaction to world chaos. It is the main way I maintain a measure of control and calm and the will to keep walking...without resorting to artificial medication...

— 🇺🇦🌻Gemma Wiseman-on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) March 19, 2022

today's agenda...

PASSING THOUGHT: Deal with a few 'don't-wanna-do's' today...
1. Must complete online Child Safe PD for school - 2+ hours -due tomorrow (ugh)...
2. Must pay bills including move deposit...
3. (Leaving till last = not so bad) Must complete reading 'T.H.U.G'= must return tomorrow...

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) February 14, 2022

self-care day...

PASSING THOUGHT: Think I need some self-care today...32°C on my Mornington Peninsula forecast...Still aching from yesterday's packing 4 boxes+cleaning+lugging Salvos stuff to car...So, morning Salvos drop+'non-working' blood pressure monitor to doctor's drop then home to read...

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) February 13, 2022

I weakened (inspired?) after the Salvos + doc visit this morning + packed another box. Poor doc had all his computers down but he managed to get my blood pressure monitor working...That was good...No more packing though. I feel the heat rising. Please stay cool and safe today.

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) February 14, 2022

go to plan for mental health...

My go-to plan...
1. Reading and writing...lots of it if indoors is a must...
2. Lots of breathing + walking among trees or by the sea outdoors + reading and writing there. Sadly, the sea option is diminishing with the growing inflow of summer holiday crowds...

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) December 12, 2021

daytime lullaby...

daytime lullaby
reading
bathed in
flickering
breezy sunlight#tanka

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) December 11, 2021

my crazy world needs crazy reading...

My crazy world needs crazy reading as an empathetic distraction...
Jerome K. Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat' - 'I take a great pride in my work; I take it down now and then and dust it. No man keeps his work in a better state of preservation than I do.' - Page 130.

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) December 3, 2021

circuit-breaker...

circuit-breaker
stress
sabotaged by
reading
outdoors#tanka pic.twitter.com/zaNsN7PPOo

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) December 2, 2021

reading is a good medicine...

There is absolutely nothing better than taking your tired and scrambled thoughts on a holiday...
Reading offers all the luxury that money simply cannot buy... https://t.co/EN089JhscH

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) September 14, 2021

change of plan...

PASSING THOUGHT: Today's vision's changed...The weather's grumbly; my plans to dust are shelved. My good intentions to suffer yet another grumpy phonecall to the bank to close my account have melted; my phone's out of charge. So I'll have to settle for reading...Life's tough... pic.twitter.com/tZJvIkhjrV

— Gemma Wiseman - on Bunurong land, Kulin Nation (@AuraGem) January 17, 2021

reading on the sea wall...

On the Dromana sea wall...jus' reading... pic.twitter.com/Q6BQNFoW6a

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) October 3, 2020

possible showers...

possible showers and
possible cold winds
I forecast
possible reading
rugged up #tanka

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) September 26, 2020

'Sarum' - Page 462...

It's been a great day with 'Sarum'. Page 462 but still not halfway... Lived the life of scattered Anglo-Saxons and now waiting for some Vikings... What a grand saga...living history...through the eyes of very real characters... pic.twitter.com/k3dGZCP3zH

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) August 16, 2020

reading breeds sanity...

Over the last few months, if it wasn't for having books to read and the drive (thanks Twitter) to seek writing sparks, I am quite sure that I would be more of a crazy than I already am...There's 'crazy/odd' (me) and there's crazy/watch out...For now, the balance is balancing... pic.twitter.com/7DL3QYAxDs

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) July 6, 2020

not another yesterday?...

PASSING THOUGHT: I hoped today would be another yesterday... the winter sunshine on the verandah and reading... But 2 parts of that scenario are missing (this is Melbourne) ... So I'll succumb to finding new pleasures in my armchair by the window and carry on reading... pic.twitter.com/f7UEqx4zhm

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) June 23, 2020

reading...

PASSING THOUGHT: It's been a long time since I spent most of the day reading...feet up...relaxed on the verandah... gentle winter sunshine... a bird visitor or two... It felt like a holiday in worlds I didn't realise that I had missed so much... pic.twitter.com/XgpvHcN2QN

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) June 23, 2020

Now up to page 301 of 'A Blade of Grass' - learning about a farm caught in the cross-fire of an Africa in turmoil... 

mixed blessings of covid...

Covid🙏? More+more apprehensive re going out... Arranged to meet friend this Saturday...Last night, her area 1/6 Melbourne regions named 'no go'. Remote learning commitments not an excuse now... Intended to walk today...but it's raining...Should programme, but a novel calls🙏... pic.twitter.com/FTI1ZkiJGn

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) June 21, 2020

I am currently at the beginning of the school holidays...promised myself to try to get out...But it's cold and grey and raining...My 'out' will be my escape into the novel 'A Blade of Grass' by Lewis deSoto...At least I am reading far more than I have in a long, long time...

'The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee said in a statement that it "strongly discourages" travel to and from Hume, Casey, Brimbank, Moreland, Cardinia and Darebin for non-essential reasons until the Victorian government can suppress the spread of community transmission in those municipalities.' - 'Sydney Morning Herald' - Sunday 21st June, 2020 - 7.02pm

we read...

we read
we read to know
we read to know more
know more about what
we could be #tanka #MayTanka #NatankaMo https://t.co/DM1EeD9ina

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) May 31, 2020

Note to self - More reading is healthy...

solitude of reading...

I love the solitude of reading... I love being a close watcher of someone else's story... The delicious ache of the last page lingers... I try to retrace old footsteps... https://t.co/9RTZ8ki5AU

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) May 27, 2020

in praise of reading...

Reading nourishes and energises the brain...And even can be a factor in calming anxiety...providing it's a book being read and not a covid-19 Twitter post...
This Is Why Reading Is So Important for Your Brain https://t.co/LzTVbEPpRS

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) May 10, 2020