Month: December 2021

Can Control, Can’t Control this Season

10 sessions of 3 hours each in a small town via an educational after-school center for adults in their 20s through 60s is a perfect brief psycho-educational time frame to help gear up for life or holiday stress!

We learn self-appreciation, community growth and appreciation of what we have (see Rovaniemi) or what we can change, a foundation in Spirituality and better understanding the connection between physical and mental health. We may gain some weight from that yummy cake but hey so what? we need it for winter ”cushing”! What would Santa 🎅🏻 be like without that extra belly fat and heartfelt ”ho ho ho”? Loved this infographic RING 🥰 (from Brianna Vieria) along with our chocolate cake with apple garnish “ring”… apple 🍏 🍎 garnish for some extra fiber.

Back to what you CAN control 4 simple steps:

  1. Amounts of water you drink daily, and being aware of where it comes from!
  2. Your impulses with a little breathing work. Truly like this ”urge surfing” meditation to help us control the uncontrollable (over-eating, or reacting)
  3. Develop a can-do attitude by starting a list and giving yourself credit for what you have accomplished DAILY; with this a Gratitude list for what you have! Be grateful to God and more will come.
  4. Cleaner space – cleaner you…. once you get started room by room it feels and looks great 👍🏽 The Kondo method see Cleaning House 🏡 post-method is a smart move … and how about a 🌹 rose in winter? along with those chestnuts…

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Amadeus, Amadeus “Requiem”

What would we do without the ‘master’? Today 300 years later we are still discussing the man, the genius, the jealous rivalries, and possible illness that lead to his demise on December 5th. There is ‘Baby Mozart’ to supposedly make infants smarter (unproven but still fun — read more about it here!) , there is Mozart while studying, if you enjoy those Austrian almond paste chocolate Mozart balls quite yummy! Perhaps you will be lucky enough to travel to Austria this holiday season and check out some of these along with the “lucky pigs” (see post: Beyond a New Year’s Resolution)

What caused his untimely death? His timeless influence, between reality and myth are still with us through today….

Falco’s line ‘Rock me Amadeus’ (German version below) is easily retrievable in our 80’s music memory stronghold…. priceless!

It was intriguing to read about possible causes of Wolfgang’s death, ranging from tuberculosis, to syphilis. According to historical records from other men his age, it was likely a streptococcal infection (see Dr. Markel’s full article “A symphony of second opinions on Mozart’s final illness” PBS 2016). A recent covid-related complications death of 69-year-old Mark Blum actor from ‘Mozart in the Jungle” brought the Master composer’s name back into the headlines. The study of epidemiology can be done years later to reflect on CAUSES by looking at the trends of diseases in a certain population at that historical moment.

The final scenes of the Oscar-winning movie Amadeus (1984 trailer) play off a jealous rivalry between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and Antonio Salieri (1750-1825). However, after the discovery of a mutual composition — a cantata ‘score’ written by both for the harpsichord (a favorite sounding instrument predating the piano) shed new light of their relationship, and Mozart’s death “by poisoning” has long been discounted …. we know how it is that everyone likes a little bit of drama! And yes, Mozart was age 30 when Beethoven age 16 met, so we can guess why they are both so great and their music can affect us years later…. useful also with music therapy.

By far, for those of us who ponder what angels on earth sound like, the pounding of the heart and the rising of the soul…. the famed Requiem is one of the most amazing pieces and the LAST one that Mozart wrote, never completing before his death at the tender age of 35. Requiem in D minor, K. 626, is a requiem mass — and “Lacrimosa” …. A bit for your music literacy!

IN REQUIUM then our dear Wolfgang AMADEUS Mozart…..

Classical music still popular today via different mediums …

Rovaniemi winter survival

We take for granted what we have in most cities and towns, all year long. Cars and trucks that take us places, the local grocer or supermarket for our goods. Recall that before “all things mechanical” people were living off the land with resources given and their own passion, creativity, and will to survive. Animals have always played a big part in this for protection, ranging from fur for warmth (not only fashion as we now know — see past minks post), food, protection (think mountains and wolves) but also for travel, in the form of dog or horse drawn sleds.
Recently, this video came into my hands reminding me of the loud but fun snowmobiles, and the amazing dogs trained for the dogsled area in Rovaniemi, Finland. Don’t let the puppy 🐶 cuteness fool you as your hand can get bitten off in seconds (we were advised NOT to put our hands through the metal netting)!

Dogsleds and snowmobiles – Rovaniemi, Finland (Northern Lapland)

Beyond the tourist attraction, Imagine that these people not so long ago, LIVED and travelled with dog 🐕 sleds 🛷; turns out that the female dogs are almost always in the front because they keep the TRACK (they don’t get easily distracted), and immediately following the 2 strongest males in line with the other “Dog pack” …. Pretty amazing !
Harsh winters as the North Pole measures freezing temperatures and earlier bedtime routines since darkness falls quickly during winter but in the summer it is the land of the Midnight Sun as they are near the Arctic!

So what do people do to stay healthy? Locals as other groups around the globe are big on arts and crafts, hot drinks, berries collected and made into compote earlier in the Spring and summer. The traditional Shamans (in tents) may foretell your future, eating high fat or high protein meals (keep body fat going to bear tge cold — bear meatballs anyone?) as it is ok to gain those needed winter 5-10 kikos!! The kids love a good snowball fight, while adults shovel, sled-rides keeps kids active! I personally loved greeting Santa Claus 🎅🏻 with his long beard and winter cloak while we danced under the starry winter night with the Northern lights (known as Aurora Borealis) in the distance …. something we wanted to see clearly but due to weather did not, so it’s worth a trip back !

There are plenty of ice-hotels, for those thrill-seekers, as for our group we had some amazing hot soup with salmon, yummy 😋!!

Appreciative of those pre-Covid times and holiday memories from several years back.