“The Power of a Woman comes not from the strength of her body or the shrewdness of her resolve, but in the beauty of her heart, her mind, and her soul. A simple look can brighten the darkest hour. Her touch can warm the coldest of days. Her smile can intoxicate you. Her words can give wealth that the richest man would covet.” ~ Troy White
It turns out there’s a famous ghost story/incident that was supposed to have happened in the 1800’s, in the U.S, and I never heard of it til three nights ago! Lol. I love ghost stories, movies, and books! Three nights ago I was laying in bed in the dark looking at my BlackBerry Kindle app and Amazon suggested that I check out The Bell Witch by John F.D. Taff. This exact version of this book is a historical novel based on what are said to be true events. But there are books about it that are supposed to be more factual, not fiction, as well.
When I came across the book I was overcome with this childlike joy, just surging through me! I feel joy quite frequently but this kind I haven’t felt in so long; it was seriously like my inner-child was jumping for joy, like “Yay, a ghost story, I have to have it!!!”. Lol!
It has great reviews and a great description. The Bell Family in the 1800’s, a family of seven, I think, four boys, a girl, and a mom and dad, is supposed to have been terrorized for four years by a ghost or demon who says she was sent to kill the father of the family. She physically abuses the family members, assaulting them, and also emotional abuse, threats and all. The children are very young, the oldest, a boy, is about twenty-one years old. Betsy, the teenage girl and the father, it seems, are the main targets of the ghost for some reason. The ghost was supposed to have never said why she came to kill the dad.
There were supposed to have been many witnesses to these horrifying supernatural events, like neighbors, friends, people being held as slaves, anyone who set foot on the Bell property. Seven years after the father’s death, the spirit was supposed to have visited his wife and said she would be back in 135 (I think) years to visit a future family member.
I read that most people who visit or have visited that property agree that something tacky has been going on there. It’s still supposed to be haunted to this day. When people visit, they say strange things occur or strange feelings manifest. I don’t believe in the supernatural but love reading about it anyway!
It’s fun reading ghost stories at night or in the early morning! I fell asleep reading it two nights ago then I woke up at 5:00am to read more! Fun! I still have almost the whole book to read.
I love how it takes place in the bitter cold Winter like now! I like reading books where the season is close to the current season in reality.
But it wasn’t really my intention to write a book review tonight; I just want to share a few lines out of the book.
Beautiful scene.
“Then, he produced an implement from his bag that caused Powell to move around the bed to watch the doctor using it.
It was a strange mechanism, almost looking like a magical device. It was a hollow metal tube, both ends of which terminated in a cup, much like the mouthpiece of a bugle, only larger.
Placing one end tightly against Betsy’s bare upper chest and the other against his left ear, Hopson listened, moved the cup, listened, moved it again. All the while, he exhibited the tendencies of a small child with a new toy. ‘Fabulous!’ he said rising. ‘Wonderful gadget, isn’t it?’
He detached it from his ears and held it to Powell.
‘What is it?’ the schoolmaster asked, turning it over, looking into the ends.
‘It’s a stethoscope, a device for listening to heartbeats. I picked it up just two months ago during a visit to Atlanta. It’s quite new, and all the rage of European doctors. Here, listen for yourself.’
Powell’s face squinched as he concentrated, not knowing what to expect. Then, his eyes flew open as he heard the thump-THUMP-thump-THUMP of Betsy’s heart, strong and loud as the ticking of a great mantel clock.
Something substantial changed within Powell as those rhythms pounded through his eardrums. For the rest of his life, he would never forget that sound, the feeling that swept over him as he stood there, his head inclined toward the chest of this young girl listening to her heart.
At that moment, more strongly than any other, Richard Powell knew he was in love.
‘Amazing,” he whispered, pulling back in a daze and returning the stethoscope to Hopson, who motioned Lucy over.
‘Come, Luce, take this and hear what will keep your daughter alive through this illness and much more, I’m sure, if I’m any doctor at all.’
He bound mother and daughter together with the simple metal tube.
Lucy listened for a moment, silent tears streaming from her eyes.
After a minute or so, Hopson pulled her away tenderly, removed the stethoscope and tucked the covers back around Betsy.
The slow k-thump, k-thump of Betsy’s heart would resound through the ears of both Lucy and Powell for some time afterward.”
Isn’t it lovely?! Just perfect.
When I read the first couple lines, I was so delighted to read how fascinated and awestruck the characters are by this new instrument, the mystery of it, the novelty, the way it looks, its purpose…something that most of us probably know about today and don’t really think much of it.
I love the childlike wonder of the doctor with his new tool.
I read the first few lines over and over before reading the rest. Then the more I read, the more amazed I have become. It’s so beautiful the way the schoolteacher and mother are so inspired and deeply moved by the rhythm of life that pounds through this young girl’s chest, keeping her alive…..
I remember the day I first heard my own heartbeat. The rhythm of life pounding through my own chest. It was in Human Biology class when I was a student at Temple University.
Our professor brought in stethoscopes to listen to each other’s hearts and our own. I fell in love. It’s so amazing to feel and to hear that life force that let’s us live, be, experience….
I read a quote before that is something like “If you ever can’t think of anything to be thankful for, check your pulse.”
Just to be alive is a grand thing.
Put your hand to your own chest and let yourself fall in love.
“It’s not about loving people and things as much as loving life itself.”
I read this quote here:
It’s about how we can love life itself no matter what heartbreak we experience. The heartache of loss can sap our energy and contribute to our passion dwindling away but as long as we keep choosing love in every moment, we can and will survive.
You can read about The Bell Witch Legend here:
http://www.bellwitch.org/story.htm
And you can read about the novel here :
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ED5QAZW
Much love to you.
xoxo Kim
“Deep within the sanctuary
Of ourselves there is a glade,
Where the grass is always greenest,
And the flowers never fade.
Nowhere is a garden sweeter,
Than the one love’s own hands tend,
Where affection falls like sunlight,
Warming and awakening.
Everlasting are the blossoms,
That are nourished in the heart,
Little lights and little shadows,
Who can tell the two apart?
He who plants the smallest kindness,
Sows indeed a mighty seed,
For through years, like little acres,
…Only love uproots the weed!” ~ Grace E. Easley
I came across this poem today by Grace E. Easley
Isn’t it lovely?!
It may be hard to feel or recognize but with self work and some inner exploration and authentic self excavation we can find/create it. We can meditate, write freely in a journal or wherever you want, answer deep life questions, ponder, and reflect to find our truth and love deep within no matter what the outside world brings to us or around us.
When we nourish and cherish ourselves and tend to our deep inner needs, we can grow and find that we are all we truly need to be joyful. Nurture yourself. Care for yourself. Give to yourself. Love yourself. As well as others. Little lights & little shadows. As the poem states, “who can tell the two apart?”.
Pain & pleasure. Darkness & light. Happiness & sadness. Weakness & strength. They contrast each other and one seems painful while the other seems like a gift. The truth is negative feelings and experiences can also be gifts to teach us and guide us and allow us to truly appreciate the goodness and realize it.
A life of all profound joy & happiness & positivity, if it were possible, may be good to a certain extent but if we just always felt a pure state of pleasure, happiness, and joy with no pain, no negativity, no darkness, no struggles would we ever be able to truly, fully, recognize and appreciate the goodness? What if there were no struggles or adversity? Can we ever truly grow and have depth and substance? I think adversity and challenges help us become. Become all we can. Grow and appreciate. I would never recommend to go out intentionally looking for direct troubles and inflicting pain upon ourselves or others just so we can grow or help others grow and learn but troubles and problems are inevitable as long as we’re living and so we can use them to our advantage and sculpt ourselves into someone who is stronger and wiser. We can choose to view them in a more positive light. We can practice seeing them as blessings in disguise instead of a curse, an affliction, seeing ourselves as victims.
I think it’s good to sometimes take certain risks even if we don’t look for direct trouble. By loving, we risk losing or rejection. Filling out applications, we risk rejection. By trying we risk failing or not succeeding how we want to. By speaking up, we risk ridicule or criticism. But all of this can teach us and strengthen us if we let it.
These are some of my thoughts for the day. I hope everyone is having a beautiful day or night wherever you are and if not I hope you find some consolation & healing when you need it most.
Xoxo Kim
I haven’t forgotten about this blog or given up on blogging! It’s just that something dreadful happened to my poor poor phone recently! As people who read my blog may know I mostly use my phone for blogging. It is (or was :-/) a lovely, perfect phone. I love mobile phones with Internet a lot. And I prefer them over computers of any kind for everything that I can get away with using them for. As you may or may not know, I recently got a new Blackberry Z10 phone! About two months ago. Not very long but it already contained “my whole life” on it. Thousands of pictures, thousands of songs/playlists, contacts, memos, apps….
One night a few days ago after work I was getting out of my dad’s mini van and I dropped my beautiful phone! And the beautiful, perfect touch screen CRACKED! I can live with a crack on my phone but that’s not all! The crack starts at the bottom and goes right on up to the top at a curve and the small portion of the screen below the crack works perfectly while the large portion of the screen above the crack is done for. Yup! It’s a lost cause.
And the worst part is that all my memos are GONE. All of my inspirational thoughts and ideas and writings. Many drafts of posts I planned on publishing here are just gone. </3
Luckily my phone is insured and in a few days I will pay over 100 dollars and then shortly after that I will have a new Blackberry Z10. But it won’t bring all my sweet ideas back.
😦 But you know what, it’s my fault. I take full responsibility. And not in a guilty way but in a constructive way. If I did what I planned and backed my ideas up on paper they would still be here. If I was more careful with my phone and put it in my bag instead of carrying it in my hand with a million other things, my phone would not have fallen to the ground. If I kept the cover on like my mom insisted over and over again, it probably would have protected my screen. But none of that occurred. What did occur is that I dropped my phone while it was in the nude and did not copy any of my ideas onto paper. That is my reality. Not pleasant but true. And I accept it and will know better.
At the above link the author who breaks smartphones intentionally by dropping them to watch them shatter and test how they work afterwards explains how blackberry phones are much less likely to survive a fall than other touchscreen phones like the iPhone. Blackberry company likes their phones to be thinner, lighter, and less expensive so they make their touchscreens suckier than others and more likely to not work after a fall. But if the phone is in its case there’s a good chance it will survive the fall. Looks like my mom was right! I should have listened. But my phone case is rubber and my new baby boy doggy loves to chew it so I gave it to him!
I generally, naturally have an open and grateful “mind”. And even when I’m not in the most grateful mood, I usually make it a point to look for things to be grateful for and it isn’t difficult to find things that I KNOW are blessings even when I don’t really FEEL the gratitude I know I should feel for them at that moment. After losing my phone like this it really woke me up even more to all I have. The night it happened I tried so hard to fix it, calling the T-Mobile place, trying to back up all my info on a computer…and nothing seemed to help. All throughout the night I woke up feeling sad over it. Then I would think of something amazing I still do have. I would look over at my sweet little Emmy (my baby boy, puppy) sleeping beside me and feel how completely blessed I am. I have so much more than a phone.
Losing my phone is very unfortunate but it would have been so much worse to lose a friend or a pet or a family member or my life. This thought inspires me right now and has been inspiring me since I lost the quality of my phone. I don’t think it to myself aggressively as a lecture to myself to scold me for being ungrateful. Instead I firmly but gently remind myself that it’s ok to be sad over this and disappointed but to look at all I still do have.
I have things to look forward to as well.
There are a couple of movies I desperately want to see so soo desperately!!!
One is “The Heat” and one is “The Purge”.
The Heat looks sooo entertaining and so hilarious while the Purge seems so very fascinating. It’s about how every year or something one night of the year ALL criminal acts of every kind become legal. The people who are for this are hoping it will reduce criminal acts the rest of the year in general because they’ll get it all out that one night. I know it’s only a movie and I’m not easily offended but I actually am quite offended by the whole very concept that homicide and sexual assault are legal for one night. Like I said, I know it’s not real but still. lol It’s ridiculous but it’s interesting and I LOVE Philosophy. It was actually my major in College.
I, myself, do not believe that most people would commit a very serious criminal act even if it were to become legal. I sure as hell would not. It is deeply Philosophical and so incredibly fascinating to ponder. It brings up a lot of issues like “where do we get our morals?” “Are morals and the idea of right and wrong innate or learned?” “Is there really an objective RIGHT and an objective WRONG or is it all just subjective opinions?” There is no scientific or direct one answer. But I believe the basic idea of right and wrong is so ingrained into our “minds” and we are so used to certain horrific acts such as homicide and sexual assault being NOT ok and being so very wrong that most of us would not commit those acts even if we could and get away with it. Think about it. Would you commit homicide even if you could and not be in trouble at all? Can you really bring yourself to do that? Would you sexually assault someone? I don’t think so. The law can change but it won’t change our sanity and conscience.
We will still be civil and moral and not want to seriously hurt someone. Now, there’s no doubt in my mind that SOME people would take full advantage of criminal acts being legal and all hell would break loose where they are. No doubt about it. But I believe people are basically good and for the most part we don’t need laws of any sort telling us what to do and not to do when it comes to serious criminal acts. This is not to say we don’t need law or police or government though. I think even if people would turn bad if the legal laws become obsolete (which is very unlikely, I believe) it would take many years for “criminal” acts to get out of hand. Like I said most of us either know what is right and wrong innately or we are so used to being told something is wrong that we would not take advantage of criminal acts becoming legal. At least I hope I’m right about this!! lol My mom and sister seriously disagree with me on this!
If homicide becomes legal I still will NEVER kill. I don’t care if I won’t get in trouble at all. I don’t want to hurt anyone and I don’t want to be the kind of woman who does bad things just because I can. I want to be true and honest and loving and nurturing and healing.
Thank You SO SO much to all police officers, detectives, and other law enforcement people who work so hard and even put themselves in danger often, to keep us safe and to keep society in order. We often take them and their work for granted and they deserve a big THANK YOU!! ❤
And another thing I am looking very forward to is writing a guest post for TinyBuddha.com
http://www.tinybuddha.com/
is an inspirational website about living a great life and things like that and they love for "ordinary" people, ones who are not necessarily professionals or experts or writers or life coaches…, to write positive and inspiring posts on personal experiences of how to live an amazing and rewarding life. There are certain guidelines the writers must follow and if the author of the website likes the guest post and sees it fit for her website she will accept it and publish it for millions of people to see! Mine may not get accepted but maybe it will! It has to be original and can never have been published anywhere previously not even on the person's own blog or website.
Mine will be on mindfulness and celebrating life itself. 😀
I am so happy about this because I love to inspire people and touch lives for the better. ❤
And something I am thankful for:
❤ My beautiful body. It functions near perfectly. It carries me day and night. It lets me feel and love and heal and live. It allows me to experience pleasure and pain and all of life. Thank You eyes for seeing the beauty all around, for seeing colors and long hair and leaves blowing in the wind, thank you ears for the wonderful experience of cars screeching in the streets and the birds chirping in the trees and the music of life. Thank you nose and tongue for the scents and tastes of rain and citrus and chocolate and cookies and mist and laundry detergent, thank you skin and fingers for the smooth touch and feel of blankets throughout the morning and night. The hug of a friend and the touch of an animal's feathers or fur. The feel of hot and cold, and snow glistening. Thank You Heart that dances in my chest for the pulsating rhythm of life that pounds through me. Thank You bones for being strong and firm. Thank You kidneys for all the hard work to keep my body going strong. Thank You stomach for digesting so so perfectly and thank you muscles and veins and all of me. Thank You brain for allowing me to live and be conscious. Thank You spinal cord and nerves for allowing me to feel and walk and sit up straight. Thank You appendix for whatever it is you do. (Keeping the good germs alive and well?!) Thank You beautiful , wondrous body of mine. For everything.
I wrote this because I LOVE my beautiful body. I am beautiful.
My sister asked me if it's easy being so cheesy. lol Yes, for me, yes it is. 😀
I hope you all are having a beautiful day or night.
x0x0 Kim ❤
A Dose of Inspiration 