dancewithjoy

Dale was very young, maybe 11, when I found myself without a job; what to do? I had to feed both of us until I found work. Near to where we lived on Quentin Road in Brooklyn was a community outreach program to help the poor and feed the homeless; it was run from a storefront office. I contacted Mike King who had started this program and ran it. I found out much later on that he had once been homeless himself and so understood what it was like. Each week he gave out boxes of food to those who needed it; he and others also made up sandwiches which Mike drove to the Coney Island area where they handed out sandwiches to the homeless and hungry. Dale and I started helping out making the sandwiches each week that would go to the homeless. On Thanksgiving and other holidays there was turkey and trimmings for the homeless and poor. He held these events in a room near the front office. 

It started out at first that I received a box of food each week from Mike King that fed Dale and me and was most welcome and needed. Later on, I worked as secretary in Mike’s office for a nominal fee. I answered his phone and made various calls for Mike, called local newspapers and let them know of holiday events for the homeless and set up dates for them to come and photograph these events. Dale and I were photographed with a group of volunteers who helped Mike King prepare food for the homeless; I still have the local newspaper clipping with the photograph hanging on my wall. Among other duties, I created flyers and posters on the office computer, printed them, and distributed them to advertise this outreach program and also the special holiday events. Plus Dale and I were in Mike King’s street fairs selling our wares in front of the office; profits went to Mike King’s program for the homeless. Dale had sports cards, various other cards, and magic cards, games and comics and more that he sold and I had the greeting cards I had made with the graphics software program on my computer, plus I sold other items as well. 

It was a wonderful experience for both of us; and one Dale felt was so good for kids to be part of, and he said it’s an experience he hopes to repeat someday with his children.

I’ve been living with my younger son and family since November of 2023. I was hoping to find an apartment in Brooklyn to be near friends, to teach dance to seniors at senior centers, and to go to folk dance groups, etc. But this high rental market has priced me out at least for the time being. So presently I’ve decided to look for an apartment in the Ocean County New Jersey area where I presently live with family and where some rents are more accessible. I have a two day a week job starting in March watching two little babies! Also I plan on teaching dance to seniors at a senior center nearby. It will be good to be earning some money again! I have felt stuck for quite awhile with no options; but now feel this is a good compromise. And I’ll still be close by so I can visit with my grandkids and their parents! I’ll visit the City once a month to see friends, go folk dancing, etc. And this will keep me happy, while I develop new friendships out here, and look into activities I can enjoy at senior centers in this area. So good to feel unstuck again and with options available.

So much to learn about preventative measures to strengthen our health and our immune systems. YouTube videos and Google search engine are great places to learn about how herbs, spices, seeds, supplements and foods can add to and ensure good health. As Hippocrates said long ago, let your food be as your medicine. And I say, let your supplements, and your vitamins and minerals be derived from organic, non gmo foods to be of the best quality and use to your body. I recently watched a YouTube video by a doctor who talked about the many health benefits of eating seeds; mainly organic chia, hemp, flax and pumpkin seeds. They add fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals and more to our diet. Flax seeds lose their potency and can turn rancid once ground up, so they suggest taking small amounts and grinding them in a grinder for immediate use and then keeping the rest in the refrigerator. All seeds stay fresh longer kept in the refrigerator. These health giving seeds can be added to cereals, oatmeal, yogurt, salads, soups, stews, smoothies, and sandwiches. Recently I’m learning a bit more about spices and how to incorporate them into my meals and drinks. I bought cinnamon and now add a dash or two into my coffee! You hardly taste it and the health benefits of cinnamon are many. Ceylon cinnamon is supposed to be the best and most potent of the types of cinnamon. I intend to add it to: applesauce, French toast, oatmeal, cereals, cinnamon toast, waffles, granola, coffee and hot chocolate. Turmeric is the other spice I just bought and can use to add to: eggs, soups, stews, curries, beans, lentils, chicken, vegetables, greens, salads, chilli, and chick peas. Basil is a herb I love and this I add to salads, soups, stews, sandwiches and more. Parsley adds so many vitamins, good for digestion, blood pressure, etc. For more info on seeds, spices and herbs check out YouTube videos on these and also check out Google search engine. Here’s to all of us helping our bodies and minds to self-heal through natural and harmless means. More on all this to come in my blog posts.

Ginger – improves blood sugar levels, reduces inflammation, relieves pain, strengthens the immune system, treats nausea and indigestion

Turmeric – helps a variety of conditions: arthritis, digestive disorders, respiratory infections, allergies, liver disease, depression

Ginkgo – keeps memory sharp, improves blood circulation, opens up blood vessels and makes blood less sticky, antioxidant, may improve vein and eye health

Ginseng – promotes energy, reduces stress, improves blood sugar, lowers cholesterol, promotes immune health, and helps with fatigue, protects nervous system, direct prevention of degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, may be useful in preventing depression

Ashwagandha – relieves stress and anxiety, lowers blood sugar and fat, increases muscle and strength, improves sexual function in women, boosts fertility and testosterone levels in men, sharpens focus and memory, supports heart health

Astragalus – contains antioxidants which protects cells against damage, protects and supports immune system preventing colds and upper respiratory infections, lowers blood pressure, treats diabetes and protects the liver, has antibacterial and anti-inflammation properties

Magnesium – essential for healthy muscles, nerves, bones and blood sugar levels, reduces stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression, may improve some headaches, supports healthy blood pressure levels, may improve sleep

Consult with a health practitioner as to which supplements you can safely take and for how long; read the instructions as to how many capsules to take and also see how a supplement makes you feel. You may want to take a natural supplement for a month before you make any judgement on how effective it is.

To be continued

There are times in life when so much is happening around you that you can lose yourself in the shuffle. Or you may be experiencing grief or sorrow of some kind that is knocking you off center. Give yourself the time you need to heal and then at some point you must let go and let God and get back to living. So important to re-center ourselves and get back on track. I find a quiet time can help recenter us; writing in a journal, prayer, meditation, calming music or frequencies on YouTube, a walk in nature, doing yoga or other stretches are all ways of getting back to your center. Find your own way, but get back to your center, get back to what’s important to you in your life, get back to your authentic way of being and doing.

Natural supplements like ginger, turmeric, capsules to help my sciatica nerve pain, taking Vit. D and Vit. K – all these supplements and more, plus a multi vit. and mineral capsule are improving my health. We particularly need supplements as the soil our food is grown in is so depleted of health giving minerals and vitamins due to modern farming methods, that our vegetables and fruits contain about a third or less of the nutrients they once had in the early 1900s and even up until 1950. Another thing that I’ve gotten into recently is grounding or earthing (connecting with the earth by putting bare feet on the earth or grass). The electro magnetism, the electrons/negative ions mother earth provides when we are grounding is healing to our bodies and minds. There are plenty of videos and a couple of movies on YouTube that provide detailed info on grounding. There is research that has been done by scientists and doctors on grounding and they have measured the positive changes in the body of people who ground even 15 minutes a day (an hour is ideal to ground, but even 10 minutes of grounding show positive changes in many systems in the body). Dogs and other animals instinctively dig a hole in the earth and lie there until they are well or until their pain is gone. Another tool I use that has taken away headaches, reduced asthma issues, provided peace of mind, and so much more, is to listen to frequencies on YouTube that are healing of so very many symptoms. These are some of the ways I’ve helped myself to quickly heal myself of headaches and other ailments and helped myself feel better without taking medications which have side effects. Like anything else, there is more benefit (healing) if you keep these things up fairly consistently.

At age 57 I decided I didn’t want to work in an office anymore; I had worked in an office for most of my adult life out of necessity as so many do (not thinking during those years that there may be other ways of working/or living arrangements that might have enabled me to work at jobs I loved earlier in my life). I was at this time working as the lead secretary (as the position was called) to the president of an engineering firm who was a genius in his field and a generous man, but very difficult and demanding to work with and for! I learned a lot on this job as hadn’t worked for an engineering firm previously; learning the engineering terms (it was like learning a foreign language!), editing/adding to specs, spread sheets, proposals, etc., was very difficult at first, but I became good at it and when the main secretary to the president of the firm retired I stepped into her role. At the end, I was making $60,000 a year (which back then was a very good salary) with the very generous bonus’ and Christmas gifts given to the employees, but I wasn’t happy. After many years on this job, my creative side very much wanted to come out and at age 57 I gave a month’s notice and gave up my lucrative job to take a risk and teach dance classes to seniors and kids! I had spent my life dancing and performing so this was not coming out of nowhere – I had a background in dance. The office manager and the comptroller (whom I was friends with and had gone out with at times to clubs in Manhattan) no doubt thought I was a bit mad to give up a lucrative position for this risky venture; but when the calls kept coming in from senior centers and other senior facilities and also some nursery schools and day care centers for kids, they saw that there was a positive response to the mailings I had previously sent out. So for several years I taught dance and supplemented my income at times with additional part-time jobs. But at least part of the time I was able to work at something I loved doing. Then along came my first grandchild and I became a nanny for a number of years, delighting in this job! I went back to teaching the dance classes after being nanny for about 3 years, when my grandchild went to nursery school. I’m in my senior years and I’m still enjoying teaching dance classes at senior centers!

Living poor in this country doesn’t have to be miserable provided you have shelter – either an apartment you rent that you can afford or share a room in an apartment or house, or are living with a relative or a grown child and paying a low rent. So rent taken care of what can make your life more contented? Let’s take food next. If you have some money coming in you can shop at Aldi or another discount supermarket and also shop at a dollar shop for food, or have a meal while visiting family or friends, or get free meals at soup kitchens, churches, and free food at food pantries. Browsing a farmer’s market is fun and you may find some bargains. Cooking is fun and can be creative; you can learn to make low cost and healthy meals. Save money by cutting meat out or just buying a chicken and ground turkey once a month and by buying a little fish, eggs, peanut and other nut butters, and planning more vegetarian meals or big pots of chicken soup, lentil soup or stew with vegetables, or a pot of chili that last for at least a few days. Okay, meals taken care of, what next? Find some great thrift shops that sell all kinds of items at very low prices as well as new, never worn clothing donated by people and stores or buy lightly used clothes all at great prices. Garage sales are fun and often items are not expensive. Transportation in NYC gives half-fare metro cards to seniors that cover both trains and buses and in some suburbs it only costs seventy five cents to get from one town to another. Taking a bus ride and just relaxing and looking out the window is a relaxing way to spend some time. Or some towns have free town buses that take you to malls and various places in the town. So what do you do with your time if you have no money for entertainment? Many cities and suburbs offer free concerts and other free events throughout the year. Can’t beat that. In many areas there are free local papers where you can learn of free local events. Then there are many free events and activities at parks, senior centers and libraries and free days at museums and botanical gardens, zoos. You can find a community garden with benches and just enjoy sitting there for awhile or you can volunteer to help with the garden. If you have a laptop that has access to Wi-Fi you can learn about so many things on YouTube for free or watch free videos of every description or free films from every era. No laptop, then go to a library and make use of their computers to email, to learn, or just enjoy whatever. What other free pleasures are there? Sit outside in a park or sit at the library and read a good book, write a journal, a memoir, a review, or a blog. All free! If you have a cell phone, take a walk and take pictures of interesting things you see on your walk and share with a few people. Listen to music on YouTube for free, from classical to rock. Or take out free music CDs at the library or free DVDs. Dance by yourself in your abode, or go to a senior center and dance! Make designs and color them or color in a coloring book for adults. Some senior centers have a group that meets to enjoy coloring. Being in nature, walking (or sitting) barefoot on the grass is peaceful, free, and healing. Visiting friends and family is always pleasurable. As long as you have the necessities of shelter, food, water, heat or a cooling device, you are very blessed and have more than so many in our world! And in this country, there is help in getting these necessities; so get help if you need it until you do have the necessities. After that avail yourself of all the wonderful resources that can bring contentment and joy into our lives, like libraries, senior centers, parks, free days at museums and botanical gardens, farmer’s markets, used book shops, thrift shops, free films and videos on YouTube and elsewhere, free local events like concerts and dances. With the right mindset and your basic needs met, one can have/create a very good life!

I’ve basically always been a city gal and loved what the city offers, classes, culture, fascinating areas, shops and people, etc. But now in my senior years I find there’s a part of me now that also seems to long for a small spot of land, maybe a garden in which to sit and be quiet, grow some flowers and vegetables, fruit trees, etc. I’d like to collect rain water and filter it and not have to buy spring water or filter my water in my home. Or better yet have some land with a brook or fresh water stream on it. Part of me wants to become more self-sufficient and fill many of my needs directly from mother earth. I always loved the ocean too and now once again long to stroll by the surf and enjoy the salty ocean air. I still love the city, still love parties, music, dancing and being with people but would like to balance it more now by being close to nature, connecting more with nature. It seems like a missing part of me.