...being alive and conscious and able to create.

My cats, Lover Boy and Chenuska, are being themselves. Cats. Taking catnaps. Nestled next to me in a chair. And atop my computer screen. They remind me to be myself. To not think far beyond this moment. Not to think about tomorrow. And certainly not to think far ahead to next week or next month or next year. Instead, to live today. Fully. Savoring the moment. And some days, this one in particular, I’ll most likely live in my cocoon. I'm able here to create my own reality. I turn inward. It doesn’t matter what else is happening outside my cocoon. The world will function with or without me. I have no control over the state of world affairs. Only over the state of myself. Oh, I can have an affect on an individual here and there. By cultivating a contact, an acquaintance, a friend, another human being, even my cats. So many ways to get a bit of sustenance. Food for my soul. Just the fact that I’m writing this. In a place where someone might see it. Read it. My link to the outside world. It goes to show that brooding doesn’t have to be thinking anxiously or gloomily. Instead, I am sitting quietly and thoughtfully. Meditating. That’s a positive. Helps me cope and deal with life. Makes me appreciate being alive and conscious and able to create – yes, a Broede’s Brooding. --Jim Broede