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My baby is a teenager

Last week was Ryan's birthday and he is now thirteen. We had a nice birthday celebration, including his requested dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches, Kraft Mac & Cheese, and fruit. I was lucky to find very nice strawberries, raspberries, and even peaches at the store. Delicious peaches are hard to come by this time of year. I was gratified by how happy this all made him. We didn't have a birthday party, in part because of the pandemic, but honestly mostly because we've become horribly out of touch with society. I genuinely don't even know who he would invite for a party. He has friends from many different areas of life, but they are not all friends with each other. The good thing is, he's not much of a party kid anyway. We rented "Cruella" on Disney Plus and watched it together as a family on Saturday in lieu of a party. It was a lot of fun. Full-family tv time is rare for us these days and I appreciated it. The movie itself was fine--perfectly enjoyable but not outstanding. 

I have to admit, Ryan becoming a teenager didn't sit well with me. He is my little guy, my baby. I guess all eras end and the time has come for my being the parent of pre-teens. I was in kind of a funk about this, and perhaps other things, for a bit of last week but today (Monday) is better. I got lots of exercise over the weekend and a fair amount of down time. I think that helps a lot. We also accomplished a number of house-related tasks related to the upcoming renovation of our upstairs bathroom and the kitchen. So I feel I am approaching this coming week with a reasonable le sense of calm and positivity. 

I have been doing a ten-day online course on chakras. I did a different one a couple of months ago, but I wanted to learn more about chakras, what they do, and how to clear them. The teacher suggests that we free write about our experiences. So far I haven't done it, but I think now I will. Today we learned about the third chakra, the solar plexus. Its element is fire and its color is yellow. This chakra helps us find motivation and power to live the way we want, not to be dragged around. The meditation was a visualization, first of a glowing yellow ball at the solar plexus expanding and contracting with the breath. Then we visualized a flame that could burn away what we no longer needed. Adriene (as in Yoga With) talks about this a lot too. Not the flame, but letting go of that which no longer serves. This is an interesting idea and not so easy, I think. So the more one practices, the better. I have a hard time knowing exactly what it is supposed to mean. I suppose it is different for everyone. Perhaps if the phrase were "that which does not serve or that we do not need" I would understand it a bit better. Like, letting go of your feeling that you're not good enough or that others will find fault with what you are doing. But identifying something that used to do good but now doesn't? I'm less sure. Maybe I'm overanalyzing. Anyway, I have been feeling for quite a while now that I need to take better charge of elements of my life, and today feels like a good day to get started. I have a work meeting with a colleague this morning to plan some new projects, so the timing is great.  

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