General

Reena is the host of Reena’s Exploration Challenge

EXPLORATION PROMPT 129

I invite you to explore either one or both of the following themes in your piece

1. Addiction
2. Depression

~*~*~*~

Addition is often born out of depression

When we cannot find answers we turn

To finding oblivion in a bid to forget

But addiction is not just substance abuse

It is also when we feel unable to function

Without a crutch, a dependence or a craving

We can overdose on food or something benign

But excess of anything is never a good idea

Kick the addiction away in a healthy way

Seek help for asking for help is not weakness

Fight for yourself as you are precious

Fight your battle with full force

It is undeniable that a healthy body leads to

A health mind and psyche

~*~*~

#Keepitalive

#ReensExplorationChallenge

Gustave Doré’s engravings illustrated the Divine Comedy (1861–1868). Here, Dante is lost in Canto I of the Inferno

Addiction and habit are shades cut from the same cloth. The brain in my brain is like a malleable lump of grey clay and thoughts form depressions in the clay that makes it easier for the same thoughts to roll along. When there is a habit, of thought or deed, it easily rolls along those grooves. What happens with addiction is when whatever that habit is gets disrupted and throws things out of balance.

Functionality and how functionality is affected by the imbalance is the state to be assessed, regardless of origin of it. Think of a ship where all of the weight is put on one side. The ship might still sail but it will be leaning. If a strong wind knocks up against it, it might keel over. Will you…

aggressive humans
fight stronger predators which
includes their own kind

for Reena’s Exploration Challenge

K. Mitch Hodge – Unsplash

moving purposefully
in this small space
determined
idle productivity

everything
and everyone
standing still
while the world shifts

close contact
feels extinguished
but not
the craving

a need for warmth
in a world
that seems to
have gone cold

a temporary situation
they say
hopefully
this depression is too

May you all have enough distance to be safe and
connected with sufficient love to remain sane.

Inspired by Reena’s Exploration Challenge #129

It worked.  It really worked.  It is  small consolation to those who didn’t make it.  But we did.  We did what needed to be done and the result?  Well, look around.  Lakes and streams are clear, wild life is once again thriving and the air . . . the air is clean, almost sweet.  The oceans are teaming with healthy, vibrant fish.  There is no haze around the sun or the moon.  The beaches are pristine.  Our planet is healing.  Finally, we got something right.  All it took was removing us from the equation. We were almost too late.  Now we can rest, together.

This part of Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo prompt.  You really need to check her blog out:  https://scvincent.com/

Today the real test of power is not the capacity to make war but the capacity to prevent it.

Wars are fought on two fronts. Macro wars which involve governments and power brokers and micro wars which involve you and me. We have limited ability, other than our voice and democratic vote, to frustrate power brokers entering global war on our behalf but we can control the micro wars that take place within us and our smaller communities.

The capacity to prevent war starts with you and me. This statement may seem a little naive, but nevertheless I believe it to be true. We, as rational people, have to learn from past behaviors. The nuclear bombs dropped upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 caused approx. 200,000 deaths, half of the deaths were instant and the remainder took place over 2-4 months due to…

I flip a few folios feverishly from the favourite one

I delve deep into the one full of know-how

I stare and stare at one without a dust cover

hoping it will enlighten me how to face this new adversary

I considered them friends all my life

friends, guides, mentors all

rushing to them as a child would to mother

turning to them for solace

to entertain me when boredom struck

and to advise me when I sought answers to esoteric questions

On rainy evenings they were by my side

on sun-soaked winter afternoons they sat with me

during late night waits they gave me company

My life was guided by them every step of the way

so when life threw a curve ball I rushed to them

but the truth is such a war has never been fought before

there is no handbook as a guide

the rules are…