Writing with Rox WEEKLY—Winter Survival

Greetings from Akumal! Even here in the sunny Yucatan winter has found her might way... reports of storms, rains, and even "shape shifters" have found their way on the (cyber) page here in Mexico, warning travelers and locals alike of how to negotiate the (if and when) coming tropical storm. If and when because you never know in Mexico. You can count on weather reports as much as you can count on the exchange rate being consistent. Still, I love the "whatever, manana," attitude here. I think it's partially why I return time and time again, frustrating as it can be.

But enough! I imagine you Minneapolis readers are shaking your pens at me for complaining, let alone being in Mexico and out of the negative climes!

The point is I love how writing continues to honor its roots of communicating vital information from human to human about how to survive. Before it was made all pretty and put into beautiful books (which I for the most part loooove, mind you), writing was a simple act of love, a gift, an offering, etc— an organic need to create and communicate. How many times have you said or heard someone say: "I have to write this down"?

Perhaps over time we added music and sang our wisdom from tribe to tribe to get folks to pay more attention. I'm sure ADD existed then too, after all. From there, we wrote things on the cave walls, which led to paper and pen and highway signs and note passing and book making and texting and ...

One such offering I read yesterday: 

BEWARE OF STONEFISH. DO NOT STEP ON THEM. BITE CAN BE FATAL. 

And wouldn't you know later that day while snorkeling I swam right over a Stonefish, which I of course thought was at first any old ocean stone (You know? Those!) and could have easily stepped right on it and gone fatal had I not known it had fins and a very ruby red mouth. It DID look less threatening when swimming, but still, I saw fire in that fish's eyes.

Last week in Tuesday Eve Healing group, we began our night by writing out our winter survival tips. Still being a relative newbie to MN, I was amazed at what I learned about how to get through this. (Of course, my contribution was "go to Akumal.") Everything from talking to natives about directions to carrying a shovel and kitty litter in your car to creating arte de snow by adding food coloring to your snow-folk. Oh, I guess I did also say "Go to the Loppet on Saturday night to see the fire lanterns go up into the winter sky." I stand by that today, now, even in the tropics.  We could have written all night on that. Perhaps into the morning. We were all feeling much better about winter, at least for then. But we knew if we ever again got discouraged, all we had to do was look into our little notebooks with the added tips etched into the margins and all would be well again. Remember that this too shall pass.

So, wherever you are, whatever you are doing or not doing, What is your winter wisdom/survival song? What is the story behind that wisdom?

And remember, when you share, you are helping us survive! We don't care (yes, we enjoy!) how pretty or poetic or literary it sounds... share from your heart and truth and it sings no matter what!

So help out your writing and human community alike... we want to listen to the whole story!

Sending love and sunshine (with a bit of wind and rain) from Akumal xoxoxo