On Not-Christmas, TWA, and A New Alice

Good morning, campers!

Kiki Lamers

This is what I have been like lately.

When I had the botox treatment in the early summer i was so well immediately and for ages. However, it is not now summer, and there are are a lot of TRIGGERS firing at me all over the place. However, I have rejigged the festive/stresstive season for myself, which means it doesn’t really matter if I am unwell/not up to whatever.

I don’t have children and I am not a christian. There is no need to engage in ANY of the things. And a visit to LA several years ago introduced me to Jews go to the Cinema Day which involves movies and Chinese food. We gave it a whirl last year, and it was GOOD.

I still buy presents for three people, but cards have gone the way of all things. I have a packet of cards for emergencies which have lasted me probably about five years.

I have spent xmas day in the London Buddhist Centre, and I can recommend that.

My disengagement with the world of xmas started with my hatred of traveling at this time of year. Between the weather, the crush, and the drunks I say why travel when you don’t have to – after all, the origins of xmas is all about hoarding food, having a feast at the nadir of the year IN YOUR CAVE not traveling to some other person’s cave bloody miles away in the snow.

Then I got ill. The initial phase of my elongated illness came just before xmas. I may have done cards that year, i don’t remember, but my presents were restricted to and based on who came to visit me. I had a haul of soft toys, and I took them apart and made frankenstein toys that I called hideoms.

here’s a couple i had left. i did a little photoshoot with them

I wrapped them up and people chose which parcel they wanted.

I always think I am much better than I was then, but I’m not sure I’d have the get up and go to make stuff or do the photoshoot now, but maybe I do more on a daily basis – I do walk my dog most of the time, after all. I probably have fewer push/crash cycles. Probably.

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TWA was merged on in 2001. i wonder if they’d mind if we used their logos?

The Training With Awareness facebook page is coming along. The website is dragging it’s feet. Needs a LOT more work before it’s fit to make public. But we will be getting it into some sort of shape very early in the year because, in academia anyway, managers will be starting to think “Shit! What can I do about staff development this year?” so we will want to be getting a mail out written. I have made the mistake of writing too much in an introductory email before, so this is why we are making a website in advance, so we don’t do too much bombarding with information. The fb page is pretty easy to do. Partly, I am totally ganking stuff from Breathworks’ Page but there’s a ton of stuff about mindfulness out there, so I am rather spoilt for choice.

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And finally… Yayoi Kusama has made an Alice in Wonderland book. I think it looks yummy.