Sometimes He Makes Us Swim

Hilda goes for a swim.
by Duane Bryers

Well I did it. I have been threatening to do it for more than a week now, but tonight I did it. I went for a swim. I donned my swim suit and dove right in. And lived to blog about it. I have (had) this silly notion that I'm not fit enough to go swimming -- well, it's not really the swimming part that concerned me, it's the swimsuit part. Hey, I never said I wasn't crazy. The whole point of this blog is to work out my wackiness. I know it doesn't make sense, but our fears and inhibitions don't always make sense. Actually, they probably rarely make sense. And when the guy in lane one exited the pool in a skin that fit him like . . . well, a skin, I was reminded that this insanity is uniquely feminine. Let's just say that despite his less than perfect physique, he was quite comfortable in his skin. Good for him!

I swam laps for 15 minutes and treaded water for 5 minutes. Good enough for a first outing I think. I felt some pain in my injured knee while I was treading water, but nothing too serious, and this just confirmed for me that I do need alternative exercise right now. All in all, a decent workout. But the real accomplishment today had nothing to do with exercise and everything to do with overcoming fears and ignoring old scripts.

Sometimes God calms the storm. At other times, he calms the sailor. And sometimes he makes us swim.
~ Author Unknown ~

A Hilda Halloween

To keep Halloween from being so stupid this year (that's a reference to Shana's comment earlier in the week), I thought we might check in with Hilda to see how she is spending the holiday. It probably won't surprise you to hear that she was spotted in the pumpkin patch yesterday in her bikini top and short-shorts selecting the perfect pumpkin. (That girl on the affiliate blog earlier this week who was squat cleaning a pumpkin has nothing on Hilda!)

As you may recall, it was quite cold yesterday--not a good day for gathering pumpkins in your bikini. So, after carving her jack-o-lantern, Hilda took a long hot bath to soothe her aching muscles and ward off the possibility of catching cold.

After a long soak in the tub, Hilda got comfy in her red long johns and settled in by the fire for an evening of ghost stories.

It's clear that Hilda knows how to have fun and entertain herself any day of the year, but especially on Halloween. You've got to love Hilda.

Looking for Hilda

I'm retreating to my cabin in the woods this weekend. It has has been calling me all week--the quiet, the calm, the solitude, the rest, and the fresh air--all calling me to escape the rush of Atlanta and my persistent insomnia. My work has been overly burdensome and stressful of late, exacerbated by my inability to sleep, and my inability to sleep aggravated by my work. As the week has progressed I have become increasingly out of kilter and frazzled. Denied the escape of sleep, I have slipped reluctantly into unhealthy ways of comforting and caring for myself--mostly with food. And do I feel comforted and cared for? No. I feel disappointed in myself. I feel frustrated by my continued failed attempts to change the way I cope with life's ebb and flow.

And so I'm escaping to the country in search of a fresh perspective and inspiration. I need to amble in the woods and hear the crunch of leaves underfoot, collecting treasures for the shadow box--an acorn, an interesting rock, a fallen leaf. I need to nap. I need to listen to nature and feel the breeze. I need to gaze at the stars. I need to snuggle in front of the kerosene heater, sleep between flannel sheets, look for deer, and watch the birds. I need to walk along the dirt road and pick the wild golden rod and asters.

I need to remember that everything is okay and that I am enough just as I am. I need to find Hilda.

Discovering Hilda

Meet Hilda, the 1950's pin up girl created by Duane Bryers. Shana stumbled across Hilda while doing research for the CFED pin up calendar. She sent me a link to some of Hilda's pictures, and I found her delightful! Hilda is clearly happy and enjoys life to the fullest. The quality I admire most about her is how comfortable she is in her own skin. She exudes confidence. She's beautiful. I can't imagine Hilda spending one second agonizing over a dimple here or a little extra curve there. She knows she is beautiful just as she is.

We can probably all look at Hilda's pictures and agree that she is beautiful. We probably all immediately like her. And yet we often struggle to like ourselves and see our own beauty.

So today, we are discovering our inner-Hilda. That's right. We're blogging about ourselves again--tooting our own horns. But this time we are not talking about what we can do, but about who we are. What do you like about yourself? What personality and physical traits make you proud? Just put it out there with no disclaimers. Remember--don't tell us what you like only to go on to explain why it is not good enough.

Click here to enlarge image.