Patricia Stoltey

Author

A Few Things I’ve Learned Over the Last Couple of Years

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We’re never too old to learn new life lessons. I seem to pick up a few insights every year–things I should have known sooner and other revelations that unfold as life unfolds. Here are some of the thoughts that wander through my sometimes unfocused mind.

    1. Social media is more anti-social than social. It’s a bad place to spend more than a few minutes a day. Check out #6 below for an alternate suggestion.
    2. Increasing aches and pains seem to travel side by side with aging, but there are things that can make us feel better without resorting to high-priced or dangerous drugs and treatments. Read books such as Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery by Cathryn Jacobson Ramin; Muscular Retraining for Pain-Free Living: A Practical Approach to Eliminating Chronic Back Pain, Tendonitis, Neck and Shoulder Tension, and Repetitive Stress Injuries by Craig Williamson; and The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain by Steven R. Gundry M.D. Note: I’m not sure I believe everything in this last book, but I have found some of the ideas extremely helpful.
    3. There are books that make me laugh, books that make me cry, and books that make me think. I was a sad child when I realized I would never be able to read all the books in the world. However, I’m reading as many as I can. Currently, I’m crying my way through The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.
    4. As tempting as it is to become a hermit and stay home all time (in my sloppy sweats and slippers), it’s necessary for good mental health to get out of the house, meet up with friends for coffee or lunch, attend a few writing and writer events or conferences and conventions, and put ourselves and our books out there for self-promotion. This year, I’m attending Left Coast Crime in Reno in March, the Northern Colorado Writers Conference in Fort Collins in May, and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference in September. I’ll also be part of a Colorado Sisters in Crime panel at the Englewood Library in August. And I’m attending the Jeffrey Deaver workshop in Denver in April. The opportunities I’m passing up are many and very tempting, but my hermit-self often asserts its right to hide in my writing cave (or on the couch for a nap). So be it.
    5. Pets are very controlling and amazingly manipulative. This intense stare means “I want to be fed right now!”
    6. In the latest studies on food and physical/emotional health, I find it’s good to drink coffee, enjoy dry red wine and dark chocolate in moderation, eat eggs, keep a little extra weight on my bones to encourage longevity, pay lots and lots of attention to good posture (especially at the computer), get off those phones and other small devices, and  chill out. That’s three of us chillin’ on the couch.Yes, I suppose I should be working on my book today, but Katie Cat gets me up at 5:30 in the morning. We all like naptime!

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Comments

  1. The moment I read your advice on watching your posture while at the computer, I realized I was totally slouched and hunched. Consequently I sat up straight. 🙂

  2. I read The Art of Racing in the Rain years ago and absolutely loved it! So, so good.

    Sounds like you have some good events lined up.

    And yes on chilling out on the couch! 🙂

    • Hi Madeline. Sassy is getting to be such a creature of habit (just like Katie Cat) that she actually tries to guide me toward the couch for nap time soon after we’ve taken a walk outside, especially when it’s cool or cold out. I hate to disappoint her, of course, so usually comply with her request.

  3. That intense stare says something all right!

    Healthy foods can make you gain weight? LOL I don’t think I buy that. My bathroom scales don’t buy it either.

    • There are other things in the book that make me suspicious the advice may not be totally reliable, Diane.

      The weight gain part refers mostly to fruits…and the “less than healthy” foods that masquerades as healthy. Grain fed meat as opposed to pasture raised/grass fed, etc. .My own bathroom scales are very definite about what I should not be eating/drinking: sugar or sweeteners of any kind, cheese, crackers, breads, wine, and too much of anything else.

    • Katie Cat signals her mood with the position of her ears and that relentless glare. Our critters are very entertaining…better than television. :D.