It is always interesting when you read things that are supposed to be a part of your personality and discover they are accurate. Astrological signs, the zodiac, those predictions that say because you were born in this month on this date, this is your personality. I am a Libra. It is Me.
With today’s internet if you search out something on any sight it will suddenly start popping up in massive quantities. That was the case with traits of my sign, Libra. What surprised me was how many of those quotes accurately reflect my personality.
“Libras can take forever to make a decision.” Anyone who has known me for long will attest that this is true. Why? Because the Libra sign is the scales, we like things to be in balance so we must carefully weigh all the odds, then review them, then think about it, then ponder over whether or not we are making a good decision that will keep everything in balance. Now you may think everyone does that when making a major decision, and I agree with you on that. But with us Libras it can be a minor decision or a major decision. Each receives equal consideration, so don’t ask me to make a snap decision between plums or peaches, I need a minute to ponder the positives and negatives of each option.
“Libra knows and feels way more than they express, let things go way more than they should; feel deeply, love hard and aren’t shy about taking the hard road.”
This is so true. Again, we don’t want to rock the scales so we may be thinking and acting one way, but feeling totally the opposite because we don’t want to cause a disruption. It is better, or easier, to go along with what someone else wants and keep everything peaceful and flowing than to object and cause a dispute. Keep in mind this can be the process with both negative and positive things. I may be feeling something positive, but what if others don’t agree with that, better to keep it to myself and not risk an upset.
There are several thoughts about the Libra personality that play into each other, and as you read through these you may see a flow.
“A Libra will act as if everything is okay even when things are falling apart.”
“Libras are good at ‘saving face’ meaning they can have more turmoil going on in their lives than you can imagine but guess what? They won’t let you see them sweat.”
“A Libra bounces back and recovers no matter how heavy the weight you place upon them.”
Those three quotes easily relate to each other, and anyone that has known me for very long knows that I fit that personality. I have lived for years with constant turmoil of some kind or another. The majority of people I encounter have no idea what has gone on ‘behind the scenes’ in my life. When in conversation I have mentioned a small portion of what I have encountered people sometimes wonder how I am able to function. What the heck am I supposed to do, give up on life? No, I do what the Libra personality says I do, I act as if everything is okay when inside I’m falling apart. I don’t let anyone see me sweat, I keep a smile on my face and purge forward. Because I am determined to maintain a positive attitude I always bounce back.
When a Libra is finally tired of the bullshit they won’t look back and you will be history.” We Libras may prefer to keep everything in balance, but be aware, we are not pushovers. We do not like things or people that are unfair, rude, or disrespectful. We will put up with a lot, we will forgive and forgive and forgive, but eventually enough it enough. When we have been pushed to our limit we will walk away and never look back. What happens if circumstances cause us to look back? We will always be wary.
Libras are also a good judge of character. “If a Libra appears to be shy or standoffish they’re likely observing your behavior before opening up.” I like people, but I don’t have a lot of close friends. We Libras are choosy about who we get close to. We enjoy being wild and crazy, wacky and weird, but we don’t want people who are going to tip those scales out of balance. There are a lot of people that simply don’t fit what we consider the ideal friend, and so they remain at a distance; close friends are few and we like it that way.
Leisure & Hobbies are important to us Libra. We have a wide range of interests and taking time to enjoy the fun things in life is important to our well being. While we are the scales and like things in balance, we also like to debate issues and I for one certainly go for the win. However winning or loosing is not the ultimate goal, because knowledge is gained through debate so a good discussion is always good for the brain. If you always associate with people who think just like you there is no challenge, no gain in knowledge, it is just an ongoing, never changing, boring existence.
Travel is always enjoyable. Exploring places you have never been or sometimes revisiting places you love and enjoy. For years Niagara Falls was my favorite city. That isn’t to say I don’t still enjoy it, it just isn’t the same as it was 35 years ago. I love visiting historic homes, walking in gardens, visiting areas that are cultural and stopping at scenic outlooks. No matter where you are there is always something you can enjoy, and with me, something I can photograph.
Over the years I have dabbled in various hobbies and crafts, with my most prevalent being photography. A hobby that goes with that is being a scrapbooker. I have also done counted cross-stitch, embroidery, latch hook, and miscellaneous other crafts, plus I love to write. I enjoy playing video/computer games. I do this to compartmentalize my brain. At work when I take a lunch break playing a computer game while I eat helps my brain to re-energize for the rest of the day. It gives it a break. Besides, games are fun!
“Music is often the center of a Libra’s existence.” I listen to music less now than I did when younger, and I think it may have to do with the environment in which I work or the fact that I now reside alone. I have learned to enjoy quiet. When driving alone music in the car is a must – I “dance” as I drive, singing, enjoying every minute of it. When cleaning or doing other manual labor around the house if I take the time to turn on the radio I am happier and tend to work faster. I also take breaks to dance to my favorite songs. Music just fits every mood, it is energizing and relaxing, whatever you want it to be.
This is just a slight glimpse into the many things that make up the Libra personality. The more I read the more I know. This is Me. I am a true Libra, whether overthinking and weighing the odds of an inconsequential decision far too long, juggling turmoil, sizing up someone before letting them into my inner circle, shooting pictures, playing computer games or dancing in my kitchen, I am a Libra. This is Me.
After reading that title you are probably going huh? If you think about it you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Murphy’s Law — if anything can go wrong it will. Comedy — finding the humor in anything and everything. Drama — something serious and/or with conflict. Put those altogether and what do you have? My life this past week.
We would sit on the porch playing jacks. At one time I was able to handle pick-ups of 20 jacks at a time. We played a lot. Do kids play jacks anymore? Are they even available to purchase? Ours were tiny metal jacks with a small red ball. What about hula hoops and pogo sticks? With a swing of the hips your hula hoop could be forced up to the neck or down to the knees and back to the waste. Regular jump rope, Chinese jump rope, and hop scotch kept us busy.
Back then most people did not have air conditioning. Windows were open, fans were used. One strong childhood summer memory does not involve me but my father. He would mow the lawn and then afterward watch the ball game on TV. One of my favorite scents and sounds of summer is the combination of fresh mowed grass and a baseball ball game on the TV or radio.
The reality is most couples are not as completely consumed in each others lives as we were. They spend more time doing things on their own and socializing with others. Living alone has allowed me to adjust to doing things on my own. I am still learning how to involve others in my plans so I am not always a solo act.
rejuvenated again. It is a battle of the brain, which way to go.
I found this frustrating as he suffers from depression and I would wonder how he was doing. Then suddenly I would receive an email or message. There were always reasons for his disappearance…busy, kids, grandchildren, sickness, depression…but were they reasons, or excuses? In my opinion there is a fine line between the two, and I wasn’t quite sure on which side it fell. Things would improve for a bit but eventually would fall back into the old pattern.
Boy, does this sound like a major pity-party or what! The fact of it is, I am alone. I have to figure out how to juggle the yard work and get it done. I have to eat alone, plan my own weekends, get out and be active by myself. When I’m sick and have chills, that’s the way it goes. I’m alone and I have to deal with it. That is life. That is reality. Pity-Party over.
After several nights with no sleep I finally realized what the problem was. I wasn’t used to making these decisions. I had always left them to my husband, but now with him gone I had to handle these things myself. Once I realized that my mind was playing tricks on me and keeping me awake needlessly over decisions that were reasonable to make I was able to once again resume normal sleep.
When a child is born touch brings it comfort. You hold it, rock it, feed it. You do those things when it is happy, you do those things when it is stressed. The baby learns love thought the power of touch. To an adult, there is nothing as unique and cozy as a small infant cuddled up against your neck sleeping.
That is why I was writing this post in my head as I lay in bed awake a few nights ago. My husband passed away fifteen months ago. I couldn’t sleep and I was laying in a lonely bed. I missed having someone there to cuddle up to, to touch, to help me relax so I could doze off.
When you are born a lover of the written word it never goes away, it just transitions over time. Writing and literature go hand-in-hand. My high school classes were filled with literature…classes in modern short stories, mysteries, American literature, Advanced Grammar and Composition, and more. When I went back to college in 2010 one of my favorite classes was public speaking because I was writing whatever I chose to talk about. It was fun!
I write in many formats. I titled this blog Life is a Melting Pot because my life is a jumble of various activities and I like to write about whatever strikes me at the moment. This blog is not the only regular writing I do. For the past eight years I have held the position of newsletter editor of Bluewater Family Backgrounds, a publication of the St. Clair County Family History Group. As the editor I gather content and put together the entire newsletter, writing some articles that go into it. I have been writing a column called “Who AM I?” for the past five and one-half years for The Lakeshore Guardian, and local free publication. The column is on genealogy. I am in my fourth year as an opinion columnist for our local newspaper, The Times Herald. I select my topics and how often I write a column, frequently selecting topics that can be a bit controversial. Finally, my daytime job is that of Paralegal in which I spend my days doing legal writing. All of the areas in which I write are slightly different and I enjoy each one.
I belong to a Freelance Writer’s Group and at the meetings I see a variety of people with a wide range of interests. The group includes people who write children’s stories, adult novels, travel columns, science fiction, non-fiction, memoir, and more. We all have one thing in common…we love to write! Writers are like any other type of artist, they are imaginative, creative, passionate about their art, well-read, self-promoters and self-starters. Writing is something you do solo; you have to be motivated to write or you will never succeed. Writers love words, language, and people watching. Everything is a potential story or scene. If you spend much time with a writer you may find yourself popping up in their stories, blogs, or columns. You may not be there in name, but you will likely recognize a scene in which you have lived.
I may be dating myself, but back in the 1970’s there were cute cartoon images, often portrayed by a little chubby couple, and quotes of “Love is…” I was thinking of them the other day and it got me to wondering, what if we applied that formula to happiness? What makes a person happy?
If you research racial injustice for the 1940’s you will find that the treatment of “Bigger” portrayed in the novel is a very accurate representation of the mindset during that era. Lynchings were common for anything and everything considered inappropriate. NAACP members campaigning to get those of African American decent the vote where removed from their homes and lynched. A 26-year old man was lynched for failing to address a police officer as “Mr.” If a white woman was attacked it was assumed that a black man had committed the crime and the “suspect” would often be captured and lynched. Justice did not prevail.
We have come a long way in the acceptance of others since the 1940’s when 
If you have been a reader for a while you know that my husband, Ron, passed away December 7, 2015 and since that time I have been adjusting to living on my own. In reflecting on myself now, plans for the future and introspection of the past I have learned a few things.
Although I never paid attention to our finances and had no interest in knowing about them, I am perfectly capable of paying bills, applying for mortgage modifications, listing property for sale, and making decisions on financial assets. I’m not blindly doing what Ron told me to do as he was dying. I’m evaluating my own circumstances and making a decision that I feel comfortable with. My goal for the future is to learn how the stock market and investments work, to understand how to diversify and what everything means so I can make informed choices. Hopefully I will get a grasp on this within the next decade. I’m really walking in uncharted territory here.
What I have discovered is that it wasn’t the cooking I disliked, it was that Ron always had a criticism of some sort and tended to hover, questioning why I did things the way I did, telling me I should do things differently than I did. Nothing was ever quite good enough, there was always a “why didn’t you…” Basically, he thought I should cook just like him. After a while I tired of the negativity and simply walked away and left it to him. He cooked, I cleaned up, and it worked.
One couple and their four children arrived late for my wedding and followed my father and me down the aisle during the processional.
I am generally an on time person to slightly early person depending on what it is I am doing. I work extremely close to home and generally arrive on-the-dot for that. Other activities such as meetings I tend to arrive about 10 minutes in advance. When did I develop this habit? When I was a child. In grade school I was at the building on the playground long before the bell rang to go in. In Junior High (middle school) I was generally at the school about 15-30 minutes in advance, by high school I was there about an hour in advance, hanging with a group of other early arrivals. We had authorization to enter the library through the librarians door prior to it officially being opened. When I went back to college as an adult I was at the school at least 30 minutes prior to the start of class. By arriving at work 10 minutes prior to my work day it was once commented on how early I was. No, not early, on time!
The first time was when we had plans to go to dinner and were meeting at my house. I gave them a time of 6:45 pm, which would allow me to leave work at 6:00, get home and do the normal “arrive home” things of bringing in the mail, putting away my lunch containers, then change my clothes, touch up make-up, etc. So how did this go? When I was approaching my driveway at 6:15 their car was also signaling to turn into my drive. They were 30 minutes early! The greeting was even funnier. They exited their vehicle and said “are you late?” and I responded “No, you’re early.”
I was reading Michelle’s post on Facebook yesterday. Many notes of sympathy and prayers. They know her, they know her husband Charlie, they know what a great couple and wonderful marriage they had. I, on the other hand, have not seen Michelle personally in years. We were together as children, but not as adults. We are in contact only by Facebook now. However, I can truly feel her pain.
--- LIFE IS A MELTING POT --- Grace Grogan...Writer, Photographer 