Thursday, June 30, 2011

What is AGING when all about me seems NEW?

What happened to separation of Church and State? All Holy Eve (which is NOT a druidic holyday but Christian in its roots) was set aside for praying and celebrating those who have gone beyond this bodily existence. It is in its essence a celebration of life eternal as well as an admission of our dark side.

So humbly entering into this darkness I went on a first...a haunted hay ride with my 3 younger sons, 8, 13, and just-turned-17. I was disappointed as the wagon was pulled by a tractor, not horses. The horses were hurt last year, so we shivered under the stars and a wonderful full moon, howling at the silver circle between the vignettes rousingly acted by local teens.

And yes indeed, I was spooked several times.

And this evening I toodled along behind my "herd" of birth children and neighorhood children as we bounced into spooky yards, driveways lined with lit pumpkins, homes with flashing bats and skeletons, one even hosting a flatscreen television with ghoulish animated rappers. VERITAS!

And today is my second day as a blogger, not a pretty word nor a descriptive word but a technoword, not lovely but that's where my thoughts come in and the photographs evolve.

OF COURSE, if others can invent words then so can I, and so....TECHNOWORD.

Another first.

But now it is time to read a story to my neurotypical youngest, 100 % boy, rascal, pirate, Jedi, dinosaur hunter, hugger and smoocher. My Aspie tween is writing his novel. My ADD young man is competing with his 21 year old brother on Halo 3 (can't see the point, but my addiction was Tetris and Pacman, so what could I know?), and my lovely young woman is at, horrors, a Halloween Party...oh, no pun intended.

Okay, so my Aspie tween was watching the big guys play Halloween Halo online...that explains all the NOISE rising up from the basement! Another first....zombies in my home! Can my highly sensitive body and imagination recover from all this noise, flashing strobe lighting, creepy ghosts and toddler princesses and preschool Siths (whose parents were born AFTER the first Great Star Wars film) and SUGAR?

Well, I guess it's time to wipe the grease paint off of my face...I went as an alien from a multispectrum sunlit planet...third from the right straight past Orion.

And did I ever tell you that I cried when I first watch ET on the big screen the very first time the little guy said..."Home...phone home..." Do you think I could "Google" pics and try to make the same interstellar communication machine? I found a turn table under some boxes in the basement last week....

A piece of Self

Last Night or early this morning I dreamt I forgot something and I did...The reason my pup is named Shakespeare is because I love reading and performing and directing and designing the Bard's works. My undergraduate degree is in acting and directing. I have directed, designed and performed for many regional community theater companies.

I earned a MS in Public Policy Analysis specializing in health and education issues analysis. So going into Autism Advocacy is a continuation of a thread of interest in the human person.

The rest of the Asimov quote....
The stars, like dust encircle me, in one vast burst of Light; and al of space I seem to see in one vast burst of Sight.

The stars, like dust, Encircle me

A quote from Isaac Asimov...

I am named CarolAnn, but I have had many names and many labels. I am an artist, working in watercolors, acrylics, pen-and-ink, and CRAYONS. I am a musician and I play guitar, piano/keyboard, and recorder. I have cut an album and I suppose stated that way dates me? I used to play coffee houses but now I play in churches. I am published as an essayist, poet, short storyist, and political cartoonist. I am a Wife of 25 years--a significant statistic! I am the mother of 5 birth children and dozens of souls that float into and out of my life. I used to scuba dive and ride a Suzuki 850 bike and I love horses, dogs (my service dog is a miniature dachshund mix named Shakespeare Aristotle Redboots...poor thing but that should tell you all more about me), and cats...and eagles.

I live in a world labelled High Functioning Autism. I love the night sky, the wind, and the ocean.

I was enrolled at Antioch Universtiy in Keene, NH, in their Autism Spectrum Certificate Program. Actually, it is titled Autism Spectrum DISorder, but I am trying to change that idea.

This blog consists of reflections based on the course Introduction to Counselling Interventions, both information from the class proper and the readings supporting the course.

But today it's just me.

And I have no idea where this life will lead me. This time last year I was in hiding and didn't wish anyone to know anything about my diagnosis...I have had quite enough teasing and sarcasm, thank you. Now I am in a graduate level program. I know I want to help people, and I already do that thanks to the gluten-free/casein -free section of the grocery stores. When I am shopping I often stand near a crying, or sighing Mom, who notices my confidence in snatching up packaging and who literally begs..."Do you know about this diet thing?"

And of course I do. And we talk, and I visit them and learn to love their kids and help with emotional support and resourcing.

So I am an adventurer as well, and this program, to paraphrase Peter Pan, will be an awfully big adventure. BTW, MY HOME is the THIRD star to the right--just past Orion, and straight on to the rainbow.

Each person I meet is a star, and we form constellations here on Earth. It is my hope that I will help "polish" a few stars so they can shine as brightly as they choose.