The BJ Appelgren Author Page

03/05/2024

Here's a minute and half garden meditation with ferns, a busy bee and newly forming pods on the purple luminaria.

03/05/2024

I felt sorry for the buttercups that were always getting mowed down so i moved a few out of the lawn and into their own bed.

22/04/2024

My sunnyside up narcissis, so cheery, never last as long as i wish.

22/04/2024

These pink tulips had been planted in a circular bed near our front door. They all disappeared within a couple of years but one of them planted itself across the yard in a semi wild area, creating one of those visual bouquets that are so pleasing with the bishop's w**d and luminaria.

22/04/2024

These little tulips are so delicate and rose-like. They were part of a tulip mix of bulbs i purchased years ago.

22/04/2024

A live bouquet! The violets and other little blue flowers i can't name make the gathering complete. Just like our own anomalies.

22/04/2024

These are some of the culprits i was accusing of hanky panky.

17/04/2024

This spring has given me spectacular flowers. Friends agree and suggest it is the abundant rainfall AND sunshine we've had.

12/04/2024

To all who know the feeling of
being shipwrecked on an alien planet
I’m about nine years old and I’ve lost my favorite red mittens. I can’t find them in their usual places, drying on the hall radiator or stuffed into my coat pockets. My parents won’t fuss about the loss, but I am worried sick thinking about them. They’re out in the world, feeling abandoned, maybe even getting run over in the dirty slush of Chicago streets. I cry over them when I’m alone. This state of grief lasts for several days until I accidentally discover them. They’ve been in the lunch box I carry snacks in to a weekly after-school drama class. Oh, the relief I feel. My cherished mittens have been right here at home!
Seventy years later, I realize the dichotomy that comes with such reactions to an event like this. On one hand the compassion for my mittens is a gift of empathy—imagining how something else might feel and distressed by my own reaction. At the same moment of fragility, I also see myself being responsible for everything I’m aware of in my life—a terrible burden and bold conceit.
I recall this story of my mittens while in the process of writing Shipwrecked. That event provided an early inkling of both my sensitivity and a wish to heal not only my own but similar suffering others might be experiencing. Feeling both the burdens and beauties of life awakened an incessant wish to understand life’s purpose. It would be the equivalent of a lifetime before I hear the concept of reciprocal maintenance, a phrase describing a purpose of being that ties together the bewildering observations of the energies that make up my life experience. More about that, later.
In writing this book, and most especially in describing the Life Affirming Practice, I share the threads of learning how to cope with what I describe as my conundrum of feeling empathy, observing life’s ferocious brutalities, and the sometimes mystifying joy of making it through another day. Overall, trying to balance these perceptions created in me the intentions, hope, and wish to become a kinder person and to play a meaningful and satisfying role, someone who belonged in the world. This book is how I tried to do that and how one meaningful exercise played a huge role of turning a pessimist into an optimist.

15/01/2024

Still fond of this image for its reminder of spaciousness and availability.

28/05/2023

Sunny side up!

26/04/2023

this is what it did when I asked AI to do a ten commandments. i like these better. Ben Schlosser

1. Thou shalt honor the diversity of all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or culture.
2. Thou shalt practice empathy and seek to understand the feelings and perspectives of others.
3. Thou shalt embrace curiosity and pursue knowledge with an open mind.
4. Thou shalt live sustainably and be a responsible steward of the earth's resources.
5. Thou shalt prioritize thy mental health and practice self-care, seeking help when needed.
6. Thou shalt stand up against injustice and work towards promoting justice and equality.
7. Thou shalt foster community and build strong relationships with family, friends, and neighbors.
8. Thou shalt practice mindfulness and connect with thyself.
9. Thou shalt pursue purpose and find meaning in thy life, setting goals and working towards achieving them.
10. Thou shalt embrace technology and use it responsibly, being aware of its impact on society.

21/01/2023

Take a break🤗

21/01/2023

21/01/2023

STOP! Spend a minute and a half watching the clouds. And breathe.

17/01/2023

I have reached 200 followers! Thank you for your continued support. I could not have done it without each of you. 🙏🤗🎉

23/09/2022

I was thinking about naming what i noticed from being a collector as a child. The first thing was design— the difference in how the same items looked different. Stamps and coins had language on them. Stamps could be particularly beautiful with series of flowers, butterfies, buildings, and landscapes.
One day a friend read something i wrote about what i was observing around me and he asked, “is that really the way you think about what you see around you?”
It made me wonder if a lonely childhood had ‘overdeveloped’ my need to take in the environment. Yet i often don’t recognize people i’ve met only a couple of times and can rarely remember what someone was wearing a few hours ago when i saw them. Then, as an adult after attending several large conferences, everyone i see looks familiar, as if a limited number of ‘types’ exist. And I’m often told when i go to gatherings, “You look familiar. Have we met before?”
I usually say, “I don’t think so. I’m just a type.“