Lhunpaurwen's Ramblings

The endless flurry of activity recently is making my head spin. Here is a recap.

Before The Trip

Before I found out Mike and I were going on a road trip, I had to unexpectedly relocate my art room from one part of the house to the other. That took a lot of energy and time and required some help from the neighbor to move furniture.

Then I found out we were going to Oklahoma and had to get my car ready for such a long drive. Turns out I needed new tires and front breaks. Which was an unexpected expense of over $1,000 that my family helped cover. Considering the car is going on six years old and this is the first time I have had to replace anything huge like that, I am lucky they held out this long. It had to be done one way or another and thankfully family helped make it happen.

Flailing with last minute preparations to get everything ready, get things for the animals taken care of, and figure out trip logistics and give friends a heads up we would be in their neck of the woods for meetups. It was storming all week up till the day we were ready to leave. It is horrible to admit, but since we don't have cable TV anymore and I wasn't online checking posts or news or anything because of computer problems, I had no idea the Baton Rouge area had gotten hit as badly as it had. New Orleans got lots of rain, but we didn't have anything near that kind of flooding where I am staying. I felt horrible for not knowing sooner, though there isn't much I could have done for anyone in that area with my health problems. Thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was affected.


Travel Time

We didn't realize how bad the flooding was until we got on the road and ended up in the middle of it. Road closures of the major interstates, the exact direction we had to go to get out to OKC. Detours and traffic. Carefully navigating partly flooded roadways. Stopping along the way for breaks and finding the epitome of stereotypical horror movie "dead end gas station" complete with creepy dark road with dilapidated buildings in the middle of nowhere Louisiana where we lost GPS and cell reception at a specific spot along the road..... said NOOOOPE and turned right around to get back to the highway ( the reception came back after we passed that same spot by the way ). The 10hr drive took us about 16hrs. But we made it. And after some mild drama with the hotel, everything else fit into place as best it could.

Chakotay and Mike were buddies from the start. The pup kept doing the most adorkable things and endearingly grew on Mike. They had some wonderful male bonding during that long car ride. I can't count the number of times Chakotay's head was used as an arm rest while he happily grumbled and nudged us like it was the best thing ever. For his first time on a very, very long road trip in the back seat of the car, first time staying away from home, first time at a hotel, and similar activities, he did exceptionally well for a six month old puppy. Ember of course handled the whole trip like the pro she is. She was very happy to see Mike after so many months since our last trip to New Jersey.


Museum of Osteology!!!!

One awesome highlight - I got to have a total geekgasm at the amazing Museum of Osteology, which is a private museum devoted to the study of bones and skeletons, and part of the famous Skulls Unlimited. BOOONES. SO. MANY. BONES. As a bone collector myself, I was in heaven. The collection is amazing, and what was on display is only a tiny fraction of what they have. I took so many pictures, most for anatomy reference and artistic study. The taxonomic displays were amazing. I could have stayed there all day just staring at everything. Mike wasn't sure if he'd like it, but he said he really enjoyed it and thought it was neat seeing all the articulated skeletons. We were actually the last ones in the museum after they closed. I was totally geeking because hey, this is Skulls Unlimited! I couldn't help but ask if they had the Thylacine skull replica on site. I wanted a chance to hold it and admire it in person, since I have been drooling over it online for years now. I was so busy staring at it and talking with the staff about bones and anatomy and geeky things, I totally missed Mike sneaking the guy his card; I just thought the noise was the guy closing out the register for the evening. Until I was handing the skull back to the him so we could leave and Mike grinned at me and told me to put it in the box and lets walk out with it and the guy who was helping us was grinning too. I almost started crying, because I have dreamed of having this thing that represents something so special and deeply spiritual to me, and now I have the closest thing I ever could ( short of the real thing). It is amazing how similar it looks to my wolf skull. Now I will dream of having the felidae skull to complete the aspect circle.


Visiting With Friends!

Mike had a chance to see one of his friends and I had a chance to see some of mine. One being my childhood friend Gabrielle, who is the Burt's Bees knees for understanding and accepting my special crazy self in all the years we have known each other. She helped us brave the wilds of Kansas in search of a meeting place with plentiful food options. The other being my longtime friend Ash, who I hadn't seen in person in nearly a decade, wow! Ash it was great getting a chance to see you and James and reminisce over the good ol' days and sketchbook stains, like a lesbian! Thank you all for driving to hang out with us and have dinner. Wish we could have stayed longer! There was just not enough time to share all the laughter and hugs and love. We must do it again! You guys also need to come visit down here! Just not during the summer because it is waaaay too hot out there.


The trip was way too short, most of the time spent driving. Mike couldn't get extra time off because work had every Sunday this month blocked off, no time available. So he couldn't get the day off and extend his stay longer than the week. It would have been nice if we had more time to explore the area and visit with friends while out there. We made the best of the time we did have. There was a lot of laughter and shenanigans, which we both really needed.

This is something I have lived with since I was a child. Always on the outside looking in, always alone even when surrounded by people. Never really being understood by anyone, because I don't think the same way humans think. I love the simple, beautiful things in life. I love the deep thinking and inspiring. I see with eyes unclouded.


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1. The inexperience of feeling truly understood.

Old souls can be seen as strange people because they often hold unconventional ideals and standards of living. They often feel a sense of separation from themselves and the “real world” because things like obtaining great wealth, owning a lot of expensive possessions, and other traits of living a materialistic lifestyle aren’t really an interest to them. In a world fueled by consumerism this can seem kind of weird to most people. Having a different set of expectations and ideas about living can make it hard to feel like anyone truly understands you and what drives you in life.
2. People don’t understand how easygoing and forgiving you can be at times.

Old souls tend to have a philosophical viewpoint about life and look at things on a larger spectrum. What does this mean? When problems arise and old souls are forced to overcome great obstacles they understand even the hardest moments in life are a chance to learn and become stronger. It’s not that the things that have happened to them haven’t affected them – they have – but they look at their struggles as just a brief moment in the overall journey of life. They can find the good in people, in life, in everyday interactions that can seem negative or monotonous to others and that’s where they focus their energy.
3. You can be inhibited by the way you view life.

As you evolve over time your self-awareness increases and you’re able to firmly identify your beliefs about life and this world. The problem with old souls is that often they can see a multitude of possibilities within the spectrum of life and instead of freeing them to create whichever destiny they believe would suit them they instead can become inhibited by the very freedom they’ve established.
4. Making decisions based off of a “feeling” can seem illogical.

Intuition is a subtle, sophisticated language and old souls actively work to become in-tune with the way their body communicates with them. The gut instinct is the most simple and basic level of physical intuition that communicates through yes/no, safe/unsafe messages. We use this the most often when trying to make decisions about people and relationships, both personal and professional. Old souls rely on their gut instinct to guide them in their decision making and other people often won’t understand the logic when you tell someone you just “have a feeling” about something or someone.
5. You can be seen as a loner.

Old souls are after long-lasting, impactful, meaningful relationships in all aspects of life. They’d rather have a few close friends than dozens of acquaintances they hardly know but this can give the impression they’re some sort of social outcast. Old souls, like introverts, would rather focus their social energy on people they can have deep conversations with and they loathe being pressured to socialize more or make more friends.
6. You’re unsure if you’ll ever find your home.

One of the most universal problems with being an old soul is the inability to ever really feel like you belong with others. Whether you travel all over or have lived in the same town your entire life it can be difficult for old souls to feel like they have a home in this world. They’re constantly seeking kindred spirits and a place where they truly belong.
7. The desire for solitude can impact your relationships.

Being an old soul can be an isolating existence at times. You need your solitude to sit and reflect on life and to recharge when you’ve completely exhausted yourself but sometimes this can be frustrating to your friends and family. They love you and they want to be around you. Unless they also draw their energy from themselves and understand the need to be alone from time to time this can create issues when they really want you to hang out with them and you’d rather be at home reading a book
8. Your idea of fun is different than others.

Old souls find simple pleasure in small moments in life, and activities that are a bit old-fashioned are what they’re naturally drawn to. Going on a weekend drive through the country, heading to the 24-hour diner at midnight on the other side of town with the best breakfast within a 50-mile radius, getting milkshakes and watching the sunset over the pier, spending the evening writing hand-written letters to your friends that live across the country – these are the kinds of things you love doing. The problem is finding other people who like to engage in the same types of old school fun.
9. You learn the brutal realities of romanticizing life and love.

Old souls have a very romantic way of seeing the world and often when the world doesn’t live up to their expectations they can be emotionally impacted by this. Although old souls are idealistic, eventually they learn to also try and see the more realistic side of things.
10. You find it hard to disengage in conversation with strangers.

Something about old souls makes other people want to come up to them and talk. It’s like you’re sitting on a train or bench somewhere, a person sits down next to you, and 20 minutes later you know their entire life story. Others are drawn to speak to you but it can be difficult to turn others away or to remove yourself from the conversation because you feel some sense of duty to be a sounding board for this stranger that felt compelled to talk to you.



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From:

http://thoughtcatalog.com/koty-neelis/2014/12/10-common-problems-old-souls-experience-at-least-once-in-their-life