What’s the Buzz? Be still in a hectic world.

Sat, 05/30/2020 - 11:30am

About this blog:

  • Photographing President Obama

    What's the Buzz" covers what's happening, what might be happening, and what should be happening in the opinion of the author.

    Eleanor Cade Busby is an unpublished award-winning writer, photographer and blogger & simply loves writing about herself in third person.She published this absolutely all true bio.

    Busby grew up all over New England,a preacher's kid who set out to destroy every single stereotype about a "Minister's Daughter."

    She attended Goddard College, The Rhode Island Conservatory of Music and The School of Life, majoring in everything she could stuff into her head. She once had her own office and a red stapler. Her employees learned quickly never to touch it.

    Much of her very long life has been spent on or back-stage at theaters. She penned a couple of plays, directed many more and acted in scores of productions. She's done it all except hanging lighting. You can't make her climb a ladder.

    She won awards locally & nationally for social services and customer care. Most recently she was awarded the PEN/Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award along with 3 million of her closest personal friends for "galvanizing a potent global movement to resist infringements on the rights and dignity of women and many other groups."

    Busby has been a theater, art and dance reviewer and commentator for several publications, including CRACKED magazine.

    Opinionated, obstinate, much-abused, and under-appreciated, she believes that if it isn't funny or relevant, it isn't worth it.

    Eleanor Cade Busby lives in Midcoast Maine with two cats who like to stand on her head at 3 AM demanding a sacrifice, often her sanity.

    Suggestions for topics and comments are always welcome at eleanorcadebusby@hotmail.com

On a  late Spring day , just a year ago, I wandered to Boothbay to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. I packed up my back pack with cameras and a bottle of water and went stalking birds and flowers. I did not pack a mask for my face. I did not check to be sure I had hand sanitizer available.  I stopped on the way for gas, talking to people at the station, collected a hug from a friend passing by, shared a laugh. Talked to strangers, made new friends.

No one knew what we would be missing in one short year.

No one  knew how  hard it would become to find a place of peace within ourselves. Or how we would need to simply stop listening  to the roar of the world in order to preserve some small core of self- that it would become that overwhelming.

We could  never have dreamed that in one short time span  we would see our neighbors dying by the thousands and our protectors betraying us  We have seen justifiable rage boil over into the streets alongside entitled whining  over small protective measures for our most vulnerable.

There are certainly freedoms we miss.  Freedom to laugh out loud in public. Freedom to shake hands when meeting a new person. Freedom to drive down to Boston to see a show.  Freedom to have there BE a show to see.  

On the way home from work,  I might have stopped at a Farmer’s Market to check for fresh vegetables. I miss variety- looking at  apples of various  types, thumping a cantelope, choosing from bunches of deep blue grapes.   Salad bar? Not a favorite of mine  but still, a choice  we were free to make.

A walk though town, greeting friends and neighbors with a smile and a chat on the corner. Human interactions. 

As we pass through this plague,don’t forget to pause and experience the happiness around you. It’s there.  It was always there, we were just too busy being important to see it.

Be still for the sake of your own soul. Being still does not mean standing still. As you become more quiet, you can hear the natural world more clearly. You can hear the little brown bird singing that her eggs have hatched, You can hear the wind and feel it on your face. Be alone ,not lonely, and be kind to yourself. You are needed in this world. 

Take a whole day, any day, and turn off your phone. Avoid the news, ignore the turmoil. .  Listen to music or just the sound of the waves on the shore or your child laughing. As someone i loved more than air would say to me “ Just breathe.” Do it once a week, at least.-It will all be there when you return from your sabbatical with stillness

Wear a mask when you cannot be sure you are safely distanced. Take care of yourself and others and most of all be kind. And try to remember  the  little things we all took for granted.

Breathe,  and take a walk with me to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens through these pictures.They have taken great steps and will open with careful restrictions in June 1.  Make a reservation, Go and stalk a bird  or a butterfly.