A big welcome to 'The Juice Crone'

Hecate who sees the past the present and the future.

The Juicy Crone is the blog of Wendy Smith. Having embraced both the maiden and mother goddess archetypes she is entering the third stage of life  the crone. Inspired by the work of Jungian psychoanalyst Jean Shinoda Bolen,the Juicy Crone is a site for women of a certain age who want to get their goddess on.

 In myths and stories from cultures around the world, the crone is most often associated with wisdom and guidance. But she is also associated with deep belly laughter, an earthy sexuality and a freedom from the strictures and mores of the society she lives in.

At the Juicy Crone offers wisdom collected over the past 50 years, snippets from daily life and lots of interesting, empowering and awesome ways to get in touch with the many goddesses that are waiting to be bought to life in women in their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond.

On being vulnerable

When walking home from a local cafe I came across this brave little refugee flower. It resonated with where my mind was at. I had spent most of the week reading and listening to American shame and vulnerability researcher Brene Brown. Her basic thesis is that we expend a great deal of energy defending ourselves from vulnerability. She talks about 'foreboding vulnerability'. One example she gives is watching your sleeping children and being so overwhelmed with love for them that you start imagining terrible things happening to them. And it doesn't stop. My son gets a job as a tyre fitter and and I see him killed in a workplace accident, he gets a promotion to a management role and I have him gunned down in a robbery!

Brene Brown wants us to live wholeheartedly. If you don't allow yourself to feel vulnerable; if you forebode it, if you put up professional barriers or otherwise shield yourself, you miss the joy and happiness from truly connecting with others. When you live wholeheartedly you realise that you have enough and that you are enough. The people she interviewed who were living wholeheartedly all had in common the ability to be vulnerable and to be resilient to the shame that often comes from putting yourself out there at job interviews, on dating sites, when having a difficult conversation or attending a family event. Rejection, being judged against an impossible standard, confronting someone's distress or anger or the Shakespearean dynamics of a family Christmas day are something most of  us want to avoid. Wholehearted people survive these experiences with their sense of worthiness intact.

Brene Browne gave a TED Talk that so far has been watched over 6 million times. TED's mission statement begins:

We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we're building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.

 Here is the video of the talk

 

'The Juicy Crone blog reserves the right to remove comments that are self-promotional, rude, personal attacks, or not contributing to the topic at hand.'

Gotta luv this Doctor!!!!!

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?

A: Heart only good for so many beats, and that it... Don't waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually. Speeding up heart not make you live longer; it like saying you extend life of car by driving faster. Want to live longer? Take nap.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: Oh no. Wine made from fruit. Brandy distilled wine, that mean they take water out of fruity bit so you get even more of goodness that way. Beer also made of grain. Bottom up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have body and you have fat, your ratio one to one. If you have two body, your ratio two to one.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can't think of single one, sorry. My philosophy: No pain...good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU NOT LISTENING! Food fried in vegetable oil. How getting more vegetable be bad?

Q : Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Oh no! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only be doing sit-up if you want bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: You crazy?!? HEL-LO-O!! Cocoa bean! Another vegetable! It best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming good for figure, explain whale to me.

Q: Is getting in shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! 'Round' is shape!

Well... I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember:

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO, what a ride!!"

AND.....

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Australians.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Australians.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Australians.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Australians...

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Australians.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Living in Australia, is apparently what kills you.



Rose coloured days

For possibly the first time ever, my life partner Bear needed my advice on something. He asked me to come and identify a native tree that had just burst into blossom in the park across the road. Feeling very chuffed that I would be able to demonstrate my almost savant knowledge about our state’s flora we set off at a lively clip. This is what he showed me:

It was a very fine example of the splendid yarn-bombing that breaks out in our suburb of Grungewick East. Bear goes to the park most days to collect greenery for our pet rabbit Trevor. He arranges them in a big bouquet and formally presents them to the king of the courtyard. Trevor is Bear’s animal familiar just like witches and wizards have cats. Together they cast spells of loveliness in the little world we live in.

Bear and I have an unconventional relationship, which I’ll no doubt write more about in future posts. It is based on lots of love and companionship. I wrote him a haiku yesterday:

      

      bear’s in the kitchen

making sweet, sweet love to me

     pink and white coconut ice

It follows the short line, long line, short line rule and captures what was for me a moment of transcendence but breaks other rules. Bear shows his love by cooking for me. In fact I am becoming a bit renowned as a self-declared post-domestic woman. I haven’t cooked a meal or barely lifted a finger around the house since November 2009.

I am loving writing haiku after coming across Writing and Enjoying Haiku by Jane Reichold. Her book outlines the western approach to the ancient Japanese art. The haiku should be about nature and convey a season. It has two parts: a fragment and a phrase. The first and second sentence make sense on their own as does the first and third. They are written in the present and can tell a wider truth. I wrote another one recently after Bear pointed out a wonder in our own backyard:

      bird shit

tiny sunflower blooms

      in the gutter

One of the aspects of the goddesses that are emergent in me post menopause is the ability to really stop and smell the roses. Bear is so present to the natural world and its beauty that he makes me feel I am living in a rose covered cottage in a rose filled garden.

Savour the moment xx