Good morning dear citizens of the blogosphere! How’s it rolling? I hope you and yours are well, and if not know you are in my thoughts and prayers.

I am not as bad as my post on Friday might suggest. Had a bad day and a feeling of sadness was creeping up my spine from my stomach. That’s a sure sign for me that depressions tries to claw its way in.

One of my coping strategies is to recognise the feeling, acknowledge it and then either do something that I enjoy or do housework. Yes, peeps housework can be therapeutic. It works for me because I do not need to think or organise much, which I find problematic in these situations. I can just do an every day, often simple task and have a result immediately. That makes me feel better.

And a cleaner house, in general, makes me feel better. I am not a domestic goddess. We do not live in a minimalistic, museum-like home. Ours is loved, lived-in and messy to some observers. But that is who we are. There are certain standards though we keep up, and that often works when it comes to my mental health.

I say “often” because I do not have a “one-fits-all-strategy” when it comes to keeping the black dog in check. There are many, and I need to let my intuition guide me which one fits the moment. That’s a good strategy but also a difficult one because we tend to suppress complicated feelings automatically.

However, if I want to give my intuition some reign, I need to look the darkness in the eye and feel what’s the best for me at that moment. Two mantras help me in this case “This too shall pass”, and the mindfulness thought “feelings come and go like tides”.

I am practising my version of mindfulness for about two years. My experience is: these mantras are correct. Pain is never the same, we have good and bad days, but our minds consider the current situation as everlasting. That impression makes it challenging to change our outlook.

But once we allow ourselves to sit, breathe and observe our life, body and feelings without judgement, we realise this constant change. It’s strangely reassuring. It is also strange how just sitting, breathing and being can create such a profound shift in attitude.

It happens gradually and is a life-long process. Sometimes I manage, sometimes I don’t. And that is reassuring too. I do not need to “achieve” something. I can keep working on those parts that are difficult and enjoy that come easier.

If you are interested in mindfulness check this page and their books out: franticWorld.com

Maybe checking out Hungary made me depressed too. Another country that seeks its salvation in rampant nationalism and a supposed “strong” leader. You know, what I think of those and patriotism, so we don’t need to go down that route.

However, Hungary is another country I was lucky enough to experience in my teens before the iron curtain fell. My dad and one of his girl-friends took us to lake Balaton one summer just after my mother had passed away.

Hungary somehow had managed to create “communism light” which allowed western holidaymakers in. Hungary famously opened its borders to Austria in 1989 to let Eastern Germans leave for the West. But it was also a place where German families who were parted by the wall could meet before 1989.

I can’t remember, though if we met with our Eastern part of the family. What I remember is a hot summer, a vast lawn going down towards the lake where I spent my days reading and daydreaming and langos.

Oh, my mouth starts watering just thinking of those deep-fried breads that you could have only with salt or vinegar. Yum. We didn’t make our way to Budapest. It was too hot I guess, but we ventured into Siofok which must be the biggest city around the lake. We stayed in Keszthely s far as I remember.

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures but fear not. YouTube and it’s creative people give a plethora of videos explaining everything about Hungary, and I curated a couple for your entertainment and information:

The music scene is rather interesting. It looks like the Hungarians do not only like Romani music; in fact, they probably hate it as much as the tourists do. From what I gather, they have a lively music scene with everything from folk to hip hop and lots of music festivals.

That is why I found it difficult to showcase just one musician. I created another playlist that allows you to listen to several. If you are curious about the lyrics, check out “Lyricstranslate“. They offer lots of translations of lyrics. Please enjoy.

And where are we going next week?

Come Away With Me 2020 Musical Challenge Country for Monday, September 7th, 2020

I am taking a rather random route around the world, but sometimes it makes sense. Next week we venture into Romania. Please find musicians from Romania on the Last Fm page for Romanian artists.

As for the suggestions to take part:

1. Join in! No matter where, when and with what. No matter if you have cancer or not! You missed the first week? Don’t worry. Just jump in when it suits you.
2. Send us the link! The ping-back option does not always work so please leave a link in the comments of the post on the day you take part. Or leave it at the “Come Away With Me 2020 FB page“
3. Tag your post either with ” Come Away With Me Musical Challenge”/ #CoAwWiMeMuCh” / “Come Away with Me 2020 Musical Challenge” o/“CoAwWiMe2020MuCh” / . You can also use these as hashtags for Twitter and other Social Networks to give your post more exposure. If you add #blog and #music with your hashtags it will get you more readers.
4. No matter which music or country the prompt favours you create with it whatever you please. This is supposed to be a fun challenge and no chore.
5. I post a prompt for the next week with every “Come Away With Me 2020 post” I write.
6. If you like, use this picture for your readers to find the posts.

Please stay a little longer and find my poetry posts on The Bee Creates… on Weebly. Thanks!

You are more into photography? Then please check out my photo posts on Bee Wordless on Blogger.

You can also find my photos on Dreamstime (affiliate link, you do not need to buy anything but if you do I get 10% from your purchase).

Just one more thing before you go: The hospital that is treating me is fundraising for a dedicated breast cancer unit which would allow same-day diagnosis and better premises for patients and staff.

Please, if you can spare a little money hop over to their Just Giving Page and give as little or much as you can. Or share the page on your social media. Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much.

Thanks my dears, for staying with me until the end. I appreciate your presence. Please stay safe, stay kind and remember that you rock!