What life has this button seen?
A wedding, a funeral,
A cheerful greeting,
A bitter quarrel,
And ordinary moments
Filled with the extraordinary.
Breath and sight,
Words and step,
Taste and touch.
Bless all buttons,
And fasten me to this life
With energy and love.
Buttons have seen a lot of life. It’s a pretty intriguing thought if you really ponder it.
And we’ve seen a lot of life too. But how do we keep on keeping on? Day in and day out, how do we fasten ourselves to life with energy and love?
We’ll save the love for another time (and I find that one easier), but energy. Wow. It’s not always easy to have the emotional and physical energy to step lively with life.
When I was thinking about this post, I read a slew of tips on how to have more energy:
Drink a combination of grape and lemon juice.
Unroll your ears in the morning (never heard of ear unrolling!)
Change your socks.
Sniff lavender.
Consume caffeine.
Do not consume caffeine.
Get your entire office to stand up in their cubicles and sing a rock song (in unison).
Wear an energy patch.
(Raise my right hand, as my dad used to do, I read each of these tips on some pretty fascinating websites.)
I’ve only tried the socks (a bit of a pleasant pick-me-up) and various experiments with yes and no to caffeine.
CNN’s Heath site has some ideas that have worked for me including Tip #2 Faking it, Tip #3 Spin your situation, and Tip #4 Change up your routine. These take some energy, actually, to implement, but they are worth trying and can help you get to the root of your energy troubles. They can spur other energizing techniques, too.
For a boost of mental energy, especially when you’ve hit close to bottom, counting your blessings can help. Write those blessing down or say them slowly, with intention.
Make sure you include buttons!
Photo Above: A lone, brave button. Photo Below: Eyes light up when you mention Grandma’s button box. Many a grownup can tell stories of rainy days and winter days when that button box empowered the building of roads, the creation of a collage, the fastening of handmade doll clothes, the detailing of puppets, and countless other happy pastimes.
“Bless All Buttons” was published somewhere, because I have the invoice for payment, but I don’t remember which magazine. I wonder if any of my buttons remember. Bet so!
Friend For The Ride 
I try to get a shower just before dinner. That always perks me up and gives me another round of energy for the evening. I believe this is a habit I picked up from my 1950s era mother who always had homemade pie for our after school snack when we got off the school bus. She then always got a shower, did her hair and wore a skirt for dinner! The skirt became slacks by the 1970s but she was always refreshed and rejuvenated for dinner.
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A dinnertime shower! How clever and what a wonderful way to honor your mother’s tradition. Very smart!
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I think showers are great pick me ups!
My mother used to say every night, “I’m just going to put on a little lipstick before your father gets home.” Bet those pies were delicious!
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Oh yes, my mother always put on lipstick too. Kind of sweet to think of getting all refreshed and dolled up before our hubby comes home from the office. I also agree with Kath, a walk will always give me energy. The problem is having enough energy to get out for the walk. I workout every morning but I am just not an afternoon/evening energy person.
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lavender is always a pick me up for me. i even planted some in my garden this year and it is doing well! another pick me up is to go outside. even if just to sit on porch and have tea and look at the woods and all the bird activity. maybe it is just the fresh air.
oh…and i can’t imagine a fresh pie after school! what a treat!!
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And the birds sure seem to have energy.
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Ah…. the button box. Yup. My Gramma had one and my Mom had one. Those things fascinated me! We could play with those buttons for hours. There was such a wide variety. Some turned into princes and princesses at a ball. Some turned into jewelry. Some turned into accessories in Barbie’s dream house. What a life they had. Thanks for the memories and the tips!
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You’re welcome. Glad you enjoyed a twirl down memory button lane.
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You left off “Go for a walk” – my number one!
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Yep and one of the best, that’s for sure.
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Love the poem about buttons and reference to our grandmother’s button box– so true!
For energy I find yoga and other exercise, especially being outside helpful. And coffee. And chocolate.
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Glad you liked my poem. It really is pretty cool to think that buttons really get around.
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I was lucky to have gotten some of the treasures from my grandma’ s house, one of which was her button box. The buttons were so pretty. I transferred them into a clear glass jar and have them on display. I love the different colors, shapes & textures. Oh the stories those buttons could tell.
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Yes a real treasure. I have some in a jar too. They look festive behind the glass.
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I know it sounds counterintuitive but a really good – but not hard – workout at the gym does it for me. Every time. Maybe it is the hour of thinking through things. Maybe endorphins, too. That’s why I drag myself out of bed at 5am to go to the gym. Those few days each week are my best days!
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No, I believe you, I just can’t seem to get my act together to exercise that early in the day. They say it’s the key though–if you wait until later in the day, as I do, you sometimes make excuses and never exercise at all.
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I find a “Green Monster” will perk me up. Just a frozen banana, handful of spinach, and a cup of almond milk. Blend together and drink with a straw (or if you’re Kath, eat with a spoon!) There are lots of variations on this but I like this simple one.
My Gramma had a button box too…wonder what became of that?
Love this line in your poem “and fasten me to this life”
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Thanks about the poem line! My daughter Kath gives me green monsters when I visit, but I have trouble drinking them. I guess I’m just not used to drinking green things. (The color actually is beautiful–just not wild about the flavor.)
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Yoga is my go-to lately!
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I know, people say it’s life changing. I have a friend begging me to give it a try.
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You really should give it a try. I only go to a class once a week and sometimes I am tempted to skip to talk a walk or do something more physical but it is probably the best hour of the week and I’m always glad I went. I’m trying to get in the habit of unrolling my mat and doing a 10 or 20 minute DVD every afternoon.
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My Grandma had a button tin as well! How spectacular it was. When I visited I was allowed to play with her buttons. They were in an old green tin. They smelled so old and antique like, I can still feel them in my nose and in my fingers. When we buried her we each put something in her casket, no surprise that I put in a small tin with buttons. 🙂
Thanks for the reminder.
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So sweet about the small tin of buttons.
I’d forgotten about the smell of those old buttons!
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I love your poem, Barbara!
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And I forgot to say…Since I make most of my clothes, and have since I was quite young, I have a button box. It’s a little Christmas tin, maybe four inches square. And inside that box are memories. That rhinestone button is from a college holiday formal. That tweed-covered button is from a suit I wore as a young working woman. That double button is from a junior-high project that really did work out pretty well. It’s like a secret history that only I can read. To anybody else, it’s just a box full of plastic round things. But to me, it’s my life.
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Sounds wonderful! I wrote a story about a button string once (that was rejected a few places) and then Eve Bunting did one. This comment makes me think maybe I should bring out that old story and see what I can do with it. Thanks about my poem!
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I love sifting through my button collection and wondering where a particular button has been and what it has seen. Perhaps it was on a dress that was worn while celebrating the end of WWII or maybe on a child’s sweater the first day of school. It is fun letting one’s imagination run wild!
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Those buttons hold a lot of secrets…
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Check out http://www.TheEnergyProject.com
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That’s a fascinating site. Must read more, but was intrigued by their blog post on creativity:
http://www.theenergyproject.com/blog/how-think-creatively
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