Love and marriage

Lovers, photo by Sundar Chinnusamy, Erode,  India, http://staarvideo.topcities.com, wedding vowsWhen two people become lovers and they enjoy mutual interests, the next step could be marriage. Love and marriage, a fulfilling combination which many dream of and some achieve. There are lovers who plan their wedding to be a spectacular event and others who want something simple but with lots of meaning which they share with family and close friends. What’s important is that they choose the celebration that will help them remember the day as special.

they came to me because they had attended
their friends’ ceremony at which I was the celebrant
and they too wanted a simple but meaningful wedding
they chose the Rose Garden in the Botanic Gardens
it was a sunny day with birds singing
and the flowers in full bloom
the bride, groom and guests were in smart casual
and everyone had a great time
making it a day to remember

Anxiety and addiction

Robin Eggs, photo by Jason Collins, Tillsonburg, Canada, chicken or the eggWhich comes first the chicken or the egg, they ask? Does anxiety create addiction or does addiction create anxiety? As I see it both apply. We become anxious over something and we reach out to self medicate with a substance or process (alcohol, smoking, pills, food, love, gambling, arguing) which we know will give us some relief, even though temporary and unhealthy. Then when the feelgood wears off we are faced with a double barrel situation – the unresolved anxiety from the first instance and the one created by the withdrawal from the feelgood. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, they say. Better to resolve the problem creating the anxiety in the first place. Then the feelgood is kept manageable, for those who can.

I had some university work to attend to
and as it was not that of my choice
the procrastination set in fuelled by my anxiety
or vice versa, who cares?!
so I cleaned out the cupboards and took care
of other chores I had been putting off which
were less unpleasant than the uni work
then I turned to my drug of choice – food
a little of this and a little of that increased
my guilt and anxiety and then I tackled
the original culprit but as I finished the task
I wondered why I hadn’t spared myself the angst
the universal question!