I love you people talking of touchstones and small personal objects, but I actually never take off the pedant hat. Totems are shared by groups--tribes, clans, etc. What I think you're speaking of are talismans, personal objects of significance, no matter their origin.

I have actual fingerstones of moss agate, red snakeskin jasper, and rainbow fluorite, one of them is on my person almost always. And a number of pendants on long cords, carved bone Maori fish hooks, wooden netsuke with beads, a carnelian-set silver pendant with a freewheeling red jasper disc, and the cedarwood teardrop H carved out to inset the agate stone we found on a hike. The fingers find texture soothing, and hopefully the mind follows.

Timelies all!

Used the treadmill three days this week. (I do a reasonably brisk walk for 35 minutes.) I don't expect I'll be able to do this every week, but it is an improvement.

From when the desert was sea bed, Connie?

ita, that's marvelous--that you gleaned all that from your first meeting. He must trust you.

From when the desert was sea bed, Connie?

Possible, that section is the old shoreline of primordial Lake Bonneville, way up on the side of the mountain. They may have found cool fossils up there.

edit: But just using the word Gulch sounds so Old West. I can't help picture an Old One in spurs and a ten-gallon hat.

That should be a Doctor Who episode.

Totems are shared by groups--

Like, say, fans of Supernatural? Although I did not swallow the model Impala, I still feel all totemic about it.

Totem is one of those line-walking terms. It's an Ojibwe word, and has specific meaning among Native and First Nations peoples. Like many other things, it's been borrowed for wider use.

I'd say fandom objects would definitely be more totemic than purely personal items because of the former's shared nature.

Fascinating guy--also came out to me as gay, so that was one long conversation, as well as needing ADA from HR (he's scared too). All in our first real convo.

That's a lot! I'm sure he was grateful to have a sympathetic audience.

The doctor said it's very unlikely I've had a stroke, but he ordered an MRI just to be safe.

...fingerstones...The fingers find texture soothing, and hopefully the mind follows.

For me it's more about the shape than the texture, but I think the idea is the same. I always carry what I call a "fidget piece," which for the last 30 years has been a spoon-shaped piece of wood about 1" x 2" originally intended to be a keychain fob. It helps me deal with anxiety and nervous energy.