#WednesdayWisdom: Do what you have to do

I didn’t even hesitate to make the second cup of coffee this morning, not that I’ve touched it yet. Let me rectify that.

Ahh.

It was sunny and now it’s gray and today I am tired, as evidenced by the coffee. So the only thing that’s going to get me from 11 to 12 is another cup of half-caff, which I do understand adds up to a whole-caff, but otherwise I will continue to zombie today. And that’s my little nugget of wisdom for you.

Do what you have to do.

It doesn’t have to be perfect, or best, or even the better option today. Take convenience over ideal. Take quick over quality. It’s OK.

It’s really OK.

We’ve been through a lot and many of you are still going through it, frozen in places that aren’t supposed to be frozen. And even if you’re not, even if it’s only your empathy in overload, give yourself a break and do what you have to do to get through today.

It’s OK if your progress is in inches rather than miles. Sentences rather than pages.

It’s OK.

My one little caveat is if you are a person with dependency issues, do what you need to do to get through the desire to return to those issues to get through the day. This is not permission for self-harm.

This is permission for self-care.

And have a great Wednesday.

Check out my full-length novels:
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended)
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#WednesdayWisdom: Maintaining sanity

Right now, life feels like a narrow, narrow band with screaming banshees all around, shapeless, formless noise, like something out of an old Loony Tunes cartoon. So much information, and reality questioned at every turn, treated as though it’s merely optional.

It’s pretty easy to get carried up, up and away, but we need to stay grounded.

My best bet? Just taking a few minutes to force myself to be in the moment. Really examine something in your environment. Really listen to the sounds around you. Breathe.

All of this stuff is going to happen with or without us. While we can do our part to make sure things turn out OK, there is so much beyond our part that is out of our control. And that’s fine.

Life continues, even in the chaos, and it’s not wrong to keep that going too. Be aware, keep up to date, but make sure you ask your leaders to do their part for you. That’s why they’re there.

Take care of yourself and have a great Wednesday.

Check out my full-length novels:
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended)
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

When horses fly

Yesterday, I went to the Art Institute of Chicago, where they were placing a new sculpture somewhere requiring a crane for the transfer. A huge skeleton of a horse, the artwork was headless, the head already placed in its destination.

In the cab of the crane, the operator waited to start the move, his foot casually propped up against the door frame. Like this was nothing. Like operating that enormous piece of equipment–and it was enormous–was nothing.

The other workers grabbed the heavy chains and tightened straps to hoist the sculpture. And then, finally, when it seemed they would never lift it, there it floated into the air with a grace unexpected from metal. And the crane operator vindicated his nonchalance.

It wasn’t a sight I expected to see yesterday. In fact the whole visit was full of new things and surprises: a textiles exhibit; a collection of Islamic art; the work of Hairy Who?, an art collective from the 60s.

Did it change what’s happening in the world?

UH, no.

Did it make me not think about it for a while?

Definitely.

There’s a little bit of escape in finding the new within the old. Fresh eyes. Fresh perspective?

Not this time.

But I can say I’ve seen a horse skeleton hoisted high against the Chicago skyline. And that’s something.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out my full-length novels:

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended)

Her Cousin Much Removed

The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Hedonistic

What does a Hercules Beetle have to do with hedonism? Haven’t the foggiest. No wait, it’s nature indulging its own hedonism…I mean look at it! Muséum de Toulouse [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D, from Wikimedia Commons

This morning I had cottage cheese (Good Culture cottage cheese, it’s utterly amazing. All real food ingredients, and it tastes like it) with a bit of a bright strawberry jam and some fruit. And then I decided I wanted a piece of toast as well. With the chocolate chip cookie peanut butter.

Hedonistic.

Remarkably the peanut butter is healthier than it sounds, but it tastes like you’re cheating on adulthood. Heavenly.

Which is another H word I didn’t consider but here we are eighty words in so I’m committed.

There are those things we tend to deny ourselves because we “shouldn’t.” Not because they’re objectively bad or harmful to ourselves or others, but because we build up these matrices in our heads: the allowed; the forbidden; the OK sometimes; the OK but make sure you feel bad about it.

But here’s the thing. We’re living in a world where Armageddon doesn’t seem impossible, where it feels real and close and some days, inevitable. Is there really room in the universe for “OK but make sure you feel bad about it?”

I don’t think so.

Build a little hedonism into your life. Not the kind that can destroy it or you, just the kind that gives you permission to enjoy things without the trip to the guilt gallows. Like chocolate chip cookie peanut butter.