I had not intended these check-ins to become a regular feature, but life piles up and here we are.
Here is the Current State of Affairs in the Benevolent Dictatorship of Jennsylvania.
The Good:
- I have been writing almost 3k words a night for the last week, not including blog posts. I also have some places I want to send my fiction and nonfiction writing. I attended a cool spoken word performance Saturday night, am going to a writer’s group with friends Tuesday night, and to another writing group Wednesday night. Writing and I have our teeth in each other again, and neither is backing down.
- I am working out with coworkers in the parking lot after work. I forgot my workout clothes but don’t care, I’ll do it barefoot in my work capris and blouse. We do calisthenics and kettlebells like the wild savages we are, and it’s AWESOME.
- I am going out of town this weekend for my family reunion. I’ve made Herzog’s appointment to be boarded at the vet, and must remember to pack his favorite toys, something to snuggle, and a bag of spinach as a treat because he is a very strange cat.
- I have to make something to take to the reunion, so I am making the Pioneer Woman’s Green Bean Casserole recipe. I made it a few years ago for the holidays and it was a big hit.
- I have a new blue dress for the reunion and it is cute. I am excited.
The Bad:
- Some fucko stole some personal information and tried to use to it to file a false tax return. This is coming JUST as I have paid off some major debts and a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. So help me, the light will not turn out to be the dumpster fire of some jackwad ruining my credit. NO SIR. I put fraud alerts on my accounts.
- This might be the tip of an iceberg of a bigger problem. I am being VERY careful.
- Because of a snafu with my insurance, I may have to find a new therapist. I go to a therapist once a month to check and make sure my head is staying on straight, and now I must either change after 3 years and get a referral, OR I could keep going to her and paying her whole fee out of pocket, which I can’t afford.
- I have been loaned to another project at work, so I have two different projects to keep up with right now.
The Ugly:
- THREE separate friends are battling cancer in various forms. All I can do is be there for them, cook them healthful meals, and offer them rides and a shoulder when they need it, but what I wish most fervently is for cancer to magically take human form so I can take it apart with my bare hands. THE THINGS I WOULD DO TO IT.
- The news is depressing as shit and I have all but given up on keeping up with it in depth, and just follow sound bites which is the worst way to follow news.
How We Do
Some of these are things I can do something about. Some of them are things I must accept and deal with, to the best of my ability. As anyone who has read Slaughterhouse-Five or been through recovery knows, the important thing is knowing the difference.
I am strong enough to weather the things I cannot change.
And as far as the things I CAN change…
… Around here, we take those problems One. Hit. At. A. Time.
Congratulations on all your writing, that sounds excellent and I am sure will be successful. As for the bad and ugly stuff – I am sorry to hear those things, all I can do is send a hug from over here to you 🙂
Thank you so much! It means a lot to hear that and I really appreciate it! 🙂
🙂 My pleasure! Chin up, honey 🙂
What a crazy mix of emotions your post generated in me! Hang on in there 🙂
Ha ha, thank you, I appreciate it! It’s even more exciting living through all this. 😀
I do have one suggestion for news viewing. Do not watch mainstream news. It’s calculated to make you feel utterly and completely hopeless. It pretty much consists of “something bad happened, then something else bad happened” ,with no context given to any of the events.
If at all possible try to get your news online. You can pick and choose the stories you want to dig deeper into.
It’s a little more time consuming (I know some people don’t have the time for that), but if possible, find a news source you can trust (preferably a source that’s neutral or progressive) and investigate the stories you want to explore, at your own pace , rather then being hit over the head with event, after event, after event, with no context.
True. You will have to establish a priority on what stories are important to you but it’s worth it to save your sanity.
Also pick at least one day a week where you simply do not access any form of news. Just enjoy your day as much as you can. My day is Saturday. If it something life changing, I will hear about it. If not, it can wait till I get to it. Your life contains difficulties enough.
You cannot adopt all the problems of strangers too. Which may be the point of mainstream news. To make us be provincial, insular, and care less about the rest of the world.
Thank you so much! What a great, insightful comment!
Oh yeah, I don’t watch any news at all, but I do go to sites like CNN or MSNBC to keep up with stuff – well, when things aren’t TOO depressing, anyway. And you are absolutely right on all points, filtering is necessary to retaining sanity, and if something is important enough, it’ll get to me one way or another. A news-free day sounds like a great idea, frankly!
I make a point to counter bad news by finding outlets that have good news, but i’m still reading news. Perhaps it’s more ‘information fatigue’ than anything else! :/
I’m right there with you on the news. I had to cut Maddow out of my life. I’m halfway ready to drop Trevor Noah, who I wanted to like very much, but he’s not funny enough to take the edge off of the news. Lately, John Oliver and Samantha Bee are doing the best job of providing me information without infuriating me.
Agree. I started following the Goodnewsnetwork.org to keep from falling into a pit of existential despair. I watch Oliver’s highlights now and then when someone posts them but otherwise I can’t even watch that much news! :/