Its All Good
57Take a Free Ride
Is the Sky Really Falling?
I have become aware of something in the last few days that I'd like to share here. Partly I blame it on the media, and partly I blame it on the human condition, but we are having the living daylights scared out of us.
Every time the TV is on or the radio show is playing we get all these doom and gloom news stories. All week the news has been talking about a horrible heatwave. We'd all be suffering this week with power shortages. The newscasters are singing their little sing-songy 'The Sky is Falling' chant. And the weather today was perfectly pleasant and so chilly I had to turn my fans off and put on warmer clothing. I almost didn't want to go outside for fear of melting but I'm glad I did because I had a beautiful walk and got to see lovely hibiscus flowers in white, blue and purple. My neighbor was sitting on his porch with about 24 water bottles and we both laughed because the heatwave never happened. At least not today.
I am also angry and saddened at the plethora of fear based ads on TV. We are all mortified of getting cancer, osteoporosis, or environmental poisoning. You'd think every person over 50 was about to keel over any minute from something. We're afraid to eat. We are afraid not to eat. What is this week's killer: Coffee, tomatoes, sugar, artificial sweetener? Who knows. because they will contradict themselves tomorrow. Yes, we will all die of something, but probably not today, so we need to take a deep breath and relax. No wonder I'm a nervous wreck all the time. Even though I try not to buy into all their fear marketing, it gets under my skin. I have to do positive affirmations to stay balanced.
Here are some to try on for size:
I am safe and happy.
I am always in the right place at the right time.
There are abundant opportunities around me.
I am lovable and worthy of love.
I am healthier than I've ever been.
I look awesome just the way I am.
I have a great sense of humor.
Just repeat them out loud or in your head, in front of a mirror or in the shower, before trying on clothes, whenever you feel anxious. You have to reprogram all the nasty stuff that the environment throws at you. Reclaim your life and I will reclaim mine. And if it's hot out, I know where the hose is.
Unlike most people I am not addicted to the news. But even the small bit I see starts to freak me out. The media would have you believe that any second our kids will be kidnapped, we will be hit with stray bullets, and we will have to walk 30 miles to work because we can't afford gas.
All people in all time periods have had trials. That is the nature of the world. But we also have beautiful sunsets, cheerful songs, friendly hugs and abundant gardens. Even on a dismal day there is something to be happy about.
So we have to cut back on driving? So what? My boyfriend lost ten pounds riding his bike halfway to work each day. He's aiming for a full round trip. How many of us could save a gym membership if we rode our bikes every day?
The ocean is still just as blue. The forest still has whispering pines. Don't let anxiety ruin your life. Medieval people didn't even have cars, IPODS, the Internet or electricity. But they still celebrated spring and danced around the fire at harvest.
There have always been diseases, death and taxes but never before have we sat on a couch and obsessed over them for hours on end. Action dispels fear so go out and do something you love. Shake your tail feathers, send a love letter, wear a funny hat or throw a flying disk. We aren't dead yet and I won't act like I'm at death's door anymore.
Feel Your Cares Drift Away
My Free Association Blog
- On Having Cats
Photo Caption: An aviary I saw built on an apartment balcony. Brushing away the cobwebs in my mind. Speaking of which, yesterday while sitting at my computer, something bit me on the back of my thigh, and now I have a big swollen area. I'm guessing a tiny spider. Hope I was tasty. Some people definitely attract more biting insects than others. Human bait I guess. (Like fish bait only we attract insects). Not sure what I want to do today. It's a Tuesday so I can't blame my blahs on Monday. I kept dreaming I accidentally drove into a parking structure and they wanted me to pay $20 to drive back out. Here comes the cat. I guess he's going to help me type. He must have heard me open the window and he wants to sit up there. I was giving my other cat his liquid medicine this morning when he threw back his head and it all dribbled down his chest. I really need to clean off my side desk so they can find a spot to lounge in. Every time they jump out of the window papers and cards and pens and boxes tumble onto my floor. Sometimes I resent having cats. I always get stuck caring for them because the person that wanted them is off at a 'real' job and since I'm at home writing, their caretaking ends up on my lap both figuratively and literally. And yes, they have perfectly good places to nest in other parts of the house but they prefer the room I'm in, whichever room that is. I'm a dog person but I don't have one because I can't afford one. I had one when I moved in to this situation, but she died of a seizure. Also, I'm too close to other windows. The neighbor's dog's bark and whine and it's hard for me to write and get any work done in my home office, so I don't want a dog that will annoy my neighbor's when we are spitting distance from each other's windows. If I had a house on an acre of land, I'd get a dog in a heartbeat. For now, I have to put up with cats.
- Steampunk
Steampunk fascinates me and I really want to get into it more. I had to look it up on wiki to wrap my mind around it, but I love the elements. The goggles, the rivets, the clockworks, the steam engine culture or metal and 1900's and futuristic views. And what's not to love about corsets and goggles and Victorianism meets Sci Fi? I would love to hear others comments on this or preferably a real life group to meet with and help with costuming and inventions and just really cool stuff. I don't even know where to begin beyond Internet research. It reminds me of the Wild Wild West and dirigibles and side cars and that Got Milk game and commercial series and robots and dark and dirty and mysterious cities and Sweeny Todd. That is how Steampunk works in my imagination. Oh yes and James Orwell and the Time Machine. I could be entirely wrong so don't go quoting me on any of this stuff. It's just what my subconcious mind is telling me. And maybe even that Moulin Rouge movie. Yes!
- Intenet Wealth
I never even saw my boyfriend this morning because he was so busy getting ready for work. And then at the last moment he comes in here and he's mad at me for ignoring him. I guess I'm supposed to sit there and watch him put his shoes on. At the risk of offending ice cream truck drivers everywhere, why do they always seem so smarmy to me? Why can't they look like Dick Van Dyke in a bowtie and pink striped button down shirt? If they weren't in that truck selling ice cream to your kids, would you feel safe if your kids went to the beach with them or the mall? I want my house to be organized but I don't want to do it. I'm so overwhelmed. My stuff is owning me and that's just not right. Head hurts a little. Maybe I need more than Code Red Mt. Dew for breakfast. Yah think? Blah. My cats make themselves comfortable regardless. They really have the art of relaxation down, sprawled all over my pillow or curled up inside a box of fabric. I can't decide if it's going to be cold or hot today and I'm not getting dressed until I figure this out. My thoughts don't fit into little boxes and I know I'm jumping around a lot but that is rather the point of free association. No telling where this will end up on Google, but it no doubt will because they love original and seemingly non-sensical content, more so than photos. And usually on my photo pages I don't comment much preferring to let the photo speak for itself. But photos speaking do not get you good Google search engine placement. Content does, especially if you are talking about high ticket items like ipods and cellphones and laptops and all that high tech consumer driven commercialism. I don't even have or want an Ipod much less to analyze their features or talk about them. Knowing me, if I had one I'd probably drop it in a pool or down the drain grating because my arms are always full. I'm always trying to juggle a tote bag and a purse and a tackle box and a camera and a journal and sporting goods. I always need more arms and hands. I should be a human octopus. That might help. And who of you out there thought that all those creative writing, photography and typing courses would come in handy some day. Not only handy but absolutely essential to your success as an Internet tycoon. I know all of you out there, or most of you anyway are hoping to find riches via the Internet and I believe it's possible which is why I have about a zillion blogs and social networking sites and I'm always signing up for new onese even though I have absolutely no way to keep up with the old ones. I would need to clone myself ten times over. But some money is flowing my way because of the Internet so it's working it's working. Now I can probably buy one dollar menu meal a day because of Internet earnings. Look out tummy, here it comes. Hahahahaha. Don't forget to laugh today.
