The Slug Returneth

I wish I could say that I missed a full week because 

           a)      I won the lottery
           b)      Tim Gunn called and said, “We should do lunch, let’s make it work!” and I spent the rest of the week figuring out what to wear.
           c)      We were so busy raising money/doing advocacy work/saving the world that I had No Time to Write.

Unfortunately, the correct reason is 

d)      I am a slug.

Even this photo is sluggy.

But if I try to get it perfect, I may retreat into utter procrastination again. 

I guess self-awareness is the first step to improvement, but ugh. Slug-o-ramba. 

I have words. 

I have plans for words. 

I simply had no oomph to sit and type words. 

Some weeks are more ugh filled than others, for whatever reason. Chemical imbalance + work stress + schedule stress + a lot of friends getting medically smote AGAIN + holidays on the horizon just left me wandering the house a bit and trying to breathe deeply. I did get a lot done, but I just could not rouse myself to write anything down.

That is ok.

Ok, so it’s really not, the whole POINT of a deadline, even a self-imposed deadline, is to create some self-accountability. But in the big picture of life—so what? I missed a few days. 

This can be a tough time of year. Last year at this time things were very difficult. We lost a few good friends to the same medical situation my daughters face.  Facebook kept reminding me of our terrible December 5 years ago (and the weeks leading up to that, which in retrospect read like a horror novel where you know something bad will happen as soon as the protagonist opens the door, and you are like NOOOOOOOOO Don’t open the door! But they do anyway…ugh).  The early dark really oppresses my brain.

In listening to a podcast last week, the speakers referenced how when we try to get ourselves together, all sorts of things hit the fan or pop up—this has so much been my experience the last month or so. But they went on to add that things come up so they can be healed and worked through. Woo! 

But yeah, it still is a WORK. 

This year I am in a better place mentally, physically, emotionally. Cadbury made a fall chocolate, which helped take the edge off the early dark and kept me going until the Christmas ones appeared at Target last week. Even so—I have to be ok with the occasional slug week. 

I read a pretty mind-blowing little meditation this morning, written by a man named John Hull.  He spoke of how he needed to set “little, immediate goals” to get through the days:

“I must be content with little answers. This requires the careful planning of each day, which must be broken into its compartments. Each hour must have its particular skills, its various techniques, its little routines which enable something to be accomplished successfully. Otherwise, I will have a sense of pointless desolation, a feeling of being carried helplessly deeper and deeper into it. This becomes so sharp that I am almost overwhelmed….one fights such a thing by minute steps. One adopts tiny techniques which help one to do tiny things step by step.” 

EGADS!

Get. Out. Of. My. Head.

I am not the only one.

Tiny steps keep us moving right along. And I am not the only one who some days can only take tiny steps, or who needs to actively map tiny steps forward (like, writing “walk dog” on my to-do list in my bullet journal so I feel like I got something done, even if I add it after I actually walked her). 

I am grateful for the podcasts and writings that push me forward, and for the bullet journal that gives me a place to organize my distracted brain.  I am grateful (AGAIN, times infinity) for the medical respite that allows me to work on getting in better shape mentally and emotionally.  I MUST use this respite to be there for our friends in the thick of the battle—to be there for my children, who are growing up (or already grown up) before I could even say “Bob’s Your Uncle”—to be there for myself instead of avoiding thinking about life. 

So slug week is past. Onward. I can do it. We can do it!

Peace out, friends.

Zen Playlist (ish)

Ok, so apparently any time I post about the continuing work of Zen, the Universe hears that as a challenge…and a cosmic “Challenge accepteeeeeeeeeed” echoes eerily through my home. Something like that.

Sometimes things just don’t get better, or other things pile on, or the cumulative effect of many small irritations in my life becomes  a pile of “be a speed bump”itis.

Today is one of those days. But I have to go to work/circus/get G/home/deal with ongoing car woes/youth group stuff for R/grades are due/etc. No time for speed bump.

So today, I upped my time with the light box thing (yeah, still waiting on that to help, but the Mayo Clinic says sometimes it does).  I did my praying time.  I worked out with weights and felt like Beast Mode. I ate a donut (thanks, mom!). And now I am listening to loud music. LOUD.

Today the work of Zen is riding the wave of What the What?? that has marked the last few weeks by listening to motivational music and dancing it off.

I cannot dance.

Like, not at all.

Like, robots have actually travelled from the future to ask me to please never do the robot. I have the rhythm and coordination of a gourd. Those inflatable guys you see outside car dealerships have better moves than I do.

So what?

Today’s Zen is embracing the value of dancing/singing the irritation and frustration of many situations out, even if dancing looks a bit like frantic flailing and the singing is…what it is. The dog isn't howling along, so that is something.

“I can dance if I want to…” (currently playing in background). Yeah. That. So two of our cars are dead. So we have family situations and work situations and school situations.  “We can dance!”

Weirdly, it helps.

And when my family is home, and they find my manic happy dancing annoying, that is just a bonus. ;) Then I can say “you don’t want dancing? Challenge Accepteeeeeeed!” as I flail around them to “Walk Like an Egyptian” or “Safety Dance” or the B-52s or Sia.  They love that so very much. 

Fun Fact:  It is hard to stay crabby or stressed when you are trying to be the crazy medieval lady from the Safety Dance video.

So this is no newsflash, again—but today, all I have is a playlist of happy/determined music and a dog who woofs when I tell Alexa what to play next.

What’s your Greatly Annoying Season Playlist? What songs do you use to tell the universe you are ready for whatever challenge it sends?

Some of my favorites:

Shiny Happy People, REM

Not Afraid, Eminem

The Greatest, Sia

O Fortuna, Carl Orff

Unstoppable, Sia

Anything ever by the B-52s, the sillier the better (Mesopotamia!)

Tubthumping, Chumbawamba

All Star, Smash Mouth

Safety Dance, Men Without Hats

Walk Like an Egyptian (super silly), the Bangles

I am a Rock, Simon & Garfunkel (more if I am mad)

Won’t Back Down, Tom Petty

Lose Yourself, Eminem

Shake it Off, Taylor Swift

I could go on (and on and on and on)—so what’s on YOUR playlist of YEAH, BRING IT!?

Doing the Work

Zen = Work.

Yes, guest blogger Captain Obvious is in the house today.

Again, I am late. Last week two of our three family cars died ON THE SAME DAY. And not just like, merely a flesh wound—the one is too expensive to repair (ie is now being driven by firstborn with a supply of coolant to keep it from perpetually overheating) and the other is a challenging repair but STILL cheaper than buying two new cars unexpectedly at the same time. But until it is fixed, I am in “borrow a car to get anywhere” mode. I only work part time, so that makes sense.

I am actually kind of surprised, my initial response was not !@((#@&#*& AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH, but more of a “hey, nobody is dead. We can get a new car”.

For me, this is kind of a Zen Gold Star.

That said, the stress of having no car, of trying to help the two afflicted car owners deal with their collective frustration and stress, of dealing with ongoing other painful stuff here, of navigating work and school and schedule drama left me with no oomph to write anything.  For me, anxiety and stress are really contagious. I need some emotional Purell or something so I can be a better support for people in my life who are struggling with things instead of just catching their stress. Can somebody invent that?

On second thought, don’t. Being empathetic /compassionate is not something I want to limit. I just have to do the work to keep myself afloat while helping others stay afloat.

Zen = Work. And at the end of last week, I could only do the work in real life, not on paper (or, more accurately, screen—although I do most of my planning, etc., on paper. I need the physical act of writing to help me get my brain in order).

As I have been trying to help some of my family members with stuff, we keep coming back to this—we have to put in the work to see results, success, etc. Zen is achieved, not really discovered, even though I keep referencing my search for Zen—it is really the work of searching that will hopefully maybe finally achieve some state of peace.

I think the real gift of this time of medical respite is that I can work at using the tools of yoga, writing, bullet journal, prayer, books, podcasts, the little light therapy thing that I have not seen any effect from yet but I am hopeful, exercise, sewing, connecting with friends, practicing gratitude,  etc. to try and get through those moments where I feel skin crawly anxiety. Having the mental space to think “you must work NOW at dealing with this feeling instead of just lying on the floor” is a gift. I am really working at using it.

But gosh, it IS a work.

About 10 minutes ago as I was wandering around my house I actually out loud said to myself “SIT DOWN AND JUST WRITE SOMETHING!’. The dog looked a little perturbed (I know, Coco, you don’t have thumbs, I was talking to me), but today the work was getting my ample backside in this chair and typing something. Lesson plans are done. Test is written. Only one thing left to grade. SIT AND WRITE.

This is part of my work. 

I guess I just encourage everyone today—keep doing the work. Knowing that getting stronger and healthier and more balanced is a work helps me get past my sluggishness sometimes. Just like I keep going to my job, I need to keep working at me, too.  

Do the work. Achieve the Zen. Keep movin’. We can do it.