Comedy Always Wins
…Comedy is much more difficult than tragedy. It’s much easier to make people cry than to make them laugh.Â
Vivien Leigh
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Personal Life
Telling Ourselves A Better Story
Last month, when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, it was a perfect, if exaggerated example of how victims of bullying see their fate. The bully assaults you and then gets an award and a standing ovation. The victim is left wondering, what about me? What about right and wrong? Why does the bully matter more and why doesn’t someone stand up for me?
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Alpaca Acquaintances
I played hooky a week ago today. I emailed all of my clients in advance to say I’d be away, just because. It was a mental health break and a chance to hang out with my sister-in-law and about 40 alpacas.
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Brain Wave Revelation
The untimely death of a rock icon like Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins brings to mind the famous quote from English Poet John Donne.
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Comfort Viewing
If we’re flipping channels or clicking through the offerings of a streaming service and this movie comes up, we’re watching it. Again!
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What We Get Wrong About Sleep
Our collective sleep quality and quantity is one of many things negatively affected by the pandemic. People who never had trouble sleeping now have bouts of insomnia. Add an incomprehensible war with 24/7 coverage and our ability to wind down is worsened. We have always talked a lot about sleep in this house. It’s probably third, after food and the cat. I slept like crap. I had a great sleep. What time did you get up? And so on.
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You’ve Got to Change Your Mind
A young friend, a former colleague actually, told me this phrase as part of a teenage-hood anecdote. When she got upset about something she couldn’t do anything about, her Mother would say, “You’ve got to change your mind”. As someone who didn’t grow up with that kind of advice, I see its immense power and wisdom.
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Anticipating Cuddles
Even as we grieved for Miss Sugar, we knew it wouldn’t be long before we welcomed another little beating heart into our home. There’ll never be another Miss Sugar or a Spice. But the place felt empty without a furball to feed and love. Enter Cuddles, a 13-year-old panther-like beauty surrendered to Animal Aide in St. Thomas 7 long months ago.
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Dear Young Woman
I’m writing to you as an elder sister. You can’t imagine it now (nor should you, if you’re living your life well), but I don’t feel that much different than you do. You may look at me like a Mother or Aunt figure. I see you as a peer.
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Efforts, Big and Small
“Every disaster movie starts with a government official ignoring a scientist.”
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The Only One We Get
I’ve been truly gobsmacked over the sheer number of comments here and on social media about my alcoholism post. It amazes me that people respond so generously to an honest revelation about something that, not so long ago, brought me feelings of shame. But it’s when we reveal our flaws that we give others permission to do the same. We ought to learn this stuff in school. So, thank you for sharing your experiences and simply for being kind.
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