It’s the most wonderful (& fallback-inducing) time of the year
It’s the most wonderful (and fallback-inducing) time of the year! What with both my kids’ birthdays and holiday happenings, our family and inner circle that gets swept up in the madness now refers to this month as Livecember. There are a whole bunch of expectations for December to be magical…and there are parts that are... But, even that expectation that I should find joy in every moment this month when joy is often at the farthest reaches during the holiday season can send me tumbling back.
From Fallback to Spring Forward: Bringing our better selves in times of complexity
Do you remember in those old 80’s horror, adventure, sci-fi flicks when the walls start closing in around the protagonist? Think Indiana Jones…or Star Wars. Doorways close, a boulder rolls in to block the entrance to the cave, windows disappear behind the shifting walls. All the while, the protagonist is desperate for a way to escape the impending doom and is forced to become smaller and smaller in an effort to avoid being crushed by the shrinking space he is in. Well, this doesn’t just happen in movies. This shrinking is also what happens in our psychological self when we experience fallback.
After the Rain
It’s Spring Break for the kiddos. And, it’s been raining all week. Rain is hardly ever a welcome meteorologic phenomenon in my world. It’s become even less-so during this time of lockdown. We have so very few options for respite from the walls that surround us, from each other, from the staid repetition of our Groundhog Days. Yet, the melancholy that accompanies the rain is not a phenomenon isolated within this time of pandemic. Not for me at least. This week’s deluge took me back to this time almost a year ago. A time of uncertainty tinged with hope. I wrote then…
Lost and Found
In November, I lost my wedding and engagement rings. I love my rings, but I don’t wear them all the time. Only when I’m going out do I really put on any jewelry. I opened the dryer one day and found my engagement ring lying under the jeans. I didn’t even realize it had been lost. Suddenly I recalled that the night before when I was putting lotion on Sloane, I slipped the rings off and put them in my pocket. Then I forgot all about them. So tumble-dried engagement ring – here. Where’s the wedding ring? I searched the dryer, shaking each of the jeans that inhabited it. Nothing.
Do what you love + other ramblings + addendum to “signs” post
There are many things that we cannot do now. Yet, there are no doubt things that you love to do, that in the course of your normal life what with the kids’ sports and activities schedule, your own social calendar, work commitments, in short, life as you knew it when you were able to leave your home… you had a hard time finding time for. Remember what that thing is, and do it.