Month: May 2016

Friday the 13th

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Tomorrow is Friday the 13th. 

The bad luck motherload. The horror of horrible days. The superstition, the legend. 

But what does that really mean? You may have “bad luck” every day. What would make one day any different? 

Well, you could say that people make their own luck and it doesn’t really matter that a string of unfortunate, unruly events occur because they’re not related. 

Or

You could use this day as a proverbial hall pass. Mess stuff up and make mistakes, and don’t blame yourself. Just for one day. I mean, don’t go asking for a black cat to hold or for a mirror to break, but maybe instead of a day to fear, you can embrace it as a day to not be perfect without having to hold yourself responsible. Why not just blame it all on bad luck? When else can you use that excuse, after all?

Because whatever Friday the 13 may mean to you, (“oh no!” Or “who cares?”) it can be your scapegoat. Just like any Monday, you’ll say, “oh sure. It makes sense that I dropped my phone in the toilet. It’s Friday the 13th after all.” 

And that’s sort of a relief instead of a scare. Just try not to press your luck too much. Even bad luck has its limits. 

Car Horns

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When do you use your car horn most? When you’re trying to get someone’s attention? When you’re trying to signal to a squirrel to tell him that he should get out of the road? When you’re trying to tell someone that they’re driving wonderfully? 

No. You use it when someone is being an $#!hole. When someone cuts you off, blows through a stop sign, or if you’re a New Yorker, just because you feel like it. 

And if you’re anything like me, I’m so embarrassed when someone uses their horn on me that I mouth “sorry” as many times as I can and gesture to the driver that I didn’t mean it. It’s the one thing that always makes me feel like an idiot. 

But I’m not always being the idiot. Because people use their car horns all the time. And not always for the right reason. 

And that’s a lot like life, isn’t it? Someone can tell you that you’re doing something wrong, and you very well might be. But there are going to be times that you’re not, and that person is going to continue to make you feel like an idiot. And it can be really hard to ignore that.  Sometimes, you really value that person’s opinion.

But just because that person has an opinion, just like car horns, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re using it at the right time or that they even have the right to exert their influence over you. 

You should always remember that others are going to try to get you to stay in line. They’re going to make fun of you, and they’re going to exclude you, and yeah, they’re going to honk at you. But that doesn’t make them the authority in your life.

The way I see it, if you’re not hurting anyone, just keep on doing what you’re doing. Honk if you agree. 

Either/Or 

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I’m sorry if I’ve already written on this subject (and maybe even titled it the same thing.) But that just happens. There’s some topics that seem to roll around in my head all day and I have to revisit them. 

And what exactly rolls around in my head all day? The fact that we compare ourselves so much. We don’t have the same car, job, clothes, things as other people, and that somehow makes us lesser. Even personality. That person is funnier, nicer, and smarter than us, and we suddenly don’t measure up in any other category as well. It’s as if the brighter someone else’s light is, the more we should dim our own. 

But I’m here to tell you that that’s not true. That this life is not either/or. It’s very much “and.” You can be something and someone else can be something, and you can both be good. The difference is that you’re just…different.

So the next time that you feel the need to compare, remind yourself that there’s a lot of people on this earth. And somehow, we all have the right to exist in it, even though we’re not all the best at everything. But you’re not an ultimatum to someone. You’re a whole universe unto yourself. 

Chutes and Ladders

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I may be dating myself, but does anyone remember the board game chutes and ladders? (Okay, now think hard. Try to remember. Board games are what you played before you used your cell phone for every form of entertainment.) 

But in case that doesn’t ring a bell specifically, chutes and ladders was a simple board game. You rolled a die and you got to move a number of spaces. This would either allow you to arrive at a ladder where you would go up, and up, and up. Or you’d get a chute, and you’d go all the way back down. Sometimes, you’d have to start back at the beginning, even. 

And now, you probably know what’s coming. This is the part where I say that this is life: a series of chutes and ladders. And you never really know what you’ll get next. Or how far you’ll go or fall. 

And you’d be right. I’d like to say that. But the question I’m left with is what’s to keep you from tumbling all the way down and never rolling the die again? What motivates you when you have to start all over? 

Well. I suppose it’s the same thing that got you to that chute in the first place. Because you didn’t start there. That what if? 

And that’s what it all comes down to: because you could be wrong about all this. 

I mean, personally, today made me want to stop and never start again. 

But I keep going because there’s a chance that I’ll be wrong about what is gonna happen next. 

Ultimately, the crash down is still gonna come and it’s gonna hurt. But we’re all hoping to go higher than ever before. And if you think it hard enough, you just might do it. 

Still Processing 

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How do you get from point A to point B?

Well, you plot a course, and after a right or left turn, you’re there. 

How do I do it? 

I stress and tear my hair out at the fact that I’m not at point B, and gee, point A is so far away, and what’s wrong with me that I haven’t gotten to point B yet?

Because I don’t process things. Or I don’t realize that there is a process to things. That I can’t show up and know everything in the universe. And for some reason that actually frustrates me. 

And call it what you will. Call me a millennial, and point out my obsession with instant gratification. (Ever since we invented solar powered calculators, it’s like we just expect the answers to be given to us.) But I’m still completely confounded by the journey. I don’t know that practice makes perfect because I stuck with everything that came to me naturally (reading, writing, dancing).

It’s just that I don’t remember the time when things were hard and I didn’t know how to do something until I learned. I just remember having learned it. 

So, I’m still processing things. And I’m trying not to beat myself up for not knowing things until I know them. Every journey starts with the first step, but I do wish I walked quicker. 

Slow

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It’s been beaten into our heads since we were kids. 

Don’t run across the street, walk. 

Slow and steady wins the race. 

Haste makes waste. 

And so on. But they don’t mean it. (I’m well into adulthood and I still don’t know who “they” are, but it sounds good and rebellious to say it.) 

They actually want you to work quicker. Move faster. Get on to the next thing, and the next thing, and the thing after that. And they certainly don’t want you to stop and look around. Because if you were to do that, if you were going to smell the roses, then what else might you notice? That you’re a slave to the machine? 

Harsh, I know. But it’s important that it’s harsh. Because we aren’t waking up from anything unless we get a good knock to the head about it. 

I mean, my whole problem is that I can’t slow down. So, when I turn to a solution that all millennials seek (Google), all I get is this list of things I need to do. “Be mindful.” “Chew thoroughly.” “Stare at the tv without turning it on to make you remember what silence sounds like.” 

Hey bloggers, can I let you in on a little secret? I don’t need anymore stuff to do. I don’t need to grow a herb garden, take up knitting, or enjoy a bubble bath. I need peace in the midst of chaos. I need to slow down when everything else is telling me to speed up. 

So, how do I go slow? How do I stare the clock down and say that I’m going to take my time, no matter what it says? 

I take deep full breaths. Because in any moment, that’s my only goal: to just get to the next one.