2020. What a difficult year full of strife, hate, division, lies, anger, loss, loneliness, stress, busyness, boredom, struggle, and pain. Last year was full of looking to social media for distraction, only to leave feeling worse – more lonely, more depressed, more inadequate. Last year, we spent more time at home and less time with other people.
Last year, all the shit hit the fan.
Continue readingPeople, wear a freaking mask! If you aren’t worried about getting COVID-19, sure, whatever. Be recklessly cavalier about your own health. But don’t be cavalier about the health of the people around you!
Continue readingSo I took that courageous first step: I quit my job. I turned in my two-week notice and hoped beyond hope that I hadn’t made a stupid decision. I felt stupid walking away from a job without another one lined up, but I suddenly felt so very free to go for my dreams again, to be me – artsy, creative, unique, interesting. But unemployment is no man’s friend. Not only are you not earning money, you are stuck at home way too much, you have no money to go adventuring (unless, of course, your previous job was lucrative and you were a good saver), and you feel down in the dumps about your worth as a person. You spend so much time writing applications about how wonderful you are at everything, only to get turned down over and over again. It’s exhausting!
I am so proud of Essena O’Neill. I did not know of her before, but after hearing from Joy the Baker of what she has done, I just want to yell from the rooftops, “GO GIRL!” If you do not know who this girl is (like I did not know until just yesterday), Essena O’Neill is a nineteen-year-old girl who became famous through her presence on social media. It seems that the main way she used social media in the past was through modeling and uploading photos of herself… Correct me if I’m wrong… She got sucked under by the drug of followers, likes, and worldwide social media approval. But as of only a few weeks ago, she has come up for air and sworn off social media by way of a new blog called “Lets Be Game Changers” (elimination of apostrophe her choice, certainly not mine).
Have you checked your blood sugar recently? Go check it and take care of it if you need to do so. And then read this post. For those of you without diabetes, bask in the luxury of not needing to do this. I envy you. While I am thankful that I have Type 1 Diabetes because it has forced me to be a healthier, more compassionate person, that certainly does not mean that I enjoy what it takes to take care of my diabetes. I enjoy the results of taking care of my blood sugar – feeling normal, happy, energetic, and able to pay attention. But I do not enjoy the process involved in getting to that good blood sugar. In the rest of my life, I often enjoy the process much more than the result (the result is over much too quickly), but goodness no! not in diabetes. No, with diabetes, I like results. In diabetes, I like moving forward, getting better at management, and hearing about (and seeing the results of) all the amazing things JDRF is funding to cure, prevent, and manage this disease.
Last night, I showed one of my recent favorite films to my mom, the movie NINE. I must confess that she was rather taken aback by the raciness of the first half of the movie, but I think she appreciated the film in the end. After all, the women on the screen of NINE are more clothed than many bikini wearers you see out in public. The songs may be talking about sex, and the dances suggesting it, but it’s not nearly as disturbing as watching actors pretend to have sex on screen. And the costumes, music, storyline, actors, and the way in which it is filmed are all fabulous! So I don’t mind so much. (But, still, if you were planning on watching this with your kids, think twice – thrice – unless, of course, your kids are planning to watch it with their friends no matter what. In that case, perhaps you should watch and discuss it with them instead of leaving them to sift through their thoughts on their own. This film may be rated PG-13, but R would be more appropriate.)
Once you get through the first half of the film, you begin to learn more about the main character, Italian film director Guido Contini, and just how burdened he is. Guido Contini (played by the incredible Daniel Day-Lewis) is the biggest reason I love this movie. There are so many times that I have (and do) feel just as trapped, perfectionistic, artistically stuck, and directionally confused as Contini.
Soar with Laughter 