I’ve been getting tangled up in the ugliness of our current political scene and my body has been telling me it doesn’t appreciate the stress. I’m sure many of you can relate… when you’re the kind of person who can’t help but Give A Sh*t about what’s going on out there, how people are treating each other, how disrespectful and downright hateful some of the conversation is…. well, it’s just hard to tune it out. Every time I sit at the computer to work at my editing job or scan facebook, I peek at CNN and the headlines are always – not the good stuff-. When the husband and I sit down at night to watch a little TV before bed, we check the news. Same negative crap. I was just about to start a post on the increasingly obnoxious behaviors of our political candidates, one in particular who just keeps unraveling.. and yet!!… (ah, but I digress).
What’s a girl to do.
I’m purposefully redirecting my attention to the little things. They’re actually the big things, the most important things that bring me moments of peace and calm and absolutely, joy.
My kids made me an empty nester this year – I’ve shared some of my horror at the thought with you in previous posts. If you haven’t already experienced it yourself, I can tell you that it’s not all bad. (Wow, did I just say that.) Oh, I do miss the sound of their heavy footfalls upstairs as they rouse themselves in the morning, and the breakfast and dinner chatter that occurred on a near daily basis. SOMETIMES I miss making big meals regularly that will feed four plus leftovers, but on that particular point I don’t miss the gigantic grocery shopping and I enjoy making simpler meals more often for just the two of us. What’s awesome is both of my children live in the next town over, just ten minutes away, and they’re doing great – they are responsible with work, love their own spaces and they take care of their “stuff”, including bill paying and learning to cook. You know you did something right when they do those things and enjoy the process.
Icing on the cake – we still see them regularly and they ENJOY coming home to visit.
A text I got from my son yesterday – He had gone fishing after work…
“So I didn’t catch anything but it was pretty awesome, no one else fishing, high tide, 3 people had easel set up and were painting the bridge, saw two horseshoe crabs and a really cool big dark brown bird with a huge beak was hanging out ten feet away. “
…and this pic from my daughter – Look at the tomatoes on my girl’s window sill – she’s got two big patio pots on the back deck of her condo and she’s proud of the harvest, as am I.
They’re noticing .. and appreciating.. the little things. The important stuff.
– It’s a beautiful thing.
And because I can’t be anything but me…. let me just end this post today with these words of wisdom I would like to bestow upon the powers-that-might-be.….
Enough said –