Growing Up or Meandering Along

A big part of adulthood seems to be disappointment.

Expectations that aren't met.

Goals that aren't achieved.

Beliefs that we've held from a young age being shattered through the revelations of time.

Joyful experiences of our childhood that we fail to recreate. Accepting that the past is gone.

Perhaps that's why they say intelligence can be a curse. The more we visualise, the more we imagine, the more we believe is possible, the greater the potential disappointment when we let ourselves down or the world fails to deliver on our expectations. Finding a way to live in the moment is the only way to deal with that disappointment. Goals are good. Hope is good. But if we're not happy right here, right now, then it's all for naught. The little joys in life are necessary to ensure the greater joys of life.

My Browsing Habits

I regularly read a lot of sites. I also like generally browsing, which means I stumble across the occasional gem that tickles my fancy. In fact, sometimes I stumble across a fun site, follow it for a few weeks, somehow forget about it entirely, then get to experience the joy of checking it out again after a prolonged absence.

Here is my more 'regular' browsing history.

Each morning when I wake up I load the following sites on my phone:

www.notalwaysright.com
www.fmylife.com

They're light, they give me a laugh, and they overall provide a relaxed and obligation free start to the day.

There are other regularly sites that I've given up on following on my iPhone, but always keep up to date on (albeit only 2-3 times per week) on my computer:

www.failbook.com
www.lamebook.com
www.dyac.com

For a bit more detailed fun, I like to check out:

www.news.com.au
www.nzherald.com.au
www.dailymail.co.uk

And yes, I know that the daily mail is trash - but it is gossipy and fun. I don't believe everything that it says, but I enjoy it all the same. News.com.au I check out each morning, and in fact use as a default site whenever I'm not entirely sure where to go.

On the weekends I branch out further afield:

www.stfuparents.blog.com
pottersues.livejournal.com

They're sites you might love. You might hate. In fact, on potter sues I frequently hate myself and the world temporarily, as I realise how many stupid people exist on this planet. Then I see a story by a teenage girl who clearly has some talent. Who just needs to hone her skills. Who has the art of description, but needs to learn not to rush the storyline. And I go "Wow, I learnt a lot from reading this". And then the laugh - or lack thereof - doesn't matter. Because a person has give some info to this person.

Black Days

Today is a black day, and it's one of those inexplicable and highly noticeable black days. For one thing, it's a Saturday.
If I wake up on a Tuesday feeling down, I just go about my daily routine. In fact, that's part of the reason my work routine is so set in stone - I have to get up and going quickly in the morning, or not at all. It's up, shower, clothes, and out the door to the train. At work there are a million priorities demanding my attention. Before I know it, the day passes. Varying degrees of blackness will impact on whether it's a good day or a bad day, but either way - it's a day

On a weekend I have no external demands on my time. If I crack, I crack. If I struggle, I struggle. There's more time free to rationalise, to focus on the positives and the obvious fact that I have a particularly awesome life. But there's also more time to just 'feel'. Time to stress. Time to slip into the darkness. Today I got up early, because sleeping is hard in the blackness. By 11:30 I was in full meltdown at my beautiful husband and plans for the day were in disarray. I pulled myself together and we went out, had lunch, browsed the shops and took in a movie. It was nice. Yet the entire time, the black dog was hanging over my shoulder. This unshakeable feeling of something being wrong, of nothing being worth it, of life being a terrible, terrible tragic waste of effort.

But it's 7:56pm on Saturday, and the day is nearly done. I'm going to have a glass of wine and play my piano. Evenings are exciting, because the end of another day means the dawn of a new one. And no two days are exactly the same. Sure, I might feel the same way tomorrow. But some of those are Up days, where the world is the MostFantasticAwesomeExcitingPlaceEVER and ILOOOVEMyLife. I don't think I'd want to be stuck in that mode permanently either. Too unpredictable. So if I can't be in a balanced place, right in the middle, I'll just ride out the roller coaster. My Nana always said "This Too Shall Pass". And she was right.

Voting voting voting

The nice thing about elections is that they never matter as much as people think they do. My newsfeed is abuzz with angst tonight, as my NZ friends on FB breakdown the results of the NZ parliament elections. 
But really, we (and by we I mean those of us in Australia, NZ, and any other Western democratic countries) are lucky to live in places we have the opportunity to vote. Where nobody is standing at the polling booth with gun in hand. Where we fear no prosecution or persecution based on our voting choices, and have complete freedom to exercise our preference as we please.

I know that this whole "it could be worse argument" can be fallacious, and I don't attempt to minimise the frustration of those whose party loses in their estimation of things. But really, the differences between the parties in NZ are slim. We are not talking about women's rights vs. being forced to wear the burqa. We are talking about policy differences on selling economic assets, addressing poverty, climate change, etc. The type of policy that can be changed by whoever gets into office anyway - it's not specific enough that they commit to their course of action. Yes, they have different perspectives. But overall the rights of the everyday citizen will remain the same. It comes down to difference of opinion, rather than differences in rights and privileges. And we should consider ourselves fortunate to be in that position.

Let them Eat Pie

Tonight I baked an apple pie. The notable part is that today is a Monday, and the start of a 'long' work week. But I don't feel that way anymore. Instead, I come home from work and bake pie. Because yesterday I made Bacon & Egg Pie, and today I had leftover pastry to use. Once, it would have been forgotten in the fridge and ultimately thrown out. But not now. I know every item in the fridge, I have meals planned for the week. I have heightened awareness of every aspect of my daily life.

Suddenly, I'm not wasting anything, nor leaving mess in the house, nor pursuing my other lazy, confused, disorganised habits.

Living in the moment, the mundane becoming the sublime in it's own twisted way. Hmmm. I have pie to eat!

When you reach October

There are three months missing from my blog. Often I say "I should blog everyday", and often I write blog posts in my head.

If I were to have blogged in the past few weeks it would have been about my pregnancy. Hopeful, optimistic, musing on impending parenthood. Maybe lighthearted debate on baby names. Maybe worries about balancing my priorities. Now, of course, I am no longer pregnant. A lot can happen in a week.

Really, it's an example of how much can happen in a short period of time. Last time I blogged, children were a hypoethetical in my future. Something I'd decided I wanted, but an experience I hadn't had. Now, I am once again a new person, shaped by a new experience. My relationship has stood through another test and come out stronger. My personality and my willpower are recharged. I will be better, stronger, renewed yet again.

But for right now, I will sleep. Because my body and my mind are shattered.

A self-adjusting society

Is it just me, or is there no such thing as a "self-fulfilling prophecy" when general society is concerned? In fact, it seems that the opposite is true.

In response to women taking on a more equal role, you might hear both reasonable social commentators and some rabid traditionalists crying foul. "Men will be emancipated!" both groups proclaim. They will lose their manliness, become completely soft, there will be nothing left manly in this world. Of course, that doesn't happen. At all. Instead, we see a beautiful balance occurring between the genders.

Take pollution, or global warming - so far, not as bad as anybody predicted.

The question is, are the scaremonger folk really full of BS, or are they predicting events that have the potential to actually happen - but are moderated by the attention drawn to them by the very alarmists that the naysayers like to mock.

Are we avoiding harmful trends in society just by talking about them? Maybe. It's a thought.