The Positive Effect

I am going to make a concerted effort to be more positive.  My anger eats at me like cancer, and apparently that’s pretty unhealthy.  (Who knew?)  So …

Here are some of my favorite things:

·         Listening to my Acoustic France cd.  My kids are used to it, but people look at me a little strangely when they stumble upon me listening to it.  I don’t care.  It reminds me of places I’ve never been, and I love those places.

·         Mimosas.  They are sort of a perfect storm of buzz and Vitamin C.  (That qualifies as a Food Group, doesn’t it?)

·         Netflix.  I know it’s bad to stare indefinitely at a screen, but I truly love binge-watching shows that I would literally NEVER watch when they are broadcasted.  (House of Cards, Frasier, Girls, Shameless, Modern Family…)

·         Black humor.  Harold & Maude.  Slaughterhouse Five.  Saved.  Heathers.  Running with Scissors.  Dogma.  (The shit that comes out of my own mouth…)  Humor is a really cathartic way to deal with all the shit that life deals out.

·          MONEY.  I know that’s so inappropriate and taboo to say, but when you don’t have any, life is harder.  Is there anything more appealing than a bunch of brand new hundred dollar bills?? 

·         Vacation.  Well, specifically, beaches.  I fucking love the sun.  It’s quite possible that I already have skin cancer from basking in the sun, but there is nothing else in the world like having your feet in the ocean sand.  It’s peaceful and tranquil and rejuvenating.  (And fucking expensive.)

·         The New York Times.  Do I occasionally find typos?  Yes.  Do I periodically feel sickness because of the human condition?  Yes.  But The NY Times is like black coffee – a little bit bitter and dense, but gratifying anyway.

·         Moments of silence.  Probably because I teach high school, and the verbal onslaught is nearly constant, I love an hour of quiet.  (That’s when I turn on the aforementioned Acoustic France cd and make good food, which I then eat – alone – with a glass of wine.) 

·         Discovery.  I’m (not-so-patiently) waiting for the third act of my life to unfold.  It will be beautiful, I have no doubt.  If only discovery wasn’t such a ridiculously slow process.  Maybe I’m doing it wrong.

·         Pearl Jam.  I won’t get into it again (because I’ve written about them so many times before), but those guys reach down … and pick the crowd up.

o   Music, in general.  Justin Timberlake, right this second, but music is the one common denominator. 

·         My bed.  $1400 worth of absolute comfort.  Best thing I have of my own.  If my house was on fire, I’d probably just try to drag the bed out.

o   (Actually, if my house was really on fire, I’d probably just grab a bottle of wine and my phone and watch that motherfucker burn.)

There are other things, of course, but I’m trying to make small, positive imprints for now.  This is mine for today.