Dear Reader:

When you are facing a possible winter storm tomorrow, and more school cancellations and delays, and rescheduled reschedulings of classes and lessons and rearranged childcare rearrangements, and you've just come off of a month of your own stomach virus, and your kids' strep throat and impetigo, and two full weeks (two. full. weeks.) of having them with you while you work or intend to work, and you totally ugly cry in front of your music history students when your daughter (who has sat through enough of these classes to get a degree) has a meltdown causing a precipitous end to the class, and you are still crying out in the hallway while you walk the kids to your office, and you make two male colleagues feel super uncomfortable about the fact that you are ugly crying, and your washing machine broke in the middle of the biggest snowstorm, and it's still not working (even though you are totes going to buy one at your local Lowe's tomorrow - except snow!), and your water line in your front yard sprung a leak causing your water bill to reach the heights of $500, and then a bulldozer came and dug a series of great gaping holes in the yard and the driveway and the little sidewalk in front of your house, and the plumber replaced a large section of pipe and then left an abyss of mud for your kids' boots and shoes to constantly get covered in and then become almost unusable (maybe you could got to Target and buy new shoes tomorrow - except snow!), but only after they've tracked it through the house, and you get a call from the school on Tuesday that your son has yet another case of lice, and you spend three hours trying yet another treatment on his and your daughter's head, and you have to wash all of the bed linens (except no washer! Oh well, you can trudge next door through the mud and snow!) and you are starting to feel as though you are just massively ineffective at life, you need to remind yourself that:

and that you need to:

Ha, ha, ha.   Oh, life.  You are killing me right now.  But, hey.  I know you will let up eventually.  Maybe after the locusts rain down on me?   Maybe on March 20.  THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING.  Maybe?   Maybe you'll let me have a much needed Spring Break next week without throwing me any more curveballs?   Maybe?    Because this past month has just been, well, you know what it's been.  I don't want to write that down again.   And, also, for the record, my earlier winter - NOT SO GREAT, either.   But wait.  Let me check in on some important stuff:

Do I still have two delightful and happy and dizzyingly rambunctious six year olds in my life?  Check.

Are they still well-fed, clothed, and for this brief moment, lice free?  Check.

Also, are they healthy in general?  Check.

Do I still have a flexible job and colleagues that I like to work with?  Check.

Do I still have a recital coming up (March 24!) with some of the above mentioned colleagues wherein I will get to PLAY THE PIANO with some awesome singing going on?   Check.

Do I have water in my house?   Check.

Do I have electricity?  Check.

Am I still, against all expectations, doing this cravings cleanse?   Check.

Is the fact that I am still doing this cravings cleanse making me feel proud of myself?  Check.

Do I still have awesome friends?   Check.

That I probably need to call more often so that I can feel less crazy?   Check.

Do I still have some germs of some "Big Creative Ideas" that I can imagine myself working with in the near future?   Check.

Can I see past the mud in my hallway to acknowledge the beauty and inspiration that I find in my daily life?   Check.

All right, then.   I'm still sane.   I have a massage scheduled for next week - new therapist - comes highly recommended.   And, I am having a family photo shoot with baby lambs (yeah, you read that right - it's ridiculous.  I'm totally doing it.  You can't stop me.  BABY LAMBS.) next Tuesday.  And, I plan to do some serious housecleaning and washing machine installing.   And, I will spend some hours practicing.  And some hours reading for fun.  And, maybe - if I am lucky, some significant hours napping.   Alone.   In a quiet house.  Ah, bliss.

And, I found this amazing gem of a video, which I have now watched three times.  So, so good.   So helpful and encouraging to me about a whole host of things.   I downloaded her book onto my Kindle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzVoQkPswRk

To remember what matters most to us.   To be willing to act in accordance with what matters most, even when overwhelmed by anxiety or depression....    And, that future self stuff.  That's got something to it...   "When you forgive yourself for a setback, it actually allows you to connect to the part of you who wants to make the change."  "Do you know how it is you want to show up in the world?"  Good, good stuff.

OK, dear reader.   I hope we are all ready to Keep Calm and Carry On.   Baby steps.  One day at a time.   Have a cup of tea.   Breathe.   These are my instructions.   I will talk with you again soon!

Thanks for reading!