6 posts tagged “lost”

Oh, the irony.  That the last post I put up here was about good health.  Because I have been slain by a flu-like, sinus-filling, joint-aching contagion that has rendered me utterly useless for the last four days.  I think I'm developing couch sores.  But, my resolution for Lent this year is not to give anything up, but instead to find the beauty in whatever it is I happen to be doing--kind of an active "turn that frown upside down" exercise.  So, in keeping with that resolve, I'd like to give a couple shout-outs to that which has kept me going when every cell in my body is telling me it's time to roll out the complaining carpet.  Here they are, equally appreciated, in no particular order:

Katie's Sources of Moment-focused Joy in the Midst of Heinous Flu:

• Lost. I've said it before and I'll say it again.  This is some awesomely-fine television.  Since planted on the couch, I've watched Discs 3-5 of Season 3.  Each one just got better.  Such wonderful, compelling television.  A special shoutout to Netflix who replaced Disc 4 TWICE because the idiots (and I think that's being fairly kind) at the Rogers Park Post Office managed to fail TWICE at their job.
• The Real Housewives of New York. They are everything Lost is not. And I don't care.  Bravo had a marathon on over the weekend and it gave me the same joy I get when eating cotton candy.  It's fluffy, pink, and absolutely full of nothing.  Wonderful.
  
• Amy's Organic Meals. They're frozen.  Require but a few minutes in the microwave. And provide important, essential nutrition delivered in a most delicious culinary vehicle.  So far, I've enjoyed the Indian (Palak Paneer), the Cheese Enchiladas, and today it's gonna be the Country Potato Cheddar Bowl (with rotini pasta). I've also got a couple pizzas in there just in case this turns into a full blown malady.
• Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls. Because it's just right.  They were delicious. And provided the anti-nutrition that I need to keep moving. Or sleeping. Who am I kidding.  Guilty pleasure.
• Long phone conversations. I haven't really left my apartment since Friday.  Talking for hours on the phone has made me feel connected.
• My red down blanket. An automatic sleep machine.  I put that thing on and wake up 4 hours later feeling better...and disoriented.  When resting, it's a necessity.
• Honey. I think this is a miracle food. (Along with apple cider vinegar).  I've put it in everything that could handle it (NOT Amy's Organic Enchiladas...just to be clear) and it literally FIXED the sore throat I had.  Of course, it's done nothing for the aches but, you know, I can't turn to it for everything.
  
• Slingo. It's a computer game that combines slot machines and bingo.  It's completely mindless but it soothes me.  I can't really explain it.

What's the most complicated part of your life right now?

What's going to go on here is a very complicated answer to a simple question about complication.  Brace yourselves (all two of ya.)  Over the past couple weeks, I've wracked up quite a list of complications.  So what, exactly, is GOING ON HERE?  How can I fail to get it so many times?Everything seems complicated these days.  So many details, so much time spent figuring things out, so many times I've said the exact words, "It's complicated."  Whenever I've had this amount of apparent turmoil go on in my life I force myself to stop and ask, "Does it have to be this way?"  The answer is always no.

It's these moments when I feel like a particular failure at yoga.  Although I've been practicing it for 10 years, I still haven't been able to effectively grip onto the basic tenet of yoga which is letting go.  Even that sentence is ironic.  I just can't get the stranglehold on letting go that I'd like to have. Huh.  Can't imagine why.  And here's what I've come to conclude about myself at this point in my life: I'm bored.

I know that sounds crazy, especially when I put the words "doctoral student" and "teacher" and "social butterfly" out there.  None of these roles should indicate boredom, but I'm convinced this is the problem. Why?  Because I'm also in possession of one of those wildly imaginative, day-dream prone minds that when bored will whip up fictional accounts of what's going on around me.  Thus, what seems complicated is actually simple in disguise.  And I let it happen because there's either things I don't want to think about out there or I'm just an idle mind. And we all know how that's just asking to be the devil's playground.

Some may chide me for having no discipline (which isn't totally true; I have it but where they're right is that I'm choosing not to use it) or being easily distractable (also a choice).  But, the truth of the matter is that my mind goes to what I find interesting--that's the people around me in my life right now.  Not my work (which fills a niche,yes, but always has to be qualified--"that's interesting for work") and sadly not my schoolwork either.  I suspect this will change before too long but until I make that choice, I'm gonna be bored and, thus, also frustrated, discontented, searching, lost.

So what's complicated in my life.  Me.  Hands down.

How do you stay organized?

Huh.  Well, I don't.  But I'd like to discuss all of the ways I wish I could.  I've actually started multiple strategies in the effort to *get* organized ( I can't even talk about staying organized) and they haven't actually worked but in and of themselves I thought they were good ideas.  So, here's what I've tried:

• The Inbox/Outbox system for home use.  I tried to put bills and mail and stuff into this quasi-business system which just became a partial disaster of mixed up paper.  How do I define what's Inbox vs. Outbox when I pay my bills online.  The outbox was always empty.  Meanwhile the inbox...totally crammed to the hilt with a random mix of useless junk and very, very important paperwork.  Ugh.  A nightmare.
• I bought a white board.  Thinking this would help organize my "to do" tasks, I invested in a humongous white board.  It partially worked, especially when I was trying to remember long lists of things to do.  Of course, the key to this success is actually hanging it up.  It's been sitting on the floor in a plastic bag with other random wall adornments since June.  Not so effective at the moment.
• Immediate sorting of laundry.  This was by the far the most effective strategy and it still works to this day if I make an effort to keep it up.  I have 4 hampers.  If I sort immediately, it saves me a lot of time before I do laundry.  And now that I have to tote it to a remote location (because the washer/dryer situation in my apartment building is that they're standing there completely broken), it also helps me devise a time frame to get this stuff done.
• I moved important info to an online calendar. I hate to admit it.  I used to love paper calendars, but I find it completely annoying to carry it with me.  This helps me not always think about my appointments 24/7...and I get handy reminders in my e-mail.  A good move, but I still feel a little dirty about it.

Basically, my problem with organization is that I'm a piler and always have been.  To the outsider it looks like complete chaos: random stacks of things from paper to clothes to magazines and books.  But the honest-to-god truth is I know exactly where everything is.  When I move the stacks and try to "get organized,"...well that's when the chaos ensues.  So I'm trying to make my peace with being a piler and turn my attention to more pressing matters...like finishing the 2nd season of Lost on DVD.

I've been waiting for years to start watching the series "Lost."  I never was into it when it was on tv, and like anything that requires time and commitment, I don't want to start halfway through.  So, I've been waiting for the finale for years; my idea was that once the series was over I'd watch the whole thing all the way through.  But it just keeps going...and going...and going.  So, I had to draw the line and started watching season 1 on DVD even though the new season is still coming on tv.

All I have to say is this: Don't start watching this series unless you want huge major chunks of time to literally disappear from the day.  I am now completely hooked, and like a junkie waiting for her next fix, I sit and ponder why Netflix doesn't respond same day.

Careful with this one.  It'll take over your life.