Work In Progress

  So I bought the book.  It's smaller than I thought it would be.  Since I am always hoping that the solution to an problem can be found if you just look long and hard enough, I'm still not sure if short means it's an easy solution, or no solution at all. The book itself has some singing endorsements from many self-help gurus who I don't know other than by name.   It's disheartening to me to realize that there are thousands of folks out there preaching their brand of "if you just knew this, did this and continued to strive for excellence every day" because if any of them had the real secret (ah yes, then there is "The Secret") we would only really need one book/podcast/app etc. Thirty years ago the self help section at Chapters filled one rack top to bottom.  Looking for this book, I had to wander through ISLES of self-help, wellness and  spirituality before I found what I was looking for. How Chapters has evolved into a pillow/candle/water bottl...

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz   I would love to open up a dictionary some day (do we even print these things any more?) but ok so search online and never find, not even once, an instance of the use of 'should'. Should takes bites of your soul, your 'goodness'  and gorges on your wellbeing in a way that no other word I can think of will.    How often IN A DAY, does that inner voice ding the bell of should?   "I should go for a walk; I should eat better, I should stop being so lazy, I should call someone to go somewhere; I should make better choices. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp until you are a bit of Swiss cheese instead of a whole person. One of my therapists, (yes there is more than one), has provided me with a new word I am trying out--prefer.  I would prefer I had more energy to go for a walk right now; I would prefer to eat something better for my body, I would prefer to feel motivated to go somewher...

Now that we have seen that Ryan Reynolds is available for belly rubs, let's get to the real challenge at hand. For risk of posting an unpopular opnion, I miss plastic straws. Yes, yes, I have seen the video with the straws in the sea turtles' nose. HORRIFIC. And in theory I am 100% behind this move to paper straws but could we not have come up with something BETTER? The current iteration are just tiny paper towel tubes you suck on. Come on. We have cars that self-park, self-drive ----could we not have found something a little less "toilet roll tampon" flavored? In particular, I miss plastic straws in the movies. For me, I would bite the straw and drink it slowly though the compressed section. Somehow, it just seemed to make the drink last longer. Not having this totally ruined Dead Pool for me.....(kidding, nothing could ruin that one....) Using a paper straw means I am instantly transported to my dentist office where cotton tampon structures are stuffed...