Every year, I’ve confessed to my embarrassing superstition, that what I’m doing New Year’s Eve sets the tone for how that year will go. This isn’t a new revelation. This year, I really hope it works that way. (It has in the past, so there is a chance.) This time the moment was so simple, so peaceful. I would like that to be my theme for this year. Everyone was already talking about how horrible things were by the 3rd day of the year. So far, I’ve remained quiet, as I was that night, and I’ve maintained the mellow feeling I had as well. Four days down, 362 to go (leap year).
I was particularly easy to please today. We took our routine trip to the 300 Dollar Store (Costco), to stock up on the really important stuff: pet food and coffee fixings. I struggled to find broccoli in the frozen food aisle. I had given up and was reaching in for mixed veggies when I saw it, the thing I wish for every time I’m there: new gluten free stuff I can actually eat. In between the rows in the freezers, there were cases of pre-made Brazilian cheese bread bites. I had to hunt down where they were displayed, but eventually I found them. Most Americans can’t picture a world where convenience food is denied them, but I live in that world. My pantry and freezer are full of ingredients, not instant gratification foods. I grabbed two bags of these little miracles of convenience and vowed I would never be without them again.
I also escaped another trap I’d been wallowing in. I have been stuck using the same set of sheets for close to eight years. The blue ones I’d had were the right texture for me. Others I’d tried were either grabby (my pajamas clung to them) or they weren’t breathable and they made hot flashes unbearable. So I returned to the same set of sheets until they started getting tiny rips in them, so convinced was I that all other sheets sucked. Today I bought two sets to try, and so far, a ridiculously cheap set just might work for me. It’s cotton and tencel (whatever that is), and it is smooth enough not to irritate me. I have hopes. Unless I massively overheat tonight, I will have broken out of my rut.
It may all sound trivial, but that sense of rightness I felt on NYE was grounded in simplicity. In a complex world, finding small, uncomplicated ways to calm myself works for me. Three hundred sixty two to go.
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