The other night I was just done with the unknown. No, please don’t tell me that is where the gifts of life and the miracles lie. I was vexed, perplexed, and swimming upstream to not take self-will in my hands and fall back on old coping mechanisms (dating apps). The unknown, when it is not sparkling with undiscovered promise, can be like a low level growl. You know about it like a snag in your pantyhose way up high that no one sees but you know at any moment it could just tear away right down to your ankle. The wonders of clear nail polish back in the day fixed that issue, but the unknown? It mocks human solution. I know like many uncomfortable states like writing poorly for four hours, or having a day where you laugh louder than usual and feel like you are mocking yourself, this too will pass. But on this particular evening, I felt I needed a soothing solution.
Wrestling with the unknown at 8 PM on a Tuesday night is not cured by overworking or even going to bed. I tend to just lie there wondering why I am not working and instead trying to sleep away the unknown that is going to create some real whopper dreams that will leave me feeling subconsciously hung over most of the next morning (it’s a real thing.) There are other wonderful solutions for grappling with the unknown at your fingertips and while some people would prefer to order a vibrator on Goop (or as my friend says, “It must be good to be Gwyneth”), I typically opt for an old show on Netflix and sugar. Usually that old show is something funny and the sugar is whatever I can wrestle up in the kitchen (which is a concoction that is missing either vanilla, white sugar or eggs…who is with me that we never seem to have all of them at once when needed?) In this case, on this particular evening, the combo was the pilot of 30 Rock and brown sugar cookies.
Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan was funny. So was Tina Fey. Heck they are all funny. And you get to watch Alec Baldwin and think, wow, this was before he met his beautiful yoga wife Hilaria and had seven children and then he shot someone on a movie set. Talk about the unknown. There is no way in the world Alec Baldwin knew he would meet his wife and then fire a loaded gun. Bliss and crisis. But that is what life is. That is the unknown and it is hard to wrestle, but it is real. So when you think you can’t bear the unknown, turn on an old show and eat some cookies and marvel at how none of those actors saw x,y,z in their lives coming. I know it sounds trite, but overthinking and trying to defeat the unknown never works.
If you are looking to do some writing: I highly suggest writing in book stores. We have a local bookstore here in LA called Village Well Books and it is just the quaintest place to claim your seat at a table, and order a coffee and write the afternoons away…surrounded by books. When I was looking for inspiration in a proposal I was writing, I went to the section on that subject matter and I was quickly inspired. I also can read a chapter of a book and then decide if I want to buy it. I can’t write in libraries no matter how much I wish I could - they feel almost too quiet for me - and coffee shops are too loud. So check out wherever you live and see if you have a small local bookstore, and if you can do some writing there. Also, support local bookstores please. They are the heart and soul of books.
What I wish someone would create: Never ending ink cartridges. Like a feed like tonic water in a bar. If I have to order from or go to Staples one more time this week, I am going to commit printer ink-icide.
Technology Tip: Ready for it? Privnote. I did not know about this cool super spy software until a programmer helping me transition from an old web site to a new one asked me to give her my password and log in on this site. You type it in, grab a link, and send the link by email to that person. Once they read it, it self destructs!
Shameless Plug: I am opening my new Writing for Clarity class on November 4th at 10 AM PST. I am taking 8 ladies. Check out this link to get a sample of the class and the power of women working together on writing. https://astoryinside.thrivecart.com/writing-for-clarity/
No males in that class?