First world problems

In the midst of remodeling my beach cottage, I had a real world epiphany I wanted to write about, just because I feel a bit like ranting.

I'm debating putting some of this on Facebook to counteract all lot of the asshattery that goes on there.

What occurred to me the other day is that as a rule, we complain TOO much. Entirely TOO much.

I work in local government and everyday the fellow employees are bombarded with people's complaints. We listen to people literally lose their shit over a $0.25 bill, over losing a garbage can lid, over grass that grows too high, over leaves that fall on their property, over plastic flowers planted in a neighbor's yard, over every single penny spent to improve the quality of life in our town. Let me tell you, this shit gets old fast.

Through most of it I just smile and nod and try to commiserate, and I will continue to do so because I discovered something I'm loathe to admit publicly - I like my job. And, believe it or not, I actually like people - most of them, even sometimes the ones who complain about every little thing that comes down the pike.

But what I realized recently is that as a community, as a country as a race, we need to calm down and get over ourselves. As a rule - we are VERY LUCKY. We live in a free country. Not the only free country and maybe not even the best free country, but a free country. Our children can attend school - boys and GIRLS - in some religiously run countries that's not allowed. A lot of those old religions like people, especially women, to be ignorant because then they're easier to control. We recognize the stupidity of that here and we provide a means for out kids to be educated - granted sometimes barely, but at least we try.

We have access to medical care. Sure the medical system in American is a class A JOKE. I hate doctors. I hate the medical industry and Big Pharma - but at least I can go to a doctor if I decide I need one, and I can get medication if I'm sick.

Taxes are high. But we have people who pick up our garbage for us, who plow the snow off our streets and who care enough to test the quality of the water, fix the electricity when storms knock it out, patch water pipes that burst, clear sewer clogs, and respond to our calls for help with police officers or ambulance workers or firefighters - many of whom are VOLUNTEERS.

We have the right to vote and the right not to if we don't want to. We have the right to complain about the government and not wake up in jail for it. We have paved streets, cars in our driveways and cable TV.

Sure NOTHING is perfect. Sure EVERYTHING could be better - but for heaven's sake people, don't ever forget that everything could be a lot WORSE too. And there are places in this world where it is worse for the people who live there. A lot worse.

So my advice to everyone is, take a minute and be freakin' THANKFUL for what you have instead of constantly moaning about what you don't.

I guarantee if you do that, you'll actually be a lot happier and a lot healthier. Give it a try.

Cravings? What cravings?

This is me enjoying cooking again.

I had been at the point where I really hated to cook. Not only was it a time suck, I was always too hungry to really enjoy the process, and I was sick of making the same old subset of meals all the time and knowing I would feel awful after I ate.

Since this change, I've been enjoying cooking again, because I feel like I have the time to cook now. I'm not racing against the clock in my stomach that says, "I'm STARVING NOW! Feed me now. Just order something for heaven's sake! Or grab a cookie at least while you're working." I can enjoy the process of preparing food, and I know that after I eat, I won't feel like I'm going to explode and need to just lie down and relax. I also think cooking is simplified because although I'm finding a lot of recipes and using them, I'm not spending a lot of time reading instructions off of a box. The ingredients in my meals are simple. Cut up vegetables, cook meat. Meal done. It's sounds boring, but actually it's liberating.

It also amazes me that I have not been craving sweets. Forty years [or more] of always wanting something sweet, and now I can pass it up. Finally. Without having to argue with myself, or feel deprived. What's that about? How can a craving be kicked so easily when the diet industry has been selling us 'tips and tricks' for kicking cravings for years that didn't work?

I know it's for the long haul, and maybe I'm still in the honeymoon phase of it, but so far, I'm impressed. Who would have thought I'd be a happy clam again when it came to food?

The Zen Clam

Because I like to play with GIMP, I created a little persona for myself, using some cute little photos I bought from Deposit Photo.

Just to be clear, I don't actually identify with shellfish on regular basis. The Zen Clam comes from a blog post I wrote years ago on my 'industry/personal' blog about making a typo. I kind of liked the way it sounded, so when I decided to create a new blog where I could just do what I wanted to do and not spend a lot of time worrying about how fans of my writing would perceive my posts, I went with The Zen Clam.
I suppose being an introvert whose class quote senior year of high school was "..." [yes, just an ellipsis], sort of makes me a bit of a clam. I prefer to be quiet, and that's often been mistaken for me either being upset or snooty. I never understood why not jabbering all the time meant I was stuck up...but that's what I had to deal with in high school. Thank goodness I'm LONG past high school. Now it's mostly, "Are you okay? You're so quiet." Truth is, I'm thinking. I like to think. I enjoy tooling around inside my own head, and I sometimes enjoy being inside my shell, so for that reason, I suppose a clam does suit me as an icon.

Of course, I come here, so I can chat away unfettered by my clamminess. Or, more accurately, to think in print.