Gratitude Practice 2021 Day 351: The Counter Balancing of Coping Strategies

Grateful for freshly cut pineapple, mangos and a daily dose of nourishing blueberries...because antioxidants are life. Grateful for batches of oven roasted veggies and perfectly seasoned brussels sprouts and for generous bowls of creamy cottage cheese. Grateful for Burke spiced grilled chicken, steaming pots of homemade soups, and every now and again a homemade loaf of crusty bread. AND EQUALLY grateful for Golden Graham cereal enjoyed while standing in the pantry eaten by the fistful like the Barbarian that I truly am. Grateful for pizza rolls because truth be told I am still thirteen years old and my love for frozen party foods is alive and well. I have no shame. Grateful for chocolate covered cinnamon bears because they are the best of both worlds. Always grateful for the potato and preferably in any fried form and slathered in butter and cheese because life is just too short to not eat them. Becoming more and more grateful with each passing day for the quest of balance in all things.

Grateful for the PBS News Hour, for the NPR, NBC, CNN, FOX new apps on my phone that stream current events and breaking news...all...day...long. Grateful for the ability to track tropics and cross reference stories and to sift and sort and prioritize. Grateful to be able to follow local government and events through our two local newspapers and new outlets, council meetings, board meetings and legislative sessions. Grateful for journals, publications, magazines, newsletters, blogs and websites. Certainly lots and lots of current events and real world information that flows faster and faster colliding together and at greater and greater speed. Processing the information seems like a full time job these days and I am grateful for access and for the limited time I have to squeeze it in and for the ability to do so. AND EQUALLY grateful for the delightful daily distracting stream of carefully curated yet completely mindless and empty and probably speculative news/gossip articles...oh how I adore all of the fluff. Grateful for the endlessly entertaining British Royal Family...oh, this continuing saga...you just can’t write this stuff. Grateful for whatever trendsetting magic Joanna Gains is currently conjuring in her perfectly designed kitchen...I don’t think she is actually human. Grateful for the upcoming yet pandemic inspired fashion trends of spring...who knew you could do that with pastel tie dye? Grateful for all of the at home tips and tricks that support homebound living...I mean, this information has truly saved us more than once. And what kind of woman would I be if I was not grateful for the endless articles informing me as to what to do and specifically what not to...do, wear, eat, purchase, parent and be. My news feed includes all of it and I binge, gulp and devour it all. Ever so grateful for the mix and the blend...grateful for the information AND for the info-tainment...may balance, credibility and purpose ever be my quest.

Grateful for the good long restorative walks...and for my mug of markers and jar of gel pens needed to doodle my way through the zoom...the meeting...the week...and for my journals...and my music...and my podcasts... and my well practiced carefully assembled detox plan rhythmically applied and practiced over time AND equally grateful to be reminded of the power of a well timed dose of regrettable yet totally satisfying reality TV…careful with the judgement, friends...pretty sure we all have at least one guilty pleasure tucked away somewhere in the shadows. This week, I was struck by the immediate numbing and temporary mental pleasure of some well timed, well placed, well scripted and well produced very very very bad television. It must be limited. It must be controlled. It must be carefully selected...we all have standards. But it also must be part of the survival strategies. I am not above a really good bad reality TV series because if nothing else it will absolutely help you suspend time and stun your brain long enough to distract you from your actual reality so that when you return to your actual life...nothing and I mean nothing is as absurd as what you just watched. BRILLIANT. Again...I feel ZERO shame admitting this...so no judgement needed. Like an instant shock and jolt to the system a quick trashy hit can reboot just about anything. I need both. I need the calm and tech free creative refinements AND the absolute worst parts of Netflix. I need both in equal measure and I feel great about it.

Today, I am mostly grateful to draw upon the power of counter balancing coping strategies because with three weeks into 2021…looks like I'm going to need all of them...and then probably something stronger if I'm really honest. Grateful to have realized that sometimes the best coping strategy is hummus and carrot sticks and all things PBS and a conservative brown turtleneck sweater and the very next hour the only answer is a puddle of bubbling queso from 7-11, a scandalous People magazine and last week's rank-ey pajamas as you slog your way through email. There is no shame in my pandemic survival game. We are far far past that point. I am proudly imbibing equally in each of these strategies...on the regular...and I will most politely and respectfully street fight anyone who takes issue with this tactic. Grateful to know that it's good to have and use all of them and that in 2021 THIS is what it means when they say that to all things there is a season….