Sunday, June 23, 2013

Limbic Health List

I’ve been talking with a friend about limbic health lately.  I have a goal of being solidly on the half-full side of the line every single day.  Do less weeping (or, as Ms. Moon says, "motherfucking crying") and more laughing.  There’s a list on the internet, but it has things that seem unnecessary, like "wear a helmet".  I can’t remember the last time I took my helmet off.  Right?  You guys are wearing head protection, true?  
Anyway, here’s my list.  
  1. Bring flowers inside.
  2. Deadhead flowers in the garden so it doesn’t look like an abandoned graveyard the minute the columbines are done.
  3. Speaking of cemetaries, visit some of my favorites.  Maybe even that one by Lake Quinault near the old growth forest with Pacific rhododendron scattered about looking cheery.
  4. Listen to Wagon Wheel. A lot.  
  5. Laminate more lyrics for the shower so I can learn songs while I wash my hair.
  6. Burn incense.  Buy it from that really nice guy on the Ave.
  7. Clean the window next to my bed so that when I wake up I’m not already faced with the alarming and disappointing fact of entropy.  Wake up as if everything’s not falling apart at a rapid clip.
  8. Close drawers and doors after myself.  I know.  That shouldn't have to be on a list.  But I’m that person, the one who opens doors but doesn’t close them because I might need to go back outside/into that drawer/cupboard, whatever, soon.  As if opening a cupboard or closing a door is hard.  Behave as if I have the capacity to open the door as many times as I need to.  
  9. Hang out with lovely fun people who are interested in things.
    That bright spot is the lantern, carrying
    messages up to high far away places.  And of
    course, the other big orb is the super moon.
    (Photo courtesy of Erin)
  10. Release hot air lanterns with messages to the universe.  I'd like to confess right here that watching the glowing rice paper orb float up into the sky, propelled only by burning lard, just as the super moon began to peek through the clouds, is possibly the best thing I’ve done in a long time.  Thank you for including me, lovely people.
  11. Figure out if there really is a painting that I remember seeing, a commentary on Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, but with one nude woman picnicking in the midst of it all.  Did I make that up?  Was it a dream?
  12. Actually listen to the birds when they sing.  Oh, and The Byrds too.
  13. Figure out where I heard stuff.  Did I really listen to a whole podcast about processing baby carrots?  Or was that a dream?  It's better than the other dream, the one where JJ has only ten minutes to live because of a giant gash at the top of his head, and I keep misdialling when trying to call 9-1-1.  
  14. Stop dreaming that.
  15. Watch the movie that my customer, the one who built this treehouse, recommended: Wings of Life.
    Permits?  Who needs a stinkin' permit?
    It's only a treehouse!
    Source:  This blog
  16. Give more gifts to friends and loved ones for no apparent reason.
  17. Create more friends and loved ones.
  18. Make a treasure hunt for adults.  (I don’t mean that in an “adult treasure hunt", like x-rated” way.  But the sort of hunt where you need resources: a car and a tiny amount of cash.  And perhaps a flashlight.)
  19. Have a picnic that involves a picnic table and a table cloth and perhaps salt and pepper shakers.  Oh, and food.  Abundant good food.
  20. Go crabbing in about 11 days, not that I’m counting.  
  21. Learn to make excellent crab cakes like the ones at Lowells.
  22. Get proficient at Astavakra, although, as S. says, “It’s just a fucking pose.”
  23. Cook more feasts and never be cheap about cheese or other ingredients.  In fact, just never be cheap about anything.
  24. Get bees again.  Next year.
  25. Appreciate every quirky thing about this town.  Even the fact that we're always dropping pianos from the sky for no apparent reason.
  26. Figure out which things are traditions that I do every year, and which things are random, so I don't always have to ask.  E.g., "Hey, do we run for the pies every year, starting last year, or is that just one time thing?"
  27. Get genetic testing, not to learn my health future, but to discover where my people came from and if I’m related to Gengis Khan.  If they accidentally send my health future, try not to look, because the last thing I need to know is that I’m going to get hit by a bus next week.  Someone clarified that this would be a genotype, not a fortune cookie, but I still think it’s possible that I descend from the sort who get hit by a bus.  That wouldn’t be so terrible except that it means my kids could die first, which would be unbearable.  
  28. Swim in our little lake every day, even if it's cloudy and cold and doesn't look like a good swimming day.  Because every day is a good swimming day.
  29. Do as much yoga as this lifetime allows.


13 comments:

  1. Your horoscopes are brilliant and much truer than other horoscopes I've read.

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    Replies
    1. Why thank you! I am honored to have an actual King stop by. King of the Radishes no less!

      Delete
  2. I love you in a way that has no shame whatsoever. And no cheapness is involved.

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  3. And besides, when you leave drawers and cupboard doors open, you can bark your shins with impunity. You should see my shins? Back up, gum wall, take a look at these fine bruises!!

    The treehouse is fucking brilliant.

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    Replies
    1. The treehouse is cool! And the gumwall is on the side of the market theater, in that alley. It's just south of the pig -- if you're standing at the pig, and go into the market, down the steps and out into the alley, you're there!

      Delete
  4. "Always dropping pianos from the sky" - are you quite sure that isn't a typo? Perhaps you meant plates? or pennies? or pianists, even? If it's not a typo, I think we need to hear more about it ...

    It's hard to get out of a rut, isn't it? It doesn't look like a rut at first, just a little groove, but after awhile, when the sides are looking a little high, and you're starting to think you'd better do something, sometimes it also rains and that rut gets boggy and sucks you down. I like your list. It's very ambitious, but I tell you what, don't try to do everything, just count the day a success if you do one thing from it. And that way you have a nice selection to choose from every day.

    I hope you have a limbic-healthy week. By which I mean, do something you love, just for you.

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    Replies
    1. Oh weird, I thought I already replied to this but I see that I didn't. I wrote a long thing about how we drop pianos here. Which we do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duvall,_Washington
      We'll be dropping another one this summer. The answer is, it doesn't make much of a sound. Well, it makes a sound, but not terribly musical.

      Thanks for your encouraging words. I hope you're having a great summer!

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  5. Well, I wrote this long, heartfelt comment and a mishap with the backspace key and ongoing problems with my memory lost it forever. Here goes another one.

    This was an interesting, fascinating and encouraging post. I've got 4 new open tabs thanks to the rabbit holes you showed me. I found this Mark Twain quote which I need embroidered, tattooed or something: I have lived a long life and had many troubles, most of which never happened. – Mark Twain

    I would like to stop the stupid dreams too. Especially the one where I'm in school, finals are coming up and I've skipped classes for so long I don't even know where they are or which ones I'm in and I'm screwed. I've also had the dream where I couldn't dial the phone, after what seemed like hours of trying.

    I also love you for mentioning entropy. I thought after the kids were born that I should have t shirts made that said entropy happens. Does it ever.

    Wings of Life looks amazing!!! I got buzzed by fighting hummingbirds last night just moments before a horned owl sat in my half dead oak tree and got harassed by a pissed off pack of robins until it flew silently away, directly overhead. It was awesome.

    I have so much more to say, and lots about DNA, I'll have to post that one soon, just as soon as I'm done tumbling down the rabbit holes and tweaking my own list and thinking about and maybe actually doing some yoga.

    I am so very grateful I found you on blogger. I feel infinitely less lonely knowing you are out there, thinking and noticing all these things and writing them down, and being kind and brave enough to share them.
    xo

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    Replies
    1. Aw, thanks Mel. I am grateful too!
      That is awesome, about the owl.
      And, just so you know, I didn't clean that window yet. Entropy is bigger than me, it turns out. Or faster.
      I can hardly WAIT to read about the DNA testing you did. I'm seriously considering it but would love to read about your experience. Ancestry.com? National Geo? 123 and Me?
      XOXO!

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  6. I want to live in that treehouse. Do you think they could lower it a bit lol?

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