I’m not entirely unconvinced that I haven’t spent this week in some sort of strange sonic pressure cooker. Actually, I’m not entirely unconvinced that all of us poor humans haven’t spent the week in a strange sonic pressure cooker. It certainly feels like it.
SO.
Do you know what we do when things get hard? Like really, really, in-your-bones, buy-a-plane-ticket-to-anywhere, screw-this-and-all-y’all hard?
You know what we do.
We DANCE.
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One other thing: THIS IS MY 200TH BLOG POST! Cue balloon-drop! Thank you to everyone around the world for making this blog so successful and so much fun to write. It’s hard to write a post every single day but it’s such a blast to see new pings from all kinds of countries. I am going to try and create a comment box to make this more interactive but for now – thank you, one and all.
Every problem can be compartmentalized into bite-sized chunks. You take care of the problem one chunk at the time. Some chunks are fly-swattingly easy. Other chunks are boulders. None of this is news to you, Tune-Up fan. But what’s news to me is that each individual problem chunk has a separate timeframe to solve. That is the crux of the suck. That is a new lesson for me.
I’m not a very patient person by nature. I am goal-oriented, I am anxious, I dislike uncertainty, I want to know the future, and I put far too much mental energy into controlling how others perceive me. I sometimes care more about being considered A Person Who Solves Problems Quickly than solving the problem at hand. I’d rather have a guaranteed 70% solution now than a 100% solution in a little more time with maybe one or two variables out of my control. It’s really weird and it gets in my way and it makes me nuts.
One of the myriad benefits of getting older is that the cumulative experience of living longer and longer allows you to take the long view. You can benchmark a bad day, a success, a heartbreak more accurately, having had more of them. This context can cool you off and help you break apart problems into their components and attach importance and timeframe to each. So, while I might be an anxious person today, I was a high-powered tension rod a few years ago: one slight readjustment could have me shooting off into space. I’m grateful for the difficulties that have provided the necessary context to unwind myself.
The greatest thing I’ve learned, so far, is that once you’ve attached the timescale to each problem chunk and set your solutions in motion, the best and most Zen thing to do is just throw your hands up in the air and say “f$%& it.” And I mean doing this literally – physically throwing your arms in the air and saying “f$%& it” out loud. It feels wonderful.
So today I spent another four hours dealing with my air conditioner problem. I’m one blog post away from making myself a stiff gin and tonic so forgive me for making this not only a delayed post but a short one. Forgive me, too, for this sweet but dippy video. I was absolutely set on having a recording of Bryn Terfel, the marvelous Welsh opera singer, and this was the only video that had that recording. (Though you do get to learn little interesting factoids about Wales, such as Wales is filled with “amazing Welsh spirit.” Better bet than Belgium for locating Welsh spirit, I suppose. Or England, for that matter. Though maybe England has “mediocre Welsh spirit.” …I sense I’m going off-topic.)
I figured this delightful Welsh hymn was appropriate, given I’m not, in fact, asking for a luxurious life. Just a habitable dwelling. Which will give me a happy heart. I’m guessing the G&T will deal with the honest and pure business. Let’s find out.
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I don’t ask for a luxurious life,
the world’s gold or its fine pearls,
I ask for a happy heart,
an honest heart, a pure heart.
A pure heart full of goodness
Is fairer than the pretty lily,
None but a pure heart can sing,
Sing in the day and sing in the night.
If I wished for worldly wealth,
It would swiftly go to seed;
The riches of a virtuous, pure heart
Will bear eternal profit.
(Chorus)
Evening and morning, my wish
Rising to heaven on the wing of song
For God, for the sake of my Saviour,
To give me a pure heart.
No matter how many times you listen to this, it never fails to stir the blood. It’s amazing how such a simple melody can have such power. The tide is finally turning for some good friends of mine who have been a funk, so I send this out to them.
I also have to send this out to our boys in Brazil who play Germany today. I’m fully versed in the esoteric soccer rules that render today’s game one of the many scenarios in which the U.S. team makes it into the group of 16, but still. I can’t not post a piece rooting for a win. To all of my German readers: Es tut mir leid, aber ich muss mein Land unterstützen. Sie haben ein außergewöhnliches Team und ich wünsche Ihnen viel Glück. Mögen die Besten gewinnen.
England plays Uruguay today in the match that could see either side knocked out of the final. For England to lose today, it would mean the first time it got kicked out this early in more than fifty years. So to all of my followers in Blighty, and all England fans everywhere, here’s a bit of “there shall always be an England” courage for Hodgson’s men. Come on, you lads!
It’s been a long time coming, but I finally feel settled in some sort of groove these days. This is in no way synonymous with phrases like, “of course I know what I’m doing,” “please ask me for directions and/or advice,” or “I’d love to tell you where I’m going to be in five years.” Rather, what I mean is, I know what to do when catastrophe strikes, when I don’t know how to cook a squash, when my faucet is leaking, when I need to go to the E.R., when I’ve had a terrible day, and when things upset me. I call one of my people. That’s what I do.
You spend most of your 20s constructing yourself. Somewhere around age 29 or 30 you have a sense of deep satisfaction that comes from having a fuller grasp of who you are and what you’re about. And then you spend a good part of your 30s realizing that, to paraphrase President Obama, you didn’t build yourself alone. You had a lot of help. I know how to deal with the E.R. on a rainy Tuesday because a friend came with me when I hurt my knee. I know how to process my terrible thoughts because I have friends who listen to them. I know how to deal with the vagaries of my job because I have peers who can relate and tell me stories that remind me of my own issues. Creating your own family is the very best part of growing up.
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Far from the electric floor Removed from the red meat market I look for a fire door An escape from the drums and barking Bereft of all social charms Struck dumb by the hand of fear I fall into the corner’s arms The same way that I’ve done for years I’m trapped in a collapsing building
Come find me now, we’ll hide and We’ll speak in our secret tongues Will you come back to my corner? Spent too long alone tonight Would you come brighten my corner? A lit torch to the woodpile (aye)
Dead wood needs to ignite There’s no spark on a dampened floor A snapped limb in an unlit pyre Won’t you come and break down this door? I’m trapped in an abandoned building
Come find me now, we’ll hide and We’ll speak in our secret tongues Will you come back to my corner? Spent too long alone tonight Would you come brighten my corner? A lit torch to the woodpile (aye) Come find me now, we’ll hide and We’ll speak in our secret tongues
The Daily Tune-Up 