Give Me The Simple Life

It occurred to me recently that during the most stressful times of my life, I am deep in my own head, battling myself over this issue or that one. Sometimes it makes the world seem so heavy, and the air around me gets all thick with the worry of ending up in all these different potential futures, all of them different from the one I dream of having.

For me personally, the thought that'll trigger it every time is "what if I never sell a book?" I'm getting so close guys, I can almost taste it. Because there's not a plan B for me, and I refuse to make one. Isn't that dangerous? Following your dream is brave and takes a lot of guts, yeah, but does it also require a certain degree of stupidity? Probably, haha. But whatever, I'm totally down to die trying!

Anyway, I've tried to do this thing lately where I force myself to come back to the present. I try to pound into my OCD head that there's only so much I can control...which is actually very little, and honestly guys? Appreciating the simple things kind of makes everything better.

Life is what happens while you're busy making plans, right? It takes a surprising amount of effort to just RELAX. For reals relax, personal happy place style.

So I kind of started paying attention and listing the kick-ass things that can make life awesome on an instant basis. Ready? (And I'm dying to see your lists in the comments!)

1) Oreos and peanut butter. Not too much peanut butter, but probably about the same amount as there is filling. Resist the urge to just scoop out a tablespoon of PB, which is what I often do and end up with a mouthful of what seems like crunchy peanut butter. The balanced version though, OH LORDY.

2) Liquid eyeliner. I'm starting to think that I'll still be rockin' the cat eye when I'm, like, ninety.

3) The fact that my daughter is just as much of a klutz as me. I probably shouldn't be so happy about this. I should probably feel bad for my poor, clumsy little Lily Mila. But I don't. Maybe misery loves company. Maybe it's just really, REALLY cute and makes me feel less bad about my own clumsiness.

4) My new and shiny library card. Which may or may not be in my mother's name. Shhhh. The current bounty includes Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, Full Dark No Stars by Stephen King, Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen, How The Light Gets In by MJ Hyland, and This Is How by MJ Hyland.

5) The Beatles, Lady Gaga, Modest Mouse, Sigur Ros, Simon and Garfunkel, Nicki Minaj, Damien Rice. Inspirational overload.

6) Autumn. It's not that time yet, but I'm getting very eager. I live in an amazing small town that puts out for all four seasons. Bring on the gorgeous colors, homemade pumpkin seeds, scarves, roast turkey, cider, and playing with Lily in the leaves.

7) Bacon from behind the big glass meat counter at the grocery store, instead of the packaged stuff. Make a BLT with avocado and red onion, and never underestimate the power of a truly delicious sandwich.

8) Black, purple, or super dark red nail polish. Ooh ooh, or glitter polish.

9) Disney movies. I've given them shout outs before, but since then I've seen Tangled! HOLY SHIZ. I can't wait to take this Squidling to Disneyland one day. It'll pretty much be the best day ever.

10) Allowing myself to blog about personal things. Whether it be about body image, my tattoos, bisexuality, celebrating mommyhood, or this post right here. I've realized that you only get out of blogging what you put in. While it's scary to put yourself out there, doing it makes you feel better and creates less-boring, less-forced posts.

So how about you guys? What are your pleasures in life that have the power to relax you beyond their simple exterior? Have any suggestions? Let's swap some good times!