100 Days of Summer and a Happy Fall

As many of you are aware, I, along with some family members, some friends and many strangers around the world, embarked on a journey of transformative photojournalism known as #100happydays.

The idea is that, as members of the modern western world, we're so caught up in our day-to-day commuter, punch-clock lifestyles that we're letting the happy moments in our lives slip through our fingers and be forgotten.  #100happydays is an exercise in long-term gratitude and acknowledgement of good things in our lives.

I didn't get a great start in life on this score.  The maternal side of my family has numerous little sayings, and one of the more famous ones was popularized by my grandfather and remains well-used by all members to this day.  "Oh, I'm such a failure."  Add to that the "What happened to the other 3 percent?" I frequently heard from my parents, and it's easy to see why I was never quite happy with the status quo.  Factor in the usual body image issues and a totally run-of-the-mill amount of bad luck, and you can probably guess that this challenge was, indeed, challenging.

On day 100, I posted a picture of myself, freshly showered, wearing pink pajamas with penguins on them, smiling into my smartphone's camera.  I confirmed that my life is really quite full of happiness.  And that it always has been.  When I say the journey was transformative, it wasn't as though I came out a different person.  I came out the same person with different eyes.

Here's what I learned:

1.  Exercise is really good heart medicine.  I think the link between regular exercise and cardiovascular outcomes is beyond significant scrutiny.  That being said, I obviously mean the "feel-y" heart, and not the blood-pumping heart.  I was incredibly active in June and July and while I'm not sure I ever felt the endorphin rush of a runner's high, I definitely felt pretty euphoric for a lot of the time in those months.  Sometimes I get sad and I'm not sure why.  Now I'll take an inventory of my last week's physical activity, because it might have something to do with couch potato's low.

2.  I really like coffee.  Or rather, I really like my local coffee/bookshop.  Some days, the only thing I could find to photograph was the latte I got at the end of a hard day.  There's really nothing like a foamy, creamy, slightly bitter, sometimes sweet, sometimes flavoured, warm and cozy drink to make you feel comfortable in your skin.  On the other hand, I'm pretty sure it wasn't about the coffee.  The bookstore is staffed, pretty much entirely, by friends.  It's really nice to have a place I can go, even for a few minutes, and share a smile, a brief conversation, and sometimes an amusing drawing and then go home and savour the foamy, creamy, warm and cozy memory.

3.  When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you.  Seriously.  When you walk down the street with a smile on your face, everybody smiles back at you.  (But if the clouds are at your feet, that's amore).  More people say hi.  One man tipped his hat to me one day.  I think because I'm so busy and focused, my natural inclination is to walk fast with my head down, but when you actually let the sun hit your face really good things can happen.  Furthermore, if I'm feeling great that everyone's smiling at me, then everyone else must feel a little bit great also that I'm smiling at them.  It's like getting a million times return on your investment.  I'm pretty sure that I met this really cute boy one day because I smiled at him from across the room, and then he smiled at me, and turns out we think each other are kind of rad.  So, if the smile doesn't come naturally, it might not be a bad idea to fake it 'til I make it.  Because it's working so far.

4.  Happiness takes work.  Some days, the happy things happen to you when you're not expecting them to, but most of the time we actually have to stop and look and listen and SEARCH for those things that are going to make us smile.  I am a really busy girl.  Really.  So I have to be extra diligent not to let my to-do list and my jam-packed agenda catch me up in a whirlwind of places to be and shit to get done, causing me to forget that I wanted to do them in the first place because they make me happy.  And that's the key.  The #100happydays challenge is over, but the "forever happy days" challenge will always be there.  So I need to remember to look for things that make me happy, even if I'm not going to Instagram them.

***My personal #100happydays challenge photos can be found on Instagram and Facebook at #3percenthappy.

A Trite but True Fairy-Tale

Once upon a time, there was a young bloggess who wrote about her lack of value and her quest to become someone beautiful and sought after by all those around her.  One day, she went to a bar in a strange town and started up a conversation with a handsome young man from Ireland who happened to be traveling in the far-off land.  He asked her to dance, and they continued to talk and smile at each other.  Suddenly, as the electronic bass of another nameless club song rang through the giant-ass speakers of the packed beer hall, he held her by the shoulders, leaned in, and kissed her. 

The young bloggess took this kiss to mean that she had some value, and relishing the feeling of being valuable, she sought kisses wherever she went.  The more kisses she got, the more awesome and valuable she believed she was.  Conversely, when the kisses ran out, she felt as though all her beauty and value had dripped off of her like non-colour-fast dye and run down the sewer grate, never to be seen again.

One day, not so many days ago, a slightly older and slightly wiser bloggess had an epic long weekend of togetherness.  She danced and ate and drank and laughed and swam and smiled and flew.  She spent many hours with friends, and a few hours alone, and each hour was excellent in its way.  She even thought one or two gentleman might have wanted to kiss her.  But nobody did.  And that was ok.

For you see, the slightly older bloggess was learning that it wasn't the kisses that made her awesome.  It was herself.  And she knew this was a lesson she had still only grasped in the most tenuous of ways.  It would still be too easy to let go of all the worth she had placed in herself if she went out in search of kisses and was denied them now.  Instead, she held steadfast to the notion that while the long-held eye contact and pregnant pauses were a result of her awesomeness, she would still be awesome if the eye contact were never made, and the pauses were filled with conversation.

At that moment, the bloggess knew, the kisses might have happened, and she was valuable and beautiful and awesome anyway.  And that was good enough for her.

100 Happy Days and and 100 Awkward Challenges

Disclaimer: I'm going to talk about lady-things.  If that makes you uncomfortable, you probably shouldn't read this.

I'm 10% of the way through #100happydays.

I picked a swell time to start them. 

The first day I was single was the first day I didn't take my birth control. 

I've suspected for a long time that, emotionally speaking, birth control makes sure that my keel is even but my decks are constantly flooded.  In other words, when I'm artificially hormoned, I'm in a steady state of minor depression.  This has its disadvantages - like being a constant marginal downer - and its advantages - like not being bipolar.

After I stopped my birth control, I spent about three months in utter terror that I had been subjected to some kind of immaculate conception procedure in my sleep.  Though the panic involved in the notion that I was carrying the second coming was overwhelming, it wasn't until my first period came that the real fun started.

I have since been experiencing this bizarre vacillation between my two personalities: the happy horn-dog and the rage-weeper.  Three weeks ago, I might have been turned on by a light breeze on the back of my neck.  Though this is frustrating, since I'm not super-equipped to start looking for a new partner for adult sleepovers, it's certainly the lesser of two evils.  Last week, I had a full-on meltdown at work (luckily, with no clients present) because someone didn't show up for an appointment THAT WASN'T EVEN WITH ME.

The upshot of this is that just as I decided to start seeking out the joy that already exists in my life, my totally confused endocrine system started pumping out PMS hormones like crazy and EVERYTHING IS WRONG.

Knowledge is power, though, or...knowing is half the battle, or...something else G.I. Joe said.  Point is, I know that this is a temporary state of affairs.  Eventually, my hypothalamus will get this shit down and know just the right amount of hormone to keep me fertile but not batshit crazy.  I hope. 
In the meantime, I persist with being at least a little bit happy for 100 days. 

Current trends suggest that apple trees in bloom, food, physical activity and the staff and owners of my local bookstore are the greatest predictors of happiness in my life.  The apple trees in bloom are fleeting, but I'm pretty sure I know how to get a bunch of everything else. 

If you're on instagram or facebook, you can find my #100happydays journey at #3percenthappy.  Please feel free to comment and like.  Positive feedback is the rage-weeper's kryptonite.

Fake it 'Til You Make It

It's been some time since my last post.  I've been wicked busy, which has been good.  Being chained to a piano and being constantly preoccupied with how I can arrange that my next meal not come from the Subway around the corner has meant that I haven't been constantly preoccupied with how my life hasn't really turned out exactly the way I expected it would if I looked at it from the vantage point of about one year ago.

I took a trip to visit a good friend on one of my first free weekends since my new life started.  We had a great time.  We did a lot of awesome things and I took a lot of pictures of us doing awesome things.  But a funny thing happened that weekend.  I fell in love with a bartender. 

No.  This is not my rebound story.  I don't think.

I fell in love with this bartender because he knew that the time signature to Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill was 7/4, he was genuinely interested in what instrument I played, and also teaches music and science...you know, when he's not a weekend bartender.  And all this happened after I decided he was kind of cute.  It was like I'd been given this gift.

Now, I don't know his name and he could be married and have kids that necessitate his working at a brewery on weekends in order to support them.  I don't know.  I left before I could get too invested.

The next day, I drove home.  It was a sunny day and I had a great mix of tunes playing and the only downfall was that I was leaving a great weekend behind just in time to hit morning rush hour traffic on the 403.  When I finally got onto the 400 to head home, I burst into tears.  Not because of rush hour.  Not because of the weekend I was leaving behind (I'm totally going again this summer).  Possibly a little because I had expected to find somewhere to eat breakfast hours beforehand and was getting a little shaky.  Probably because of the sense memory of the last time I was in that spot three-ish months ago, likely tinged by the fact that, only a few days before, I ran into my ex for the first time since we parted ways, and seeing him reminded me that not too long ago, I was really effing sad (It was awkward, but I did not bolt like a frightened deer, though I suspect it was painfully obvious that I wanted to). 

I got it together by about Barrie, and when I got home, I fell in love again.  That might be my rebound story.  Time will tell.

The following weekend was spent at the family cottage with family members that I haven't seen in over a year.  They have all been very supportive of me via Facebook and email, despite the fact that I certainly had not made visiting them at all a priority in the previous year or so.  They were full of inspiration and kind words.  And advice about what I should do next.

I'm telling these two stories for two reasons.  If you haven't figured it out already, the first story illustrates that emotionally, I'm still kind of wobbly.  The second story leads to a bit of a personal epiphany about how to stand on two happy feet.

Ever hear of a compliment sandwich?  When you sandwich some not-nice criticism between two slices of good stuff bread?  Maybe I have it backwards...but you get the idea.  Well, the truth is that there is an awful lot of bread (i.e. good stuff) in my life and there really always has been.  Only, for years, I've been mired in the modest skim of not-nice filling I've got going on between those voluminous slices of bread.  And it hasn't made me really happy, and I suspect it makes the people around me kind of not happy also (truly, I don't suspect it.  I know it.).  I found the advice of my family a little bit overwhelming because they were full of ideas about how to make my life better than it is right now.

The truth is, though, that it is challenging enough to like my life the way it is right now.  Even though, in my rational thought centre, I know that my life is pretty freaking great.  I think the best way to make my life better right now is to work on liking it the way it is.

I've always found that those people who celebrate the little tiny microscopic good things in their lives are just a little bit precious and perhaps also a bit willfully ignorant of their own misfortunes.  On the other hand, I'm kind of starting to think that looking at everything except the giant elephant of sadness in the room might make it get bored with hanging around.

#100happydays, here I come.

Manic Monday Thru Sunday

I think I might be bipolar.  Or, at least, I feel a little bit like I'm on a roller coaster right now.

The good news is that I'm not sad every. single. day. 

The slightly weird news is that I'm finding myself manically making massive, multi-stepped life goals for myself.  And doing impulsive things.

In the last week, I bought tickets to a Queen concert, registered for a 5 km race, wrote an outline for a series of semi-autobiographical short stories, and spent a small fortune on lacy underwear.  Because it makes me feel good.  I've planned and created itineraries for numerous adventure vacations that (since I'm much less concerned about buying a home in the next two years) I may one day be able to finance.  And then I discovered that I could trade my crappy phone in without a penalty fee six months before my contract is up.  I've been researching numerous apps like a champ to streamline my life and help me become the most awesome super-human in the district.

The bad news is that I'm not happy every single day either.  It is often difficult to see any reason to get out of bed beyond the fact that I'm probably not going to have crazy dreams while I'm awake (they are alternately hopeful and vengeful, but always crazy).  Being sad is exhausting.  And trying to be not sad is exhausting.  And being exhausted makes it really hard to follow through on any of my awesome multi-stepped life goals.

Somewhere on the internet or somewhere (or maybe I just dreamed it), is the exact representation of the cycle of my life the way I see it.  I am a phoenix rising triumphant from the ashes of its former self, soaring majestically, and then getting swallowed up by a jet engine.

I have come to terms with my present state of affairs.  The problem is that six months ago, I knew exactly where my life was going.  I knew, on my 30th birthday last November, that this was the decade in which many of the most exciting things in my life were going to happen so there was no reason to bemoan the fact that I was aging.  The only thing there was to be sad about was that I knew exactly how long I would have to wait for it.

Now I feel totally rudderless.  Which is probably why when I have a sudden burst of energy, I'm making all kind of plans for my personal awesomeness.  So that I feel like I'm going in a direction.  Any direction.

The other good news is that I feel like I'm better at coping now. 

In my adult life, I've almost always felt that statements of affirmation were for the truly desperate and gullible.  Recently, though, I've found that a daily browse of the "quotes" section on Pinterest pumps me up sufficiently to get through, though I do have to be selective so that I'm not focusing on the quotes declaring undying hopeless love to some nameless other.  They don't help. 

I watch a lot of Netflix.  Watching Ted Mosby retell the story of how he met the mother of his children makes me feel less desperate and, to be truthful, a little bit hopeful. 

I put makeup on every day.  It started with the idea that I couldn't cry if I was wearing non-waterproof mascara.  Now it feels a little bit like part of my armour.

And finally, regular dance parties to this song.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDqADZygseM
Because I've got sauce.  Somewhere in the back of the fridge.

Solitude is Normal.

I think it's incredibly cliché to feel afraid to be alone.  But here I am, living the night terror.  On Wednesday afternoon, I'm counting down the hours to Freedom Friday.  By Friday at noon, I feel like I'm staring down the barrel of a 48-hour shotgun.

This is not to say that I'm completely without activity or social engagement most weekends.  To say that would be lying.  I've generally got SOMETHING to do or SOMEWHERE to go.  But when I've got a stretch of several hours that I'm not spending in the company of others, I start to hyperventilate a little.

I'm really uncomfortable in my own company.  And that's a problem.

It's a problem because it suggests I'm using the fullness of my social calendar as a means of determining my self-worth.  On its face this makes some sense; if other people want to spend time with me, I must be pretty awesome.  But most people (normal people) actually want to be alone some of the time.  That means that sometimes they're not going to want to spend time with me.  And it doesn't actually mean they think I'm not awesome.  It just means they need some time to themselves.  Deep, in the centre of my mind (where the rational thought comes from), I know I'm setting myself up for failure in the feel-good department if I use the number of hours I'm not alone as a barometer for my personal awesomeness.

I'm quite sure I'm also using social interaction as a way of distracting myself from my grief.  This also makes some sense.  Reminding myself that I have a lot of cool shit going on in my life, beyond the relationship I was in, has definitely been very helpful in shooting some happiness into my emotional milieu to make the sadness a lot more manageable.  On the other hand, it's nobody's responsibility but mine to manage my sadness.  And if everyone else out there can manage the shitty stuff in their lives without a CONSTANT source of distraction, then perhaps I should be trying to work on that too.

Furthermore, sometimes I actually NEED to be alone.  I'm loathe to admit this to myself, but occasionally, my social calendar becomes so jam-packed that I start to freak out a little.  Like, I start to panic that I'm going to disappoint someone that I didn't make it to their event, or that I didn't have time to make sure I had clean socks and underwear to wear to their event because I was stacking my commitments so tightly.  I probably become a little withdrawn and even kind of cranky.  And then people definitely won't think I'm awesome.  Certainly, I don't think I'm awesome if I'm withdrawn and cranky (which is probably more important).

So obviously, I'm not saying that I'm putting an indefinite moratorium on social interaction beyond work.  That would be silly.  But I am saying that I probably need to be a little more comfortable with myself BY MYSELF if I want my mental health maintain a head-above-water position.

Which begs the question: If I'm not freaking out about having hours to spend with myself, what should I be doing with that time?  I've made a list of things that I'm doing in my alone time that are making me feel good.  So far, I'm trying to read more.  I buy books almost compulsively, but then don't have time to read them.  I'm trying to set that time aside now. 

I'm also trying to find ways to surround myself with positive affirmation and reminders of what makes me happy.  I'm working on my wall of awesome friends and memories:

 

And I'm working on this art project (work in progress).

 

 

And then there's the never-ending knitting pile.  I think it's a good thing to make it a goal to, one day, see the surface of this table.

But sometimes I'm stuck with hours and hours of me and eventually I'm going to run out of knitting (or, more likely, will develop carpal tunnel).  What else could I be doing to make the me time more comfortable?  Suggestions from helpful introverts welcome.



Love is There.

I think most people expected that Valentine's Day would find me looking kind of like this:

 

 

And I don't think anybody would blame me right now for feeling like I want to shield myself from all those raining hearts.

 

But I like love a lot.  That's why I'm so sad that I've had my heart broken.  I don't get to have that kind of love right now. 

 

On V-Day, one of my friends posted this archived blog post to Facebook(http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2007/02/14/love_is_all_you_need.html), which provided me with some reading to while away the empty hours at work, and also a way to focus on the love I've got instead of what I've been so sorely missing these past few weeks. 

 

Because there is a lot of love in my life.  I have so many great friends who let me cry, who get me drunk, who make me laugh, who hug me, who distract me, who help me feel beautiful, who remind me to breathe, who promise me that one day I'm not going to feel this sad anymore, and remind me that I am actually worth the love I've got and the love that, one day, I'm going to have again. 

 

And actually, it was a pretty good day.

 

Valentine's Day started with a text message from a dear friend with the news that she had given birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl that morning.  I'm not sure how I could possibly be cranky when my day starts with such great news. 

 

It was important to me that I have a good day and still be able to celebrate love.  When someone tells you he can't be with you any longer and he can't keep trying to make things work, it's really easy to believe that you're not worth the trying, not worth the love that makes you try.  And if it's true that I'm not worth someone else's love, why should I try either? 

 

I should try because deep, in my heart of hearts, I know that there are lots of really great things about me that are worth someone's love, particularly my own.  I'm generous, committed, perseverant, a good listener and honest.  I'm witty, pretty good at helping people see the big picture, and very good at finding the humour in a situation.  I'm a pretty talented musician, singer, writer, actor, and have been known to cut a pretty decent rug from time to time.   I'm a great cook, I'm pretty adventurous with food, and I learned how to roller skate when I was 28.  None of this is to say that I don't have flaws also, but I really think that love is about coping with the flaws because the good stuff is so good.

 

If I try to think about one of the happiest and most awesome times in my life as a single person, I think back to when I wrote this: http://www.hotmisst.blogspot.ca/2010/10/hot-people-unleash-their-secret-weapons.html.  I felt invincible when I wrote that.  I knew I was pretty great, and that sometimes I needed some armour to remind myself.  I lost some of that armour; I disposed of it when I was in the safety of a romantic relationship, thinking the relationship would be armour enough.  I forgot that I should always be my own most steadfast, brave defender.

 

My next project is rebuilding my suit of armour.  And learning to keep that armour safe no matter how safe the arms of another person make me feel.