some of my favorite Taylor Swift songs

I thought I’d write about some of my favorite Taylor Swift songs. Of course there are too many to choose from, but here are a few… Why: the anticipation she builds through the lack of satisfying cadences, for a really long time. We would hate it if the whole first minute and a half were loud and confident. We would hate it. The simple rotation between chords, paired with overconfidence? Would make us cringe like clapping on 1 and 3. But it’s so soft, almost whispered, with a driven beat, …

feeling

Do you ever feel like the pain of being alive is just too much? I don’t know what it is. Sometimes I think it’s hormones. Sometimes I think it’s empathy. Sometimes I wonder if it’s fibromyalgia (joke, but also I do have it so it can be honestly hard to know.. *laugh-cry*). Seriously though. I don’t know what it is. Like, right now. I’m sitting here. I feel this ache across my cheeks. It goes down both arms, and into my fingers. It feels like my skin is crying. Is …

squishmallow

It it is a glorified pillow with eyeballs. And it is a thing of beauty. You can squish it. You can hug it. You can toss it. You can arrange it on your couch. You can arrange it on your bed. (“bop it! twist it! pull it!” comes to mind) Anyway they are cute, they are fun, they are expensive at times and inexpensive at other times, and they are undeniably squishy. In a few years, 80% of the ones people have will probably be at yard sales, because they …

reasons to stay alive

This might seem a bit weird but. I’m going to list these. By sense and ability. k. Do you have the ability to smell? Then here are some things to live for: the smell of bacon cooking in the morning the smell of a huge white blooming rose the smell of the ocean, salty and bright the smell of freshly washed laundry the smell of your favorite food cooking. What is your favorite cooked food? That smell. the smell of smoke from a campfire the smell of barbecue Do you …

part 2: considering after-death and how we live, and why

Well. I published that last post. *stares into the mirror of my psyche* It is so uncomfortable to say quiet thoughts out loud about the things I cannot know. It is so uncomfortable!!! I’m exploring why this is. It brings up a lot of grief to consider .. just the possibility that there might not be anything more to life than this. Even just thinking the thought, almost physically hurts. I want to say.. “no! I know the future. I know there will be Heaven. I have faith .. yada …

considering after-death and how we live, and why

Hi. There have been so many things on my mind lately. One of them is that we’re living right now. Along with that idea, is the fact that all friendships are friendships, whether they are with people you met in person or online. Another idea that I’ve been thinking about is the fact that most of us, if we have the opportunity to look back on our lives at some point (not a given), will simply want more time with other people. At least, that’s what I imagine wanting. I …

some things i’ve been loving

Lately in the evenings, Alex and I have been watching/rewatching Schitt’s Creek on Amazon. It’s such a good show. I didn’t watch it when it first came out because of the name and I thought it might have something crude/ sexual about it. I’m an idiot. Or I was one. Or a prude. Or both. Anyway it’s an amazing show and it has absolutely nothing to do with shit. via GIPHY Reading-wise I’m baby-stepping, or rather tip-toeing, through Michelle Obama’s “The Light We Carry.” It’s delicious, even in tiny bites. …

tuesday

Today is a Tuesday. The picture is from a walk last night. This moment in time: sitting on the couch, wearing my favorite purple sweater, with my cat Atticus lying near me on the ground, floofy back towards me, floofy white inside his ears just *so.* I hear a bird outside cawing. The sun is kind of pointing downward at the trees, not straight down but.. like the 6 o’clock long hand on a clock. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about life in general. Someone I dated for a …

the comfort of limited options

I remember learning in Educational Psychology that the more options one has, the more stressful a decision is. It’s no wonder that “what do you want to do with your life?” “what color should we paint the livingroom?” and “out of all the people on the entire internet on dating websites, who can you see yourself building a life with?” can be somewhat stressful questions. Anyway I remember learning that. I’ve seen it utilized within marketing, where companies will intentionally limit your options, to give you a sense of peace …

the un-critical self

Since I was raised in conservative, somewhat legalistic religion, I was trained to have some particular thought patterns- to “take every thought captive” (2 Cor 10:5). To not lust. To *make my thoughts* be … something. Metacognition is thinking about thinking. It’s like one of those mirrors reflecting back another mirror. For anyone with a desire to do good, a desire to be thorough, and the threat of hell creating quite reasonable anxiety, this created an objectively mentally-unhealthy situation. To be policing oneself, policing ones thoughts, and at times, feelings, …