My son has been home for two days and our house looks completely different. Before I launch into what could sound like complaining, let me call out the obvious. Twenty five years ago I lived alone in Hollywood in a one bedroom apartment with bare walls and no plants. Before that I lived in one room in West Hollywood. I slept on a futon and ate a lot of air-popped popcorn, mostly staring at blank walls. So, despite what I am about to confess, I do know how lucky I am to have so much life in my life.
Which doesn’t change the fact that I got used to seeing the floor in my son’s room and I miss it. In the last forty eight hours I have also been reminded how hard it is to remove the remaining cheese film from mac and cheese out of the bowl once it’s had a chance to coagulate. Also painfully aware that no one I live with holds Carole King in high regard, or any regard. But country singers are definitely having a moment in our house. And yes, Luke Combs almost brought a tear to my eye with “Beautiful, Crazy.”
My 2009 car has been overtaken, towels go missing in the middle of the night and on Sunday I couldn’t sleep until I heard the sound of my son’s voice having decided he was up to no good in Echo Park. This is what happens when you listen to too much country music. You start writing phrases like “up to no good.”
Point being there’s chaos. In my head and in my house. Unsurprisingly, the definition of chaos is “complete disorder and confusion.” And there we have it, the house in disorder, the head in confusion. So what do we do to combat this inevitable feeling as we populate our lives with humans, and then gather together with more of them for holidays? Here are my top five. And no I did not consult AI for them.
- Breathe - nothing better than a deep breath. I’m convinced this is why people who love smoking cigarettes can’t quit. That, and the Nicotine.
- Know that whatever the moment is, it is not forever.
- Focus on what is good. Yep, it’s that simple. Coffee has caffeine. Check!
- TAKE BREAKS - go for walks, hide out in the bathroom, talk to a pet, or a stuffed animal.
- Control what you can - do the dishes if you hate dirty dishes, check in with people if you’re feeling paranoid about something.
- Ask questions and let people talk about themselves.
As we crash into the holidays this week I am certain I am not alone in my state of chaos. I’m looking forward to all six of the pain relievers above. In fact, I’ve already used number three. This morning I was “not driving” in my car. I was in my car and it was turned on and I was on a street, but so were a thousand other cars and no one was going anywhere. I wanted to scream and curse every choice I’d made in my life for getting me to this awful state of disorder and confusion about how I ended up there. Classic chaos brain. Instead I started listing out loud all the things I’m grateful for. I even started singing them as a game. Did I experience relief? Why yes I did. I also sounded eerily like a Luke Combs song.
