Friday, October 29, 2010

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 75

Today's Daily 5:
  1. 1 year, 75 days of making daily 5 lists
  2. This website "I Need Help" totally made me laugh today.  My favorite so far was "Help, I suffer from Ennui."  Try it!
  3. frost on the grass looking beautiful and delicate this morning
  4. having a plan for the day
  5. toast with butter and jam
  6. pomegranate green tea
  7. laughing at a facebook status
  8. escapist television
  9. being thankful for flexibility on the other end of an awkward phone call I had to make
  10. a truly funny text message exchange with my friend H.
  11. being encouraged by blog comments
  12. egg rolls and mozza sticks
  13. pajama day
  14. warm blankets to curl up under
  15. a day of rest

Pajama Day

After the slightly rough start to my morning I decided to emerge from bed.

It turned out that simply giving myself permission to stay in bed was all I needed, and when I spotted the sunshine, a new plan formed.

The other day Hope made a comment in a blog post about liking to clean in her pajamas.

This morning, as I pondered the day ahead of me, I remembered that comment and inspiration hit.

I declared it a pajama day.

I made a list of things that either could or should be done today - some household stuff, and a lot of self-care stuff, and decided that I would do some or all of it, but that I was not changing out of my pajamas.

I recommend this as a way to spend a day.

And, to be honest, I didn't do much on my list.  Mostly I rested.  I got up and did a few things here and there, but mostly, escapist television, and tea and resting.

And I recommend it as a way to spend a day.

I needed this day.

A pajama day.

And I plan to continue resting, watching escapist television, and maybe doing a few little tasks here and there through the evening.

Oh, and praying.  I have some time set aside later to pray for some specific people, events and things.

It's been a good day.  (And it's been a while since I could say that, so it's really nice to say it today.)

Hiding Out, or Burrowing In

I'm in bed.

I might just stay here all day.

Curled up and insulated from the outside world.

No world gearing up for halloween.

No walking by the house near the train station that has seen fit to include severed limbs in their flower beds.

"Decorations," you know.

For me, they're actually quite literally the stuff of nightmares, those severed limbs.

It's not my favorite "holiday" - can you tell?

Maybe I'm overly sensitive, or maybe I thought this year would be different.

I've been taking baby steps, trying to sort out which reactions are simply fear, and which come from an incredible sensitivity to things spiritual.

I've made progress.  Done things I wouldn't have done a year ago, and enjoyed them.

But nope, this is still something I'm overly sensitive to.

And quite frankly, it makes me want to burrow deeper into my bed and just stay here until Monday comes.

It's ironic, that the one big "moment with God" that I celebrate each year falls on November 1st.  All Souls Day.

The day after Halloween.

And that every year, the days leading up to that anniversary of my healing from depression are filled with nightmares and avoiding images on the streets, on television, and everywhere, of the things that often occupy my nightmares. They're filled with this feeling of wanting to curl up in a hole and pull blankets over me and hide.

Can I use the word "oppression" without someone freaking out and calling me an over-sensitive Christian?

And so I'm hanging on until Monday.

Today I'm going to hang out at home.

Tomorrow I have a few appointments to attend.

Sunday I think I'll go to dad's church, since my baby brother is preaching.

And then I'll hole up, turn out the lights in the house, and let the evening pass.

And on Monday, on Monday I'm going to celebrate healing.  5 years of it.

I'm just going to burrow in until then.

To fight hard for good days, and to push back the darkness that becomes heavy, threatening, and overwhelming at this time of year.

I'll fight for it, because it's worth it.  Because I'm worth it.

And Monday I'm going to celebrate!