I think of all the habits we try to have stick, creating content consistently might be the hardest, not because I’m actively doing it right now (okay, maybe a little) but because it’s something you’ve made, like when we were little kids and you made a turkey with the outline of your hand and you shared it with the class. Only now, your turkey is your point-of-view and the class is anyone with a wifi connection, ready to view, judge and comment on your turkey. And according to Instagram, if you don’t make your turkey a reel, all your house plants are going to catch on fire. For the record, I’m happy to take in your turkey however you put it out there, and I’m proud of you for showing the class.
I was dealing with something unpleasant earlier this week and while I was on the phone with my mom telling her all about it, this kid asked me for directions and as he walked away the back of his hoodie read “Don’t Trip Over What’s Behind You.” I immediately felt like this was a little *kiss, kiss* from the Universe, reminding me that what I’m going through is already in the past and to continue thinking about it or replaying it would only be me tripping over what’s already behind me. I immediately told my mom, and she reminded me of a Cuban/Spanish expression which translates to “Sometimes you need to get hit with the same rock twice” but this boy’s hoodie is helping me by only needing to get hit once. Sidenote: My mom is full of these Old school Cuban/Spanish expressions but then some are just uniquely hers and I can never tell which ones until I cross-reference it with another Old school Cuban like my friend and very funny comedian Eli Rodriguez. I can’t remember which expression it was but I thought for years that everyone knew it until Eli politely told me “No Doll, I’ve never heard that one before and I think it’s only your family that says that.” Typical. Should I do a round up of all the Cuban/Spanish expressions I grew up with and how I use them? 10% of my therapy sessions were always spent translating one of these so she could better understand where I was coming from. A substack for another day.
Reading Jo Firestone’s substack this past Friday reminded me of a belief I had that has since changed. In a previous subtack I wrote about how it’s not worth it to keep salad in the house because the cost of it and the accompaniments you like to put on the salad usually go bad before you can even finish them. But two weeks ago I bought a bag of arugula and a bag of mixed spinach (flew too close to the sun with that one and had to throw out the mixed spinach) but the arugula got used! The whole thing! I, like Jo, and anyone else who’s purchased a bag of salad and was raised with any sense of shame, felt compelled to eat the arugula with every meal, not only elevating each meal, but ensuring no arugula went to waste! The last little bit I ate smelled kind of funky but I powered through and olive oil and goat cheese helped. So now I supposed I am an “at-home-salad-girl” but only with one bag of the arugula, for now. Just wanted to fess up and admit that I changed my mind on something, realized the nuance, and that the house plants didn’t catch fire, because sometimes people act like changing your opinion will do that when the only thing that will make plants catch on fire, is fire.
Engulfed in the flames of change,
Love, irene xoxo
I’ll fix my grammar errors in the morning, just wanted this bad boy to have a Sunday time stamp