Hey, Cool Life!

This one is about petulance. And how tiny tantrums are distractions from fear and uncertainty that need to be processed. This is also about the small routines I put in place so that muscle memory can carry me on days where I need extra help.

This one is about rehearsing tragedy and the illusion that it will prepare you for or even forestall sad things. It’s about superstitions around hyper vigilance and how you’re “allowed” to struggle with non coronavirus issues.

This is about what it’s like to finish a contemporary YA novel set in New York when everything you’ve ever known has radically changed. This is about giving your work the blessing to be as it wants to. And to let it go with confidence and gratitude even if it feels moot because it will find its audience eventually.

This is about our teammates during this global pandemic (partners, roommates, siblings, kids, parents). And how they are different from us. Their traumas, their stories, their personalities and needs aren’t moral issues. This is also a reminder that we are as annoying as they are so patience and compassion is what we can control. This is also a call to check in if we have unrealistic goals set so that “quarantine time isn’t a waste.” Grief is time consuming and so is acceptance.

Last night I was on a rampage to try to get home to NY from LA. This is a note that for me these urgent, all-consuming thoughts are futile attempts at control. There is what I want and there is what is happening. Trying to change reality only amounts to suffering. This is also a gentle reminder that meditation is available. And that imperfect meditation is a salve because perfect meditation doesn’t exist.

A loving reminder not to lash out at the people around you who prevent you from completely dissociating. Reality is intolerable but they’re our lifelines not our anchors.

This is about how I am personally coping at the moment. And how this is a time to be patient and compassionate with yourself. And to try and not self abandon by checking in with people.

We’re only as sick as our secrets and sometimes our secrets are stories we tell ourselves that we don’t even know we’re telling ourselves. Here are some framing techniques and tools I use to suss them out.

This one is about forcing yourself to work in a spirit of shame and punishment. And how even on deadline it can be vital to the quality of work to take real, restorative breaks.

This is about dread as it relates to projects you’ve abandoned and become scared of and how to lovingly return to them. And how mindfulness around small acts of sabotage can be enlightening about how fear governs larger things in your life.