A meditation on gratitude

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I heard my ancestor’s name at a presentation on The Essex shipwreck at the Nantucket Whaling Museum. Were we related to the 14-year-old cabin boy who survived?

At the start of our Moby-Dick class, our teacher Dennis Patrick Slattery asked each of the fifteen or so participants to say what “called” them to come (à la “Call me Ishmael”). I found myself saying that my ancestors had called me. Huh? I didn’t realize it was so until I said it. The next morning the class explored the Nantucket Whaling Museum and right away, the first display had a name on the wall that rang a vague bell in my memory: Governor Thomas Mayhew, Sr. (1593-1682). I grabbed my phone and looked him up in the app. Yes! He was my 11th great-grandfather…

From giving myself permission to not shower, gain a bunch of weight, and loll around watching TV and hugging my blanket during the first couple of LOCKDOWN months (April-May 2020) to resolving to “get my shit together” by hiking a lot, joining Noom and back to counting my calories again, and getting an attitude of gratitude—the first half year of Covid was a black-and-white swing from lazy to energetic. At the far end of my self-improvement pendulum, I dusted off my Artist’s Way book and got down to it, finally. I did the Morning Pages for 7 weeks, I made breakthroughs and explored my creative desires, and then I got tired of it. And that’s okay! Because what I found on the other side of doing half of The Artist’s Way was an immense comfort and inspiration in creativity again.

First came the lockdown, then working from home, then a 75% reduction in my business… Then the Labor Day Oregon wildfires hit and our mountain community was threatened and we lost electricity for a week and couldn’t go outside because of the smoky, hazardous air quality. And now my spouse and I have Covid-19 (with symptoms, fun!), but at least we didn’t give it to my elderly, medically fragile mother who just moved to town. Oh yeah, and the political shenanigans that I keep trying to ignore. That’s a lot of stressors, and so many people have so many more problems than my list. I’m feeling my own stressors and sometimes it feels like all of theirs, too. The world collectively groans.

A feminist analysis of the fembot (female robot) in pop culture with material from the films Her, Ex Machina, The Machine, and Stepford Wives (1972 & 2004) and the TV series The Twilight Zone (original series) and Battlestar Galactica (2004). #youtubeessays

When school feels like a chore or work feels boring, maybe you wonder—where can I find my inspiration? The answer is in the wondering. Right now with the COVID-19 pandemic, we all have an opportunity, some space and time to search for what fascinates us. Even when remote schooling is in session, students have a little more time to seek out their own paths. The secret to a successful school experience is internal motivation, and the way to find that internal motivation is to discover what interests you and follow that path.

• Take the PRESSURE OFF the parent-child relationship

  Imagine not having to nag and pester. Let someone else help them with time management.

• When developing ideas for a writing piece, a tutor can help a student GET THERE FASTER

  Together, we can exit the land of confusion more quickly and straighten the arrow of the argument

Do one small thing on your list. When I’m overwhelmed, I make a long To-Do list, which helps me to see the tasks but can also feel scary when I see how long it is. But, when I take on one task and then cross it off, that feels great! I’m not stuck anymore. I did something!