Journal 5
Hello! Wow it has been a hot week here in New Jersey. Things are happening to the plants that don’t normally happen until July or August. The leaves on my mulberry tree are already changing. They always change early but not this early.
Why does life hit you when you’re down? At the end of a rough day this week, eagerly waiting to go to bed, I look up and there is a scene out of Luigi’s Haunted Mansion over my head: hundred of little spiders on a 3 dimensional spider web that I didn’t think existed in cold climates. It was 4 feet wide by 3 feet tall by 3 feet deep. I lost it.
My partner vacuumed up the spider family and left the vacuum bag outside so they could go outside. I realized that possibly the spider web wasn’t actually that large: it was a consortium of old spider webs that formed a large historic spider city. I am happy mama spider had her babies and they could all go off on their own. On a normal day, I would think it was all way cool. But when you’re stressed to death, even the smallest thing could be the thing that breaks you.
The housing crisis struck hard this week. A parent took a long weekend around Juneteenth, so consequently we were forced to take off too. Working at home is great, but when too many people in the house do it, it can be tough. Additionally, extreme heat can drive people to commit violent crimes. Although no violent crimes were committed (yet) the daily tension was amplified!
Living together as an adult family without the proper home setup is tough 24/7. No doubt, we bother them too. But when one party is opposed to making changes to the home setup by changing the function of rooms, throwing out or changing furniture, painting the walls different colors, de-cluttering, or using creative solutions, the suffering continues for no reason. And that is frustrating!!! Old people are so stubborn.
People have to be taught how to become old way before they get there. By then, it is too late for most people to evolve or learn anything new. And how many younger people do they take down with them? Even if such an educational campaign started now, my generation would never feel the benefits. My only hope is to not be a toxic evil old person to Gen Alpha and younger. And although I economically suffer as a Millenial, I think Gen Z has it worse in other ways.
I hope everyone is doing okay in whatever weather you are in. For me, I have found that remembering to drink enough water, eat spicy and sweet food, avoid emotional conflict, and take it really really easy helps get through this heat. Do whatever the animals are doing, they know how to get through it! Laying on the floor with my cat in front of a fan was the smartest thing I did last week.
Asya