Feeling Crowded

 

This has been a very full week. I couldn’t even really tell you what it was full of…..actually, I could, but it would be SO BORING. I have been hopping all week, and I kind of dig it. I feel helpful and relevant. But I do miss my down time, time to reflect and process my thoughts.

At the end of a week like this, I start losing my cookies a little bit. It’s like all my extraneous thoughts start out the week patiently waiting in line to get attention. But as the line starts getting longer, the thoughts start getting impatient, tapping their toes and looking at their watches. Then it gets downright crowded, and some thoughts start taking cuts because they drive a BMW and think they’re ALL THAT. This hurts the feelings of the other thoughts, which makes them get puffed up and less polite. Tonight—Monday night at 11:06pm—I’m on the verge of an insurrection.

Pushing down emotions or making them wait too long isn’t healthy. Those unattended emotions don’t go away on their own. Rather they tend to grow and fester, rearing their ugly heads at the most inopportune moments when I’m hungry and tired and just trying to get the heck through Costco. WHAT IS TAKING YOU PEOPLE SO LONG AND WHY DO YOU HAVE TO STAND RIGHT THERE??

But what if you’re too busy to deal with them? What if you’re just barely catching your breath and your 21-year-old son asks you to watch “Cobra Kai” with him? YOU DON'T SAY NO!

In case you were not alive in the 80s or if you don’t know anything about excellent movies, Cobra Kai was the bad guy dojo in the Karate Kid Trilogy that spanned 1983-1989. Apparently, there was also a fourth movie made in 1994 starring Hilary Swank, so I guess it’s officially a tetralogy. But there was no Ralph Macchio and nobody says “tetralogy” so I’m sticking with just the three. Karate Kid was also remade (very well, IMO) about ten years ago starring Jackie Chan and Jayden Smith.

 “Cobra Kai” takes place when Daniel-san and that jerk-face thug Johnny “Sweep-the-Leg” Lawrence are in their 50s and rekindle their rivalry. It is full of 80s references, set in Encino, and is so much fun to watch! When Chris was enticing me to invest time into watching this series, he said, “Look at that actor! He looks so much like the guy that was in the Karate Kid movie. The casting is so good!”

As I listened to the dialog, I was impressed. The fellow’s voice was kind of raspy and alto just like Danny LaRusso’s. Upon closer inspection, I said to Chris, “That guy really DOES look like Ralph Macchio. Are you sure that isn’t him?”

To which Chris responded, “Who’s Ralph Macchio? Is he famous?”

I thoroughly enjoyed watching a couple of episodes with Chris this evening. Like our “Tiger King” marathon earlier this year, I appreciate the shared experience and also feel informed and super cool. We did it all for the glory of love.

But what about all this week’s feelings? Yup, still right there knocking around in my head. I’m kind of a sensitive one, so I often encounter strong feelings that I can’t deal with right away. They provide me with important information, and I want to honor them by giving them my full attention, no half-assed head nodding and a pat on the back. I have learned to talk nicely to my feelings, “I notice you and I promise to tend to you when I can.” The trick is to make that time to attend to them. So that’s what I’m going to do now. Wax on. Wax off.

Thank you for reading, my friends! I hope you remember to make time to take good care of yourselves this week! You deserve it!!