The navy blue rubber mat in front of my stove says, “Eat good, laugh often, live well.” The sign in the small silver frame above the stove says, “Did you remember to turn off the burner? Did you remember to turn off the oven?” One is aspirational, the other is compulsory. The paraliminal for the day is “Living the Law of Attraction,” which purports to help you consistently attract the good, positive, and extraordinary to yourself. I put a teaspoon of cider vinegar in my morning protein shake and a dash of cinnamon in my coffee.
I make my bed every morning to remind myself not to get back in it until bedtime. Why? For the same reason that I don’t keep junk food in the house, box three times a week, and set a daily alarm for 7:00 p.m. to remind myself to stop eating for the day. I like being alive. I want to hang around my family longer. I want to be able to live my remaining time to the fullest, and if I’m perfectly honest, I don’t want to have to buy a new wardrobe.
However, everything goes to hell when I pay attention to the world around me. I gave up being a 24/7 news freak, but I still get the NY Times daily headlines online and, occasionally, when I feel very brave, I watch the PBS News Hour. Then I wonder why I bother at all with the healthy, responsible lifestyle. Do I want to be here for the climate change crisis to pass the point of no return? Do I want to be here for the next several pandemics that will undoubtedly come? Do I want to feel helpless as the Putins, Erdogans Assads, Pis and Hun Sens maim and kill, exploit and torture? Do I want to endure more U.S. election cycles that have become circuses of the bizarre?
You don’t have an answer? Me neither.
Carole J. Garrison 