Last week was an exceptionally tough one for me. It was one of those perfect storm sort of weeks where all the elements (and of course that convenient excuse we Californians love to use – Mercury in Retrograde) collided to make it just, well, effing horrible. I was in a fairly rancid mood about 99% of the time. (Super sorry, everybody.)
So, one of the things we do as part of The Artist’s Way is to make a list of tasks for each week. On Sunday, I sit down and read the chapter for the following week, and out of that I come up with a list of creative projects I aim to accomplish.
A typical week will look something like this:
- Hem that old sweater I’ve been meaning to hem
- Make some granola, from scratch
- Read a little bit every single day
- Take a bath
That sort of thing.
On an ambitious week I might get up to 6 or 7 things I aim to get around to. And I usually do all of them. (I’m single, and basically a shut-in most of the time, so it’s pretty easy for me to get things done.)
This last Sunday, after enduring Nasty Previous Week, I decided to simplify my list for THIS week and make it more accomplishable.
My list for this week:
- Just try to cope
Oddly enough, every time I look at this “list,” I smile. It actually reminds me of a line from Bottle Rocket, the seminal Wes Anderson movie that launched the careers of Luke and Owen Wilson.
Anthony (Luke Wilson) has just gotten out of the nuthouse (their line, not mine), and a girl who thinks he’s cute is flirting with him.
Girl: “You’re complicated, aren’t you?”
Super cute Luke Wilson as Anthony: “I try not to be.”
(For other classic Bottle Rocket quotes IMDB is awesome. But, of course, Bottle Rocket quotes are not funny or interesting at all unless you already have them memorized.)
Just try to cope! I feel like that’s a totally Buddhist goal. Don’t you?
