To Myself, Today

Slow down. Pay attention. Don’t go tripping over your tongue along the path, yammering about every feeling that passes over your nerve endings. Slow down. Stop that incessant interpretation of what you think and feel. Get out of that self-defeating spiral, the one that spins faster and faster the more you lean into it, the more words you feed it. That criticism you feed on. . . Stop eating it. Don’t worry if you can’t identify what every feeling is. Don’t allow your curiosity to drive you slap dab crazy. And stop telling yourself you’re “losing it” unless you really want to lose it! This, too, shall pass. Do not assume it will be forever. Go on that hike. Try to be silent and not worry about other people’s feelings so much. They can take care of themselves.

I’m awfully bossy, aren’t I.



Consider the sleeping dogs on the chair. . . They do not worry or toil. . .