Saturday, December 8, 2007

I Think I Molted

Thanks to those who have offered up help and suggestions for winter semester childcare. I think I have the afterschool situation covered, and backups, and now all I need is the two early morning shifts covered but I have some leads to follow up on.

This past week has been interesting. On the day that my divorce was final, a knot developed in my center that I carried around for five days. It was the weirdest thing, as generally I'm not a gastro-stressy person. Then it disappeared. It just went away, and I felt great. Really great, like I've been carrying around this sublevel anxiety that was suddenly released. I have just as much to do, but it doesn't feel ominous anymore. Instead of this nebulous feeling that the things I have to do are a gray sky above that I'm trying to clear by making wind with my hands, they just became a canopy of fruit that needs to be picked and I can just reach up and grab it.

I feel like I gained Deep Understandings of Life, without reading any Chicken Soup for the Soul books. I can focus on schoolwork, but then feel okay about setting it aside for awhile to play games with the kids or laugh with Evan over hilarious headlines from his book of compilations from The Onion. Six Flags Killer Still at Large, Says Souvenir-Bedecked Police Officer.

I think I molted. Perhaps somewhere in the neighborhood my crunchy shell is lying amongst this year's shed leaves, unseen for the cloak of early snow.

7 comments:

Zoe the Wonder Dog said...

We are on the backup list right? Definitely can do pesky half-days at school, etc.

Glad you are feeling better -- I'm familiar with the gut crunch and playing games and laughing over the Onion seems like great therapy.

Shannon said...

You wrote that very well; very poetic!

Unknown said...

niiiiice!

Kate said...

so nice. although when i read about your crunchy shell i thought of potato chips. yum.

Ypsipearl said...

I love all the Kettle Chips flavored potato chips. Yum is right.

Zoe the Wonder Dog said...

You twisted people! Stop thinking about eating S's shell!

YPR said...

You are an excellent writer, Stacey. You handle the written word with much more skill and aplomb than most. I know that when it's been suggested in the past that you should write a book, your standard retort would be that you can "only come up with one-liners." I think it's obvious that your own writing provides the best argument against such an assertion, although you are pretty good at coming up with clever one-liners, too, I'll attest to that.

I know that writing a book is not high on your list of priorities at this time, but please keep it in mind as a worthy project. Your writing reflects a unique sensibility, and your prose is a natural blend of the straightforward and the elegant that's better than a lot of other stuff that makes it into print.

I'd encourage you to keep posting here. Your writing is a pleasure to read. The smarmy crap in Chicken Soup for the Soul doesn't come close, although, on occasion the headlines in The Onion approach the wit of your one-liners. (One great thing about San Francisco is that, right along side the boxes for The Guardian and the Chronicle, they have newspaper boxes for The Onion. Recent favorites: "Man Finally Put in Charge of Struggling Feminist Movement," "Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Work," and "Autumn Canceled After 3 Billion Seasons.")