10-365 A fine day!

Vince and I pretty much checked out yesterday -- no phone calls, no interwebs, no Facebook, no TV, nada. We had lunch with some friends and dinner with family but other than that we were our own little island. Thank goodness. Quite frankly, I really didn't want to deal with too much more of the general horror and sadness of the world. I'd had enough and needed a break.

Fortunately, an unexpected opportunity for Vince presented itself a few days ago and our lunch date had something to do with it. No details, but here are some picture hints. You may figure it out.

Pretty cool, huh?

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Speaking of the general sadness of the world, there's plenty to go around but some of it you can do something about. Veronica of Another Suburban Mom fame posted an article that is worth reading and doing something about. It concerns the appalling backlog of rape kits that haven't been processed throughout the nation. It's an outrage. Of course, it's also complicated. Check it out.

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I need to give some attention to

a series of posts by Sadie on empathy and being a "highly sensitive person." In a nutshell, a researcher somewhere has come up with a theory that about 15 - 20% of the population as HSPs, who not only keen observers of social interactions or of people's inner feelings, but who actually sense, or feel them. I'm pretty freakin' sensitive in both good and bad ways. I think it's one of the things that made me a pretty darn good performer in the past and a very good writer/producer now. It also makes it very easy for me to share in someone's joy and experience extreme highs just by being around a positive person or beautiful situation or experiencing art or listening to music and on and on.

But it also makes it difficult sometimes to shut out the bad. Negative waves just kill me. Some days I hate FB because of all the stupid and mean things people say. I feel each and everyone of them. I can't watch television shows that deal with inappropriate social interactions as their base (e.g. The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm). I can't watch shows that show animal abuse, even if they have the disclaimer that "no animals were harmed" blah, blah, blah. I NEVER watch Animal Planet. I'm extremely sensitive to sounds (too loud, too grating, too repetitive, etc), and music (moving or irritating). Vince and I once walked into a spice shop and I almost passed out I was so overwhelmed.

I tell you all this because I think this is what happens when I go "quiet" on the blogs or FB or quit watching the news or reading magazines or anything else I withdraw from. I've reached maximum density. I can't take any more of whatever it is.

I'm not a big fan of labels, but I do think it's useful to see that something is common enough that it can be identified, named, and categorized. And some of the "me too!" comments and observations seem to be a bit pretentious and presumptuous (including this one) but if it's accurate and not just another made-up bullshit trait/syndrome used to sell books and increase speaking fees then I need to give it closer look. I don't want to be less sensitive, but I would like to be able to be less susceptible to feeling pain and suffering that isn't mine to bear.

Yesterday was a fine day, mostly because it was filled with good friends and enjoyable pursuits. A terrific day if there ever was one!

PS -- I have now tried four times to fix the formatting issue (paragraph returns disappear) that occurs EVERY FUCKING TIME I try to publish this post. I'm done. Maybe it will work this time. If not, oh well. Fuckin' blogger.