Do You Have a 2020 Mantra?

2020 mantraLet’s talk about mantras today, friends!! Specifically, your 2020 mantra. Do you have one? I ask because we’re a week into the new year and for much of that time, all we’ve heard is people talking and talking — and talking — about their New Year’s Resolutions. And all that talk has made me feel a bit, well, slacker-ish in light of my track record with resolutions.

We all know that I don’t really do well with setting resolutions come January 1st. Sure, I could think of some lofty goals to set, but come June or July — or maybe even as early as February — I’ll have completely forgotten what those must-do, must-achieve goals were. Even if I wrote them down, I’m not sure they’d stick much beyond a month or two. Tops.

Maybe you’re like that too? I mean, I can’t be the only one here, can I…? I give huge props to those who are all kinds of organized and know exactly what they want to achieve in the coming year. Good for them. But I’ve never been one of those people no matter how hard I try; and believe me, I’ve tried. So many times. And just like that guy who ghosts you, I always end up disappointed and frustrated and, yes, even a bit angry.

Here’s the thing, though: I didn’t just want to say hello to 2020 all willy-nilly, you know? After all, it’s a new decade and I figured that I should at least take some steps (metaphorically, of course!) and be semi-proactive. And before you start harping about how “technically, it’s not a new decade until next year,” 2020 is the start of a new decade, for all intents and purposes. Come on now, people!

That’s when I found this in my drafts. I’ve read it a few times and it really moved me. It stuck with me and I’ve decided that it’s going to be my 2020 mantra…

I can be nothing but myself. I won’t apologize for that. Being who you are isn’t being “too much.” Being yourself is about the bravest, most rebellious thing you can do in this life. Own it.

Isn’t that great? So simple and yet, so meaningful. So maybe resolutions aren’t my thing and that’s OK. This year, instead of setting goals to achieve things, maybe my energy would be better spent changing my frame of mind. Less outward doing and more inward thinking. And we all know that I’m the Queen of Thinking.

2020 mantraWhat’s your 2020 mantra for this year, friends?? Have you thought about it? Or are you more of a strict New Year’s Resolutions person? Let’s share and encourage each other, shall we?? Here’s to a prosperous and exciting 2020… xoxo

[Photos via Unsplash]

My Life Without the Internet (Warning: It’s Not Pretty)

InternetI’m writing this post in the past at the library, so I can schedule it to post in the future, which will be the present for you when you’re reading it. Whew, that’s a mouthful, if I ever heard it! Why the confusing juxtaposition of time a la Back To The Future?? Because time has taken on a new, weird meaning over the last week. Time has practically become an out-of-body experience for me, and I’m not exaggerating when I type that. That’s just what life is like when your home WiFi goes out and you DON’T HAVE THE INTERNET.

I apologize. I’m sorry that you had to see those words – the type of words that should never be uttered in 2019. But it’s true, unfortunately. Life without the internet?? Is there such an existence? Isn’t that like life without oxygen?

Our internet went down last Wednesday and it’s literally like living in the Stone Age circa 1995. Dare I say, it’s even worse than dial-up. After some other choice words and attempting to restart the modem several times, I called the lovely people at Frontier. They came out Friday and discovered that some neighborhood squirrels had chewed through the cords outside. They fixed it and we once again saw the blue light of salvation on said modem, which meant that we were back to cruising on the Information Superhighway.

Life, at long last (really only two days), had meaning once again.

Then I woke up on Saturday morning and that blue light was gone. My salvation and all my understanding of the world went with it. I mean, I don’t even know what’s real anymore. I don’t even know what’s true and what’s false. How can I when I don’t even have Google to tell me? I can’t even check Trump’s Twitter for my daily gasp over the state of our country. You know things are pretty dire when you miss the Trump Tantrums.

Yes, my life has come to a complete standstill. No Facebook. No Twitter. No Instagram. No ordering Taco Bell for delivery. I feel utterly isolated from the rest of the universe, like everyone is dancing at the hippest party of the year, and it’s a very uneasy feeling. I’ve devolved so much that when I was waiting on hold with Frontier, I found myself reading Reminisce magazine and going “Oh, wow! This is a great magazine!” For reference, Reminisce is a magazine geared toward Baby Boomers – there are ads for Jitterbug cell phones in there, for crying out loud!

Thank goodness for my DVR, though!!! I watched a ton of television this weekend and nearly caught up on the new season of MTV’s Catfish, which, in retrospect, probably only made me more depressed because the entire show is about the internet.

See, you can’t escape the internet! Speaking of television, forget Survivor as the ultimate in daring reality TV. Someone should make a show called Living In A House Without Internet Access. The show would put contestants in a house without – you guessed it – the internet and see who could last the longest. Grand prize is a lifetime of free WiFi.

InternetBecause a world without the internet is NOT a world that I want to live in. If this actually was Back To The Future, I could go back in time to last week and get loads of work done in anticipation of this Great Shutdown of 2019. But this isn’t Back To The Future and even worse, there’s not even a cute Marty McFly to provide a bit of comic relief.

But this whole debacle does resemble Back To The Future in one key way: My hair is just like Doc Brown’s. I’ve even got the above photo to prove it. I snapped it when our internet first went out. If I looked that hopeless then, you can just imagine how much I’ve deteriorated since. Like I said, life without the internet isn’t pretty.

Yes, I’m addicted to my iPhone. And, no, I’m not ashamed. I’m not going to apologize or vow to go on some sort of “digital detox” to find and reconnect with myself. I know where and who I am and my place is on the internet. I don’t need to reconnect with myself; I need to reconnect with the internet STAT.

So, please, let us have a moment of silence for all that I’ve (temporarily) lost here. The repairmen are coming back today (tomorrow for me since I’m writing this in the past, remember), and I’m sitting here praying to the WiFi Gods that everything is restored soon. After all, I’m not sure how much more of this off-line stuff I can take. Are we still in Mercury Retrograde and no one told me? Because that would explain all this hullabaloo, mumbo-jumbo nonsense… xoxo

Motivational Quotes Monday: On Why Singing Is Good For the Soul

Happy Monday, friends!!! And a very good morning to you too! This weekend, we were finally able to take a walk in the springtime sunshine and IT FELT GREAT. I was soaking up all that vitamin D like it was going out of style! And speaking of great things, today’s motivational quotes are all about one of my favorite activities: Singing!! We’ve been watching the new season of American Idol and I’m loving it! It reminds me just how good singing is for the soul. You all know how much I love to belt out a good tune. Any time, really — in the shower, folding the laundry, even writing blog posts! The music muse just flows through me! So here are five quotes to celebrate the power of singing…

Singing Singing Singing Singing

Motivational Quotes Monday: 5 Jokes For April Fools Day Giggles

Guess what, friends?!? I’m baaaaack!!! And, no, that is not some cruel April Fools Day prank. It’s Yours Truly, in the flesh — well, more like in cyberspace, but you get the idea! How have you been? I’m very sad to see my spring break come to an end, and poor Ms. Bear was sick for most of the week!!! So instead of our usual motivational quotes today, I thought we needed something funny to cheer us up! And what’s funnier than, well, jokes? They can make you laugh until your eyes water and you can’t catch your breath. Everyone needs a joke or two to brighten the day, so here are 5 in honor of April Fools Day…

April Fools Day April Fools Day April Fools Day April Fools Day

In Which Mercury Retrograde Becomes My Enemy

Mercury RetrogradeDo you feel that, friends?? There’s a vibrational change in the atmospheric energy! Like the distant stomping of dinosaur feet in Jurassic Park, a disturbance in the force is afoot. Pun intended — see what I did there? I’d be laughing at my own joke if it weren’t for something very, very scary: Mercury Retrograde is trying to kill me!! And, even worse, it’s not over until March 28th…

Now, you all know that I pride myself on being a logical person. Gimme that science, please!! I may read my horoscope (heeey, fellow Leos!), but I generally take those predictions with a grain of salt. After all, it’s just a bunch of hocus pocus, right? Like, that mumbo jumbo nonsense doesn’t actually have any merit, does it?

And this Mercury Retrograde stuff? It’s all a bunch of hullabaloo about nothing!! Absolutely nothi…

WAIT, WHY IS EVERYTHING GOING WRONG???

Well, this, my friends, marks my very public acknowledgement that I’ve officially converted to the other side. In other words, I’m here to tell you that this Mercury Retrograde business is no joke!! Don’t believe me? Here’s a list of everything that’s happened (or not happened…) in the last few week…

•  I’ve been getting rejection after rejection. And in one stand-out moment, the rejection came after the piece had already been accepted.

•  My nerves and anxiety has been through the roof.

•  My mom and I have been extra emotional.

•  Janelle, who is the epitome of health, came down with a nasty flu this week and slept for two days straight.

•  Poor Stella had to go to the vet when we noticed she was limping (she’s fine, thank goodness!)

•  Trump still hasn’t been evicted from the White House. Though, to be fair, this isn’t really Mercury’s fault, as this has been an ongoing problem since 2016.

Whew!! Exhausted yet? Because I’m beyond exhausted! My favorite phrase lately is “I’m done!” and this isn’t something I say ironically or simply to be extra. Trust, I can be extra, but this situation isn’t one of them!

Oh, yes!! I’m very serious about this! Are you hip to the 411 on Mercury Retrograde?? It’s here to play and wreck havoc on every aspect of our lives, even if scientists say we shouldn’t worry about it. The phenomenon dates all the way back to the mid-18th century and occurs when Mercury appears to be moving “backwards.” But wait!! Apparently, it’s all an illusion to us Earth-dwellers, according to experts.

“Same thing if you were passing a car on a highway, maybe going a little bit faster than they are,” Dr. Mark Hammergren, an astronomer at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium, told Mental Floss. “They’re not really going backwards, they just appear to be going backwards relative to your motion.”

According to Newsweek, now is prime to lay low, even if this stuff is just an illusion. We should take our cue from astrology experts, who say that now is “not the time to start any new, big moves or ideas. This includes moving homes, getting married or signing any legal documents. They also advise it may be best to avoid jumping fully into new creative ventures.”

Mercury RetrogradeThat’s it! You don’t have to tell me twice! I mean, I even got out my healing crystals in an attempt to ward off that negative energy. I figure that it can’t hurt, right? At least, perhaps, I could use the positive energy of the crystals to blend with the negative energy, thus creating a neutral cease fire, if you will. Remember, I am spiritual now — so maybe it will work. Or at least make this last week of Mercury Retrograde somewhat bearable.

Either way, whatever this Retrograde future holds, knowledge is power! Here are all the dates that Retrograde will occur again from now until 2030. The least we can do is prepare ourselves — and maybe invest in some additional healing crystals. I’m personally a huge fan of the heart-shaped variety!! Healing and fashionable — what’s not to like?!?!?

Have you been experiencing the ill side effects of Mercury Retrograde, friends? How have you been dealing with it? Any tips you’d like to share. After all, we’re all in this together!! Here’s to calmer and more peaceful days ahead… xoxo

P.S. Do you read your horoscope? Are you a fan of zodiac tees and tattoos?

[Top photo via Astrology Zone]