Monday, January 25, 2010

On how things happen.

Have you ever noticed how nothing happens on it’s own? It’s like a conspiracy of occurrences. Whether good or bad, they run in packs and gang up on you.

I mean, sometimes I’d rather have the lovely things dolled out here and there rather than coming all at once so that you rarely get to enjoy one thing fully. When it’s a painful thing, of course, it’s worse because there is no time to recover strength before the next blow hits.

Why is it, for instance, that I will literally go months without a man taking any real notice, then when I become interested in one I have them crawling out from all sorts of strange places. Some of them are rather tempting and others are, well, anything but, yet there they all are ringing me in the middle of a nice dinner out on my own or texting me sexy things that would normally be quite delightful in different circumstances or from the man I’m wanting.

Or how about when you’re down you get tackled again, then piled up on? Like me recovering from ankle surgery and finding problems with three other places in my body during recovery, not to mention cramps and migraines pairing up on me. Lovely. How about I just get hit by a truck? Again, I mean.

Then there are those rather rare days where the wonderful moments all roll in on top of each other, everything being delicious and delightful. It’s such a fantastic day, but then it is done, and the next day grinds on and on.

I wish we could confront these events and tell them to quit being so cliquish; to make friends with events that they have nothing in common with now and then. But I guess they get what they want and they want tribal attacks. Bastards.

6 comments:

Miss Eliza said...

This reminds me of a post I read on Neil Gaiman's website today, it's the real truth that should be unisverally acknowledged: Strange moments of juxtaposition that make you feel like you're living in a novel:

It had been the kind of day that meant I never quite got to look at the post. After dinner I opened the various packages on the kitchen table.

The first thing I opened was a secondhand copy of "The Inner Hebrides and their Legends" by Otta F. Swire, and I opened it to a random page and read,"...the third of May, when the Devil and his angels were cast out of heaven (and therefore 3rd May is a day on which no important undertaking should be begun and on which it is unpardonable to commit a crime)..."

That's interesting, I thought. I could put that in a story, the next time I need a date of ill-omen. I put the book down.

I opened the next envelope. It was huge, and came from Bloomsbury books in the UK, and contained -- well, what it contained was on the note accompanying it, which said, in tidy handwriting,

Dear Neil
I'm delighted to enclose proofs of the Bloomsbury edition of "Instructions" (to be published on 3rd May).
With best wishes,
Madeleine

That's a bit heavy-handed, I thought. If I were writing this, I'd drop the 3rd May date in on something that happened tomorrow, to give everyone reading a chance to forget.

Real life is so strangely written, sometimes.

whichwaydidshego said...

That's FANTASTIC. And so true. Seriously, THANK YOU - fully fantastic.

Lori said...

I absolutely hear you.

I'm also one of those who, when so many good things keep happening, wonders when the bottom is going to drop out. Because it just doesn't seem possible for things to keep going well for a sustained period of time.

And yes...the bad things pile on and on and on and it feels like maybe nothing good is ever going to happen again. Mercifully, for me anyway, nothing, good or bad, will happen for a few days after the umpteenth bad thing happens. So I can recover and, almost, revel in my bad stuff...really soaking it in and feeling it.

But I've gotten to the point where I just want to enjoy the lovely things as they are and not worry about the future. I, too, have a guy that I want and I'm just trying to enjoy that for what it is, which makes me so happy, instead of thinking about what it could become.

Bonne chance!

whichwaydidshego said...

That's a perfect attitude, Lori. You can enjoy life in the moment - wonderful! I think I mostly live that way... but sometimes it's the looking back that's harder to keep from doing than the looking forward. Neither are healthy in excess, but both can be tempting for different reasons.

I do love the journey, though, and if you aren't in the moment it becomes about the destination.

All the best with the man. With all the energy and activity you have in your life, he'll be very lucky indeed if he is smart enough to go there (though smart is not how I'd describe most men, so good luck with that for sure!!). You go, girl!

gbpackergirl76 said...

I had a rather unfortunate string of bad luck pretty much the entire past summer. Most involved medical and car issues, and then I started a new job, and I happened to fall off my bike and break my wrist two days before my first day. My worst day involved me taking my car to the shop, dropping $400 on a failing wheel bearing, and then getting a flat tire on the way home. My arm was no longer in a cast, but I had just gotten my cast off the day before. As I sat in Tires Plus, I just sat there laughing at the absurdity. I said, "What next?!" That's how life goes. But my new job is going great and I started seeing a great fella who works here. It all seems to work itself out in the end. We just have to be patient and ride through the bumpy parts.

whichwaydidshego said...

Packergirl, that sounds like a HORRID summer! My last six months or year almost rival your summer, so I feel ya! I'm still in the hole in a few areas, but I'm finding my way out as well. Writing this blog goes a long way to proving just how far I've come. Anyway, I'm so please that things seem to be going better for you - and congrats on the fella!