Ciao Snippeteers,
I rarely get "writer's block," but truthfully, I have been feeling "dry" for inspirational topics lately, both for
SNIPPETS
and for my other column,
Snippets of Faith
,
which I write for
The Catholic Review
. I cannot determine if I am merely "written out" after an
intense six months
of writing a new book (
Italians in Baltimore
is finished and handed into publisher! Can I hear a
woooooooot
?!!) or because I've been writing this column
since 2006
every Friday
(OMG, am I talked out???) and it seems as I am repeating myself, or because there is so much crapola happening in our society, with much to distress about, that I don't feel very inspired. I feel cranky and I want a pedicure.
People I love have been in and out of hospitals, I can't hug my friends and family. (Hey, I'm Italian - that's a biggie), I really really miss my children - not sure when I'll see my two youngest kids next, I need a haircut (I look like a sheep), I'm suffocating behind a mask, everyone is tattling so much on everyone else about social distancing that facebook isn't even any fun anymore, can't plan life, too stressful to go anywhere ... and you all know about the other
cRaZiNeSs
happening beyond our front yards: riots and rebels and pandemics and racism and humans hurting and killing each other.
Sometimes it feels as if we could pray about this junk all day, and God is up there with a mask on, saying,
"Hey, it's your world, people. You can all do with it what you want. I'm merely watching. Just know ... ahem, there will be consequences later. Karma's a bitch."
(Yes, God cusses; wouldn't you if you were Him watching your world go cockeyed?)
How do we clutch onto a little HOPE down here?
How do we make ourselves feel better? Inspire ourselves, motivate each other? Is it our plight in life to worry incessantly? I find it exhausting.
Notice how many people are buying puppies or adopting dogs - awwww, that's a sweet one, right? What can't be made better by holding a puppy? Others are easing back into social life by gathering and going out some, trying to "be normal." People are outdoors more, exercising more, stopping to chat with neighbors they didn't know they had. New habits are being ditched - and adopted. Some have even embraced the grey! (Do we have a choice??? I have 6 more days 'til my appointment, not that I'm counting.)
How about you, snippeteers?
How are you holding onto hope that our world isn't going to crash and burn and take us down with it? How are you helping yourself to feel better?
What's inspiring you?
