So it’s Friday evening and the tv clock says 11:42. I just came from freshening up before bed and had this miserable thought hit me. April is almost gone and my last post here was end March. Epic fail.
Instead of dwelling on that and planning the dozen or so posts I had thought of or attempted to draft in the last four weeks, I have decided to grab my phone, click on the app, and just write a post I will publish before the clock strikes 12. Where did the month go? How could I have let one of the most important months of the year pass without a post?
For starters, the Pinay New Yorker is now 51. My golden year has ended and ushered in the next one with quite a parade of small celebrations, notably the distribution of the so-called #GiftOf50. I think I made a lot of people smile, accomplishing the goal I had in mind at the start, which is to spread some positive vibes. People asked me why, and I simply said it felt good knowing people smiled with those little gestures. Whether or not they were friends or acquaintances, they smiled when they thought of me — offsetting the negative thoughts of those who harbored ill will towards me in some shape or form. Happiness is contagious and it’s one contagion I don’t mind spreading around. I’m one VERY happy 51-year-old. L
But my life is still in a state of semi suspended animation. I am frozen that I am not. I feel as thought I am moving in micro millimeters, but I know I am moving. I continue to remind myself that the world will not stop turning if I cannot keep up, but no one said that I should get ahead of it. I am catching up slowly but surely. I just have to accept the fact that I am still in a bit of a struggle to keep pace.
The important thing is that I know I am in a good place. Yes, even if there are days when I have to stop a while, gather my thoughts and recalibrate. The point is to be able to pick myself up, catch my breath, and then move along. Practice helped. It is true that once you get the hang of it and keep doing something, it becomes an automatic reaction or a reflex. We fall, and then we get back up on our feet again.
One of the remarkable discoveries I have made this month is that my life had stopped when the rug was pulled from under me, and I chose to forget large chunks of my life I am only now going back to. I recently participated in a church bazaar in my parish and pulled out my craft pop up store gear from the attic. I had made pieces for the last bazaar or “tiangge” I had joined and had packed those away for the next one or to post in the shop. Then I forgot about them. Seeing them and remembering the pieces I had created not too long ago has revived my shop and my desire to keep the shop going. And there were two sales in two weeks.. I took that as a sign.
I am good. I have just been overwhelmed by life in general, but I am here.. happy at 51.. happy to be 51.
Pinay New Yorker 