#50finething 11 – 15

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

11.  Watch Comedy

March was a month that needed comedy. 

March needed stand-up routines and repeats of Schitt’s Creek or VEEP.  March needed something to distract us from the end of pandemic restrictions coinciding with the start of a potential thermo-nuclear war with the former Soviet Union.

March needed comic relief.

The absurdity of life has once again provided evidence that if there is a creator, he/she/they are experimental performance artists, with an interest in the macabre.

March needed fun and one hour stand up shows on Netflix with people like Taylor Tomlinson and Whitney Cummings. 

If stand-up comedy doesn’t do it for you, might I suggest you watch a documentary about our cosmos.  This universe is hysterical.  If you don’t believe me then try watching something about Jupiter’s moon, Europa, which has a ten-mile ice shell and an ocean that is leaking out into wider space.

Leaking into wider space!  Now that’s hilarious.

12.  Stretch

When it comes to yoga, I’m ethically non-monogamous.

I’ve done Iyengar classes with my friend Teresa.  I spent a wonderful winter doing Bikram in a hot studio in Dublin, and I’ve flirted with Hatha all over town.

During the second year of the pandemic, I did Adriene’s 30-day online yoga challenge.  Then I got stuck on Day 30 and repeated it, day after day, for about nine months. 

Every day Adriene would say to me, “well done.  You made it.  It’s Day 30,” and every day, I nodded back at Adriene and said “Namaste”.

In March, I started stretching.

I lay on the floor and listened to where my body wanted to go and stretched out my back, arms, or legs.  Sometimes, I just dangled my feet high above in the air, and when I was finished, I stopped.

13.  support MASI

The Movement for Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) was set up to advocate for the end of Direct Provision, which sadly still exists and is abhorrent.  I support MASI, as an ally, by sharing their information online, attending events, and wearing my “End Direct Provision” T-shirt when I run in Phoenix Park.

People often wave, stick up their thumbs, smile or beep their horns when I’m wearing my “End Direct Provision” T-shirt.  For the longest time, I thought they were just being encouraging of my running.  Now I accept that they too support the campaign.

You can’t be in favour of Direct Provision, so it’s a very easy campaign to get behind, and judging the reaction in the park, most people are against it.

14.  Play Wordle

When I guess the wordle in five or six guesses, I call it a game of chance. 

When I guess the wordle in two or three guesses, I claim it’s due to strategy, concentration and a high level of emotional intelligence.    

There’s no reason why it should be such a glorious game to play, or why sharing results with my friend Helen, every day, makes me laugh and snort.

 It’s the silliest and most ridiculous activity ever invented, and I want to play it forever.

15.  Accept Disappointments

Recently, I experienced a Great Disappointment when I didn’t get something that I wanted.

At first, I stamped my foot, and pouted and scowled at the sky, but within a couple of days my brain convinced me that I didn’t want it anyway.

Had the original desire been a mirage? 

Or was the new feeling a form of resilience to help me accept the disappointment? 

Either way, it made me realise that desires are very fickle creatures and not engaging with them too seriously, is possibly one of the keys to happiness.

Also, complaining about anything this March is absurd.  It’s like attending A&E with a stubbed toe when the patient in front of you doesn’t have a head.

“Ouch, my toe is hurting,” you cry to the nurse. 

But the nurse hardly hears you because the nurse is too busy with the patient in front of you, who doesn’t have a head!

What’s it all for?

What’s any of this for if not to try and improve and get better and be kind? 

I hope I’ll always be disappointed and shocked when things go wrong.  It means that even at 50 I have great expectations of how life should be.  I hope I’ll always be surprised when people tell lies or demonstrate selfish greed. 

I want to replace the insatiable consumer child inside of me, with a wiser woman who wants to live, improve, and get better.

Maybe this whole thing is a silly April Fool’s joke that got out of hand.

Maybe that’s simply all there is to it.

Or maybe, some trillions of light years ago, when our own sun hatched, there was an expectation that things here could be fine.

Happy April Fool’s Day, and a happy new moon, and I’ll see you here for fine things next time.