Whimsy v. Blahs

The winter blahs had settled in. Gray days, cold temperatures, middle-of-the-academic-term exhaustion, repetition. And then into my inbox popped the week's prompt: whimsy. (Thank you Now You.) "Hah!" said the blahs, "we're too dreary to be whimsical." Then ego joined: "We have far too much--very important--work to do; no time for whimsy."

And so my Monday went, until a 15-minute space opened in an otherwise non-stop day. I spent that 15 minutes repeatedly jumping off my desk, trying to coordinate with the self-timer on my camera. Afterward, I wore a big smile and had a new perspective on the day. Yes, there's always time for whimsy.

I often think about this quote from Jen Louden : "We always have choices, especially when it feels like we don't." As with choice, the same can be said of whimsy. It's precisely when we feel grumpy and blah--when whimsy feels unattainable--that we need whimsy. We need to look at ourselves anew; to re-frame life in a playful way; to discover humor in unlikely places. These pieces of genuine, unexpected fun are what glue us back together and give us heart.

On Wednesday, we received 10 inches of snow. It was a winter wonderland. Mark and I met at Green Gecko, listened to music, enjoyed drinks and snacks, and played with the salt and pepper shakers. Why? Because it was a week of whimsy. Far more interesting than moaning about shoveling snow.

This week was the SmackDown: whimsy versus blahs; playfulness versus ego. Whimsy is the clear winner. Playfulness returned me to myself. My response to ego: