Sunday was the kind of day that resets your soul. I’ve been trying to dial into this for a while, but it’s been elusive. Andrea and I took Friday off of work to extend an already long weekend. The added day helped with the soul reset.
On Saturday night, we went to a New England Revolution soccer game - our first time attending. During the halftime, New England team mascots filed out for a scrimmage on the field. Anyone who plays the part of a mascot deserves an award in my book. They put on a costume that looks heavy and as if it could induce heat exhaustion at any moment. It also looks near impossible to see out of while wearing. A chipper, doctor dog, sporting a stethoscope made his way out onto the field.
“Who’s that?” Andrea asked.
“I’m sure it’s the mascot for United Healthcare. Isn’t that the team sponsor?” I replied.
“Huh. They have a mascot? Does your company have a mascot?” Andrea marvels in wonder.
I work for a senior living company. I look at Andrea incredulously and wonder how many beers she’s consumed.
“No - my company doesn’t have a mascot. What would it be?! An old person?” I reply, envisioning a cartoonish old woman, with a walker, and a gold, beaded chain on her glasses, grey bun atop her head.
Andrea thinks this through and has yet to offer another option.
On Sunday, we hung out with our pets and tried to broker peace between new and old, having brought home a Maine coon kitten, Humphrey Bogart, last weekend. Boge’s, or Bogey, as we call him is entranced by Lola. He follows her around, undeterred by her growling. Bogey is interested in Georgie too, which is a surprise to me as Georgie has kind of a spastic energy. Meanwhile, Wrigley has a calming energy and is very interested in Bogey and Bogey hisses at him. I don’t think Dex cares but would really like Bogey if he would just turn on the bathroom sink for her. Basically, it’s a vicious cycle over here, but they’ll figure it out. Until they do, and until Baby Boge’s is a little bigger, he spends time in a spare room that we’ve dubbed “the nursery”.
Perhaps ironically, the Mindful 30 kicked off on September 1st. The Mindful 30 is a 30-day practice to enhance mindfulness. Mindfulness is all about living in the present moment. You know - the one where your pets are kind of assholes. Mindfulness is not living in a future state that you know exists and hasn’t yet been realized (like when all these fools will get along, hold paws, and hum kumbaya).
Mindfulness is not about living in the past either. Mindfulness is about the now. Sounds easy, right? Ha. I was initially introduced to mindfulness over 16 years ago when I was learning how to sit with feelings instead of numbing them with booze. Let me tell you - numbing them with booze is a lot easier. Sort of. I mean – blackouts and hangovers aside. Mindfulness is definitely a practice. It’s hard to keep our thoughts on exactly what’s in front of us - the here and now. And yet, that’s all any of us has. My company has incorporated “being present” into our values and it’s a challenge. My mindfulness could use a tune up and this 30-day practice is designed to do just that. Day 1. Complete. It was a short exercise & yet I had to swat intrusive thoughts from my mind – “Didn’t our mayonnaise expire? I wanted to make tuna salad to bring to work next – OH! Mindfulness. Yes. OK. Got it.” Tricky business that mindfulness….
I didn’t sleep well last night – clearly was NOT being mindful. A good weekend ended with Andrea going to bed with a headache. Probably because she wasn’t being mindful. See how this works? It doesn’t – not always anyway, because it’s hard. Keep practicing and maybe soul resets will happen more often. That would be nice.