Fill ‘Er Up

I’ve decided that the fun has gone out of feeling bad. For a while, there was a kind of shared excitement I felt with other tomatoes as we watched the economy doing loop de loops…king of like the horrified fascination I felt as a kid, watching a crop duster airplane sputter into an impossible dive, feeling the entire crowd of onlookers hold their breath just as I was doing, while we all braced for the plane to take a final horrible smack into the earth. Except it didn’t.

Now it is clear that whatever happens on the grand and the personal scale, we are in for something of a slog, and on top of that, it will be a slog through winter. Companies are cancelling their Christmas parties; most tomatoes are waiting longer to touch up their roots, leaving a higher potential of a slightly forlorn look, its dark at 5 p.m. and even at 40% off those $800 shoes are still out of reach. What’s a girl to do?

I have decided to become a master of the instant mood re-set. My most important job now is to get really, really, really good at cheering myself up, and repeat as necessary throughout the day. Here’s my list of what lifts my spirits now, in hopes that others of you will keep your own list and share your best ideas with the rest of us.

1. Puppy bellies. This is an odd one, since I own and am staff to two incredibly beautiful cats, but the love I feel for them is not the same high as a puppy-induced giggle. My sources for now are: a store within walking distance, where, if I time it, I can see puppies wrestling, which is to me what oil-slicked Playmate orgies are to Hugh Hefner—pure pleasure. I am also not above shameless behavior like encouraging my 9-year old neighbor to nag his Mom for a dog.

2. Scent. I had one scent I wore every day in the old economy. Then I stopped wearing anything, and was satisfied to smell like whatever resulted from the mix of soap, bath goo and detergent that happened on any given day. I am now thinking that scent is a good holiday present, and I want to be prepared to advise anyone who asks me about specifics. Right now I am thinking…it’s time for citrus. In the meantime, smelling everything costs nothing and leaves me feeling…like soon I will be as elegant as a Parisienne who floats by on a trail of grapefruit except its grapefruit made by angels with maybe a hint of fig. And espresso.

3. Stupid games. My friends’ kids talked us into a game, which involved writing down a phrase and then passing it to the person on your left, who then has to draw it. Then they fold the paper to hide the original phrase, and the person to whom the paper is passed has to guess the phrase from the picture. Then the paper is folded again, and the next person draws a picture from that Phrase.

After three rounds, you unfold the paper and see what has happened. I know it doesn’t sound great, but I will tell you that I laughed until I couldn’t speak, and then slept better that night than I do after taking Ambien CR.

Which tells me….now is the time to invest heavily in social capital. And to hoard opportunities to laugh.