One of Those Days

Yesterday was just one of those days. I went to my doctor's appointment. A day early. The dog threw up in the car. Twice. I turned on a lamp. The bulb blew out. And so on and so on and so on. Plus, there was the whole camera thing.

I even tried to cheer myself up by ordering some chicken fingers at my favorite take-out place. At first I thought things were picking up when the guy at the counter gave me a free piece of baklava. But then I looked in the bag, and saw that he was just making up for the fact that they were either running low on supplies or have reduced the portion size of their orders. Teeny-tiny pitiful little portion of chicken fingers. Grrrrr.

I'm actually a pretty positive person. But when I'm having one of those days, it's hard not to look at the world in a negative way. At a certain point I just assume whatever I encounter will break, bite, or bitch at me. I start to get curious, even, wondering what will go wrong next. Daring the universe to bring it.

Meanwhile, I completely lose touch with the fact that I'm actually a very lucky person. That things could be a lot worse than a burned-out lightbulb and some dog puke. That I can go to the doctor's two days in a row without explaining anything to anyone because I'm self-employed. That I have a manual 35 mm camera, for god's sake. And a roof over my head and food on my plate, even if the chicken fingers are on the small side.

So I was looking for a picture of baklava to add to this post but instead I found a link to a film called Baklava & the Meaning of Life. It features Helene Simon, who became a sculptor in her 50s and apparently makes a mean baklava. The short film is about the creative process and the joy that can be found in doing what you love, whether it's making art or making pastry.

You can always count on the universe to respond to an invitation. Just don't count on it to respond the way you expected.