Day 3 - 184 -- A New Beginning

In conversations last night, a group of us discussed changes that were presently happening in our lives with family, self, or work. The first half of 2016 has led to altered family status, personal health situation changes and changes in jobs or moves to retirement. The energy involved in each of these can be all consuming and when more than one lands with the same individual it can be totally overwhelming. Learning to live with new normals takes a lot of effort. Yet, no one felt the need to cave to their situations. In fact, some voiced that their situation was no worse than another's or might even be less burdensome than someone else's situation. We humans are always comparing and contrasting. The upshot of the conversations throughout the evening came through a toast to new beginnings and a suggestion that we consider yesterday the first of a new year and begin again. Many heads nodded at that idea.

So -- my first day of the new beginning?  The washer stopped working today. It filled with water, but would do nothing else. What was that load? Nothing like socks or underwear; it was sheets. I hefted them out of the washer wringing as I went. Took them into the bathroom and laid them in the tub where I wrung them more thoroughly and placed them in pails. I then wrung each a third time just before placing them in the dryer -- one at a time. There was still soap in the washer water since it never moved at all, so the sheets are dry but have some residual soap in them, I'm sure. I called the landlord and they will get someone in to look at it early next week -- it is a long weekend after all. So -- that meant I didn't have to worry about laundry today. I can hand wash any clothes if necessary, but to be honest, there are only a couple of items that will get this treatment and they are generally done by hand all the time anyway (and these were done this afternoon). There are more than enough sheets and towels to manage this week until the repairman fixes the washer. Other than that the day was productive -- got some needed reading done, watched a movie and will do another this evening. So for the first 24 hours, it seems like things are going well.

The song chosen is one I've liked, though currently it is being used to flog some commercial enterprise with part of the song being played in an advertisement. That aside, the lyric fits the notion of seeing things in a new positive light. Enjoy!

Feeling Good -- Nina Simone