New Year's Epiphany

Photo by Optimist from Utopia (flickr)

Today's little epiphany: I need to avoid all the usual new year's resolutions and instead just shoot for more tranquility and simplicity in my life. My cousin K is right: those danged resolutions just put pressure on us; what we need is to be kind to ourselves instead. There are many things I can do to increase the amount of tranquility in my life; in fact, even 5 minutes' tranquility a day would be a distinct improvement. So that is what I will work on.

A friend has suggested that the virus that hit us was the norovirus. In any case, Z is fine now, C is pretty much over it, I think my mild case is gone, and now R is feeling lousy. R did manage a short walk with me today, and N rode her little bike in circles around us. It was a grey day, cloudy with occasional sprinkles, but warm enough for light jackets and gloves. It was good to get out instead of sitting inside and feeling sad about the end of R's vacation.

N misses school dreadfully. Consequently, so do the rest of us, but for a slightly different reason. She goes back to school tomorrow, and all five of us eagerly await the 12:20 arrival of her school bus.

Speaking of N and school, our kitchen is decorated with many colorful characters, all of whom have mouths full of teeth. Some people might find this disturbing; I certainly wonder what the art teacher thinks of N's approach. From pre-K she brought home this fierce angel, which later acquired a "paid" sticker from Giant as part of its festive decoration:

Note the sharpness of the teeth, please. This year, from kindergarten, she brought home a rather manic pumpkinheadman:

Then just before vacation, she came home with a snow man, whose teeth were made of tiny snowballs but who, nevertheless, I am not sure I'd want to meet up with in a dark (snow-covered) alley.
The really interesting aspect of this artistic tendency is that only the artwork done in school includes teeth. Most of the stuff she draws at home is in anime style, showing no teeth at all. What dark and forbidding subconscious issues does this point to? . . .

Tranquility. I need tranquility. N's teeth are not a topic conducive to tranquility.

~Namaste