What I Did Instead of Doom Scroll
Last weekend was Memorial Day weekend, and it was also the weekend that Massachusetts eliminated all of its Covid restrictions. I’m fully vaccinated, but I wasn’t feeling mentally prepared to rejoin society quite yet. I went to a store or two without a mask on, but I didn’t feel like I was fully ready for a packed bar.
Also, it felt like November outside. Cold and rainy all day, every day. I’ve been going through a bit of a Saddy Barrett phase, so I used the weekend as an opportunity to bust myself out of it with a good old-fashioned social media cleanse and well-being ritual weekend.
Here’s what I did instead:
Went through a bag of spinach. The secret is to throw handfuls into a smoothie that tastes like chocolate and peanut butter.
Bought myself flowers and put them into a vase. Did you know that if you go to Trader Joe’s and tell someone you’re having a bad day, they’ll give you free flowers? I didn’t either. I didn’t try it, because I’m not a pussy ass bitch.
Read two books (Listened to one, read the other)
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave was GREAT! It was a great thriller that kept me guessing, had strong characters, and to my shock, a reliable female narrator.
Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano was OKAY! It was basically the Hallmark movie version of a mystery/thriller.
Wrote a couple of blog posts. It’s called batch working. All the cool kids are doing it.
Logged into Instagram to check my messages. Fine, I cheated!
Watched two movies in one night. JoJo Rabbit and The Sound of Music. Yes, they’re both World War II movies… and it was Memorial Day weekend… but you’ve got the wrong idea! We wanted to watch them to cheer us up! Wait, that sounds worse… at least the Nazis SING in The Sound of Music?
Made a few new recipes out of Molly Baz’s cookbook, Cook This Book. I made the following:
Skirt steak with red chimichurri
Smushed potatoes with salt and vinegar sour cream
Mustardy lentils with sausage
Cae Sal (I made caesar dressing from scratch! Big deal for this egg-hating and anchovy-fearing gal)
Hung a shelf with Command strips. Nothing says “fancy” like a shelf JUST FOR PRESCRIPTION SUNGLASSES.
Hung a towel holder with a Command strip. It didn’t work.
Walked my dog in the rain. Just kidding, I pulled her.
Yoga and barre. I’m a health machine.
Ordered thai food. Ok, not such a health machine.
Texted endlessly with my group chat when I craved the oxytocin/dopamine release that Instagram brings. It’s better to go directly to the source and get a real connection from people you love, rather than see a little heart pop up on one of your posts from someone you haven’t talked to in years. Or scroll through my feed to see people traveling and partying and generally having more fun than me. Or watch a million Reels of people that are more attractive, more funny, and more shameless than me. And then spiral out of control because what am I doing with my life? It’s Memorial Day weekend. Shouldn’t I be at a barbeque? Shouldn’t I have more friends with yachts by now? I’m in my mid-thirties. Why don’t I have a beach house, lake house, or my own mountain? I don’t even own a fucking flag bathing suit, like what AM I DOING??????
Online shopped. How about those sales, huh?????? I bought this dress and this chair.