My Hurt Ankle is a Reminder to be Mindful

I'm sitting here this morning with my ankle wrapped in a soft cast (I missed the last stair and landed hard on my ankle), and my eye swollen from a bug bite. Also, things have been kind of shitty in New York of late, and I'm sort of like, "What else you got for me, universe?!"

It's easy to focus on the bad things, amirite? And then focusing on all the bad just sort of snowballs into feeling perpetually bad. Humans hate being uncomfortable, and man, am I uncomfortable right now.

The inconvenience of not being able to walk is just a reminder that I've been spreading myself too thin. I tripped down the last stair because in a stressful moment I was rushing and wasn't mindful of the fact that:

1. I should take my time. Why was I in a hurry?

2. I've been living in a tornado in my head, stressing myself out and barely taking any time for relaxation and meditation.

I've been going so hard and feeling so exhausted, I've barely given myself any rest. Well, I'm being forced to rest now.

With that, I'm taking a looooooong break in San Diego starting next week. How lucky am I that I can have a month-and-a-half stay wherever I want because I work remotely?

I'm gonna go rest SO HARD I hope to get bored (I haven't been bored in awhile). I'm going to make time to write, listen, and read. I'm going to return back to a place of mindfulness.

Ommmmmmmmmm (added for effect).

Maybe You Can Help My Sister?

This week has been, uh, interesting. Not sure if I want to really post about/talk about the election ANY longer. I've sort of had enough.

So, I'm moving onto a way you can help someone, if you feel so inclined to do so.

My sister is trying to rebuild her life. Long story short, my nephew (her son) has been diagnosed with autism and schizophrenia. Because of (what my sister thinks) is a severe reaction to one of the medications he was put on, my nephew tried to attack and choke my sister to death (he's 17 and about 6'5'' to give you an idea). He was never violent before.

This happened a few months ago, and I didn't want to talk about it until now. Everest, my nephew, is currently in a facility, has charges pressed against him, and is awaiting his next move. It's a heartbreaking scenario. Even worse, he turns 18 in less than a month, which could mean the state will simply charge him as an adult and send him to prison (our system is truly messed up).

In the midst of fighting for my nephew, my sister has run into financial difficulties. She's been a stay-at-home mom for almost 18 years, and her husband has lost almost all his money (a story for another day). It's hard enough for a stay-at-home to reenter the work force; even harder when tragedy is further complicating the situation.

The light at the end of the tunnel: she has turned to art for therapy and a way to pay the bills. She's an uber talented artists, and has been an animator and designer in the past for such companies as Disney! She's trying to get back into the art world while also holding part time jobs. I truly think she has the ability to make a living off of her art. What she really needs is supplies to create more of that art. She has two other sons she's trying to hold it together for, so any help from the kindness of people would be much appreciated!

If you feel inclined to give $5 to her "Make Art" fund, please visit this link: https://www.gofundme.com/helpaprilmakeart

A couple pieces of her art: