The Law of Attraction Works Again!

Do you guys believe that by putting forth thoughts into the universe, you can manifest your desires?

Hah, that's some seriously hippie-dippie vocab I just pulled, but I mean it! Since I started being more mindful of what I send out into the void, I've noticed that I usually do get what I wish for, for better or worse.

This morning, it was definitely for better. Even though I had a very filling breakfast, I got a tiny bit hungry around 11. Go figure, about five minutes later, this thing arrived—a thank you from a patient who just had a baby. Talk about sweet!

Feed the Artist

As I was passing through Union Square Park on my way to work this morning, I saw a cardboard sign in my path that said: DUDE! I need food!

There was a small painting of the same size a few feet away. I'm not sure if the painting and the sign were related, but it made me want to look around for the artist of the painting and/or the sign.

I never know whether to offer money or food to people begging (vocally or with signage), but this sign kind of made me want to hand something over. This morning, though, the cynic in me said, "Eh, it's probably some artist dude who came up with the idea for the sign over PBRs with his buddies in Bushwick last night."

The painting was pretty good though. I always say that one day when I have money, I'll buy art from people on the street, since it's usually more interesting to me than stuff I see in galleries, but that day seems really freaking far away.

5 for a Dollar

I feel a bit funny about always taking the extra banana from the fruit vendor on 9th, but I do it anyway.

My sister tells me this is how people like me get into trouble. What she may or may not realize is that I wrote the book on trouble—it's just that nobody bought it.

I've actually written several books on various sorts of trouble. I've only showed one or two manuscripts to people, only actually shopped one around. One agent wrote back to me, "When you have a story that is not your own, get back in touch with me."

No thank you. I had a weird moment of clarity a few months after that in which I realized that instead of using my writing to share painful stories, I could use it to spread positive ideas that could help people more directly.

Sometimes I feel a bit guilty for neglecting my fiction and essay-writing since I spend so much time and energy doing other work for my jobs and school. I do get to do a ton of writing and blogging, at least, it's just about different subject matters.

It's been an interesting path so far, and kind of funny to see how after a while, writing about sex is so much less interesting than writing about, oh, I don't know—Chinese medicine, vegetarian protein sources, or weird findings and goings-on around the city.

The closest I come to writing about sex lately is when I have to write fertility-related blog posts (check here for the latest one), but somehow, I think that's okay. I feel like in a few years (or many), I'll look back and see that the stars were, in fact, in alignment.

"Happy Everything to Everyone!" Adventures in Corporate America

To pay my bills right now, I work several jobs, one of which involves the occasional on-site meeting in a very corporate environment. Today included such a meeting, complete with a 12:30 break for cake (hah, that rhymes) in the Career Services department. At 12:34 exactly, a straggler knocked on the conference room door. 

"Oh, is it...time?" my supervisor said. 

My stomach was growling for real food, and I just wanted to get through the meeting as quickly as possible so as to obtain said real food, but I mean, I'm just the lowly hired ghost-writer. And who am I to turn down free cake anyway? 12:30 is just a really awkward time for baked goods.

When we walked down the hall, there was a substantial crowd gathered about a substantial cake on which was written: HAPPY 27th ANNIVERSARY MARY BETH, LESLIE, JOHN and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERRY. 

5 candles, which Terry himself blew out as everyone clapped. Wax flew

"Happy everything to everyone!" Leslie sang, a hint of sarcasm in her voice (love her). 

 Terry's vibrant handling of the knife kind of reminded me of me at my twenty-first birthday party (see above), but that's another entry for another day. 

What really got me was how excited (!) everybody was to have cake in the middle of the workday. Like, wow. On the one hand, I wish that did it for me, but on the other...

My supervisor joked that instead of food, maybe the company should commemorate stuff by handing around cigarettes and letting employees get the hell outside for a few minutes. Those weren't her exact words, but cigarettes were mentioned in that context. 

I know that when I've worked regularly in offices, I've made sure to take "imaginary cigarette" breaks. Sometimes you just need to get the hell outside. Why do you need a carcinogenic excuse? 

I'm not putting down birthday cake—I had a few bites of the frosting, and it was pretty good. It just bummed me out to see so many adults so excited about it. 

There's a whole slew of studies and info out there about how you eat more in groups and at celebrations, and I can only imagine how it could add up if you work in a company with a lot of employees where you're expected to "participate" in office activities. That can be a lot of pressure, regularly having multi-layered cakes languishing in front of you, taunting, participate...eat me...

I guess the same goes for co-workers with candy jars or people who leave sweets in break rooms, etc. Some people have a hard time saying no even when they should be making more of an effort to say yes to healthy foods that will actually give them energy to get through their day.

Still, it kind of took me back to snack time in kindergarten, which is a much more functional practice that totally shouldn't have gotten taken out of the agenda after the age of 6. As adults, our perception of what a snack is can be pretty warped. When did juice and crackers give way to monmouth pastries and sugary drinks?

I also wish we could bring nap time back. And recess. I think that would do us all some good. Getting enough rest and outdoor time makes for a happier, more efficient worker, in my humble opinion.