One of my favorite 80's flicks is "Say Anything." And one of my favorite lines from that film happens in this scene between John Cusack and his sister, Joan, where they are fighting and he's like, "How hard is it to be in a good mood? To just wake up and decide to be in a good mood and BE in a good mood." And she replies oh so sarcastically, "oh, it's EASY." But the truth is, it often is hard to just make yourself be in a good mood. But why then is it oh so easy to get into a bad mood?
Last week I literally did wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Of course, I keep switching from sleeping in my bed downstairs to my old bed upstairs, so you could argue that is what's throwing off which side is right or wrong or somewhere in between. I couldn't even really figure out what my problem was and try as I may, I couldn't get out of my funk. Even though I knew I was being ridiculous, I still couldn't shake it. And it was later that day when I thought about what a silly little girl I'd been and over what? What all does it ever take, really? Some barista is a jerk over my americano or my jeans suddenly shrank unwashed or the queen of flakes still has not called me back and that hottie was not checking me out, as I so mistakenly thought or maybe watching movies with my folks just doesn't feel cool tonight and I'm not up to another date with the elliptical machine.
And you know what else I've noticed? Why is it films make me think but tv makes me dumber? I'll watch a film and feel inspired and thoughtful and maybe write or play music and when I watch tv shows, all it does is make me sluggish and unmotivated and like my brain's turned into mush or something. WEIRD. And why then when I know this, when the feeling I get from finishing a novel far surpasses what I feel after watching "The Girls Next Door" do I find myself cuddling up like a vegetable and flicking a never ending number of cable stations to find something to watch that hardly interests me because I'm too wired to go to sleep or get off my pj clad butt and do anything. Mother would tell me I'm just PMS-ing and there lies some truth in that but sometimes I wonder if greater meaning lurks behind our inane actions.
With little kids we often say they should know better and that they have full understanding of their actions and the choices they make. HA! It is to laugh! What about US?? I certainly have no idea why I do and do not do the bizarre things I do or cycle through certain patterns of behavior feigning surprise at the repeated outcomes. But I do know I very much prefer the hopeful, happy ending movies even while I do appreciate the realistic, saddening harshness of the artsy ones. And the most unhappy people I've known would blink their stares upward if it could wake them out of their gloom, despite what their t-shirts and journals might claim. So why not in this instant, sing those 80's lyrics and let the worry go and just be. Happy.
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