the dream life

Alter egos and past lives

Check out Magpie Girl’s 8 Things list today. I love alter egos, because just like wigs, I have many. My fantasy life, in case you don’t already know, is rich. And who’s to say which reality is the real reality anyway? I mean, what is reality - the dreaming part or the waking part or all that good in between stuff? I’ve also included two past lives on my list that I know about through regression. (Yeah, I have actual memories of both of those lifetimes. For reals.)

• Cabaret star (alter ego – in my head and in my car)
• Dog whisperer (alter ego – that is deeply far-fetched since my little dog thinks I'm a below him in the pack)
• Majorette in punk marching band (alter ego – in real life!)
• Proprietress of vegan bakery and dance hall (alter ego for which I just don’t have the energy)
• Magical gypsy belly dancing fortune teller (alter ego that may come true at any moment)
• Ingénue with an eye on Oscar (alter ego for which the time has passed)
• Beautiful Spanish woman with swishy skirts who inspires men to duel (past life)
• A young tarot reader during a time of religious persecution, sold out by her family (past life)

8 Things for the dog days of summer

I love Magpie Girls' 8 Things lists.

We've had a coolish wet summer (which I confess I've enjoyed) until very recently. August, it seems, is determined to bring us real summer with heat and humidity. It's good, I guess. I mean, it is! It's good. Here's my list for the remainder of these days:

1. Make a BBQ vegan rib dinner and eat it picnic style.

2. Go to a state park and ride the paddle boats.

3. Lie outside on a blanket and read away the afternoon.

4. Try my hand at vegan ice cream.

5. Go to one big, giant yard sale.

6. Walk the labyrinth on Third Street.

7. Write some poems.

8. Go to the drive-in.

8 Things I know for sure (about me)

I love this Magpie Girl 8 Things list. It resonated with me when I first read it, but I'm just now sitting down to think of my own list. 

1. My friends and family love me and support me unconditionally. This has been shown and proven to me time and time again. My family and my friends (who are family) are vitally important to me. Through them I find guidance, reflection, forgiveness, humor and a compass. I love them and they love the and that is more important and powerful than anything else I can think of.

2. I need time to myself. I love being with the people I love, but I also love being alone. I need ample time each week that is quiet and unscheduled. I must pay attention to what my self tells me about this.

3. I know my purpose; I know when I'm living it. I spent a lot of time in my life searching and asking questions and trying to figure out what my bliss was, let alone follow it. Now I know how to pay attention to my core. I know when I'm flowing in a groove that is mine and I know when I've gotten slightly off course. I know now that I don't have to choose one thing, claim one label for myself or fit in to anyone else's idea of who I am.

4. My body knows what it needs, all I have to do is listen. Always. In every moment. All the time.

5. Authenticity is a must. I can't force myself to do or be what it isn't in me to do or be. Whenever I try, it goes wrong and always leads me back to the same place. No good comes from it.

6. I'm emotionally sensitive and that's fine and good. I used to think it was a liability. Now I see that it's a crucial to my existence, my work, the good I can do for other people, and the life I love.

7. Location matters. I need to be able to walk to places, including the place I work. I need diversity and I need local merchants--stores that sell vegan cookies and coffee houses that host drag shoes and little shops that sell crystals and sage bundles and vintage clothing boutiques and commercial-free radio and protests and people who stand on street corners holding up signs for peace and moonlight rituals and medicine wheels and poetry slams. I need access to holistic care, acupuncture, energy work, massage and yoga classes that aren't thinly veiled aerobics classes. I need access to pure essential oils and independent movies and restaurants that aren't chains and never will be. This becomes more and more important to me with each passing moment.

8. I like my shampoo and conditioner to be separate. It's true. I can't stand that shampoo and conditioner-in-one stuff.

8 things, re-entry

I had an interesting conversation with my neighbor today. It turns out she also lived in New York for a while. We were talking about what it was like being there and what it was like to come back here from there. Then, I saw this Magpie Girl 8 things post about the signs of re-entry.

It spoke to me, of course (because the 8 things posts always do) but also because of the earlier conversation and the memories it brought about for me. I spent a lot of time writing this weekend and because my novel is set in New York, that's where my head has been. It's fascinating to be both places, here and there at once, and talking to my neighbor today I could acutely remember what it was like moving back to Kentucky after years away. It was like this: