New Shows, New Crafts, New Projects - No Motivation

Since I've been in the process of the un-funk, I take everyone else down with the ship, so to speak. I have this amazing habit, of when I don't know what to watch or what to do with myself, I turn on The Office or Friends. Mostly, The Office gets the pick. Comfort zones just so familiar and easy.

I've made myself watch all new, unfamiliar shows. Success. I've started podcasting. Success. I started new workout stuff, still new but success. And now I've pushed it onto my kid.

We had dinner outside this week because why the hell not? We read new books this week together because we could. And I'm forcing her to try new shows because she defaults to watching My Little Pony Friendship is Rare, like I watch The Office, over and over and over again. 

She has not been an easy sell. I've been pushing new PBS-like things from Prime. Pete the Cat was so far my only success.

My sisters are wonderful at sending me real projects to do with my child. Like lengthy, time consuming projects. One is a sewing kit. We have a half made puppy. She gets very frustrated quickly and easily on this one. Now we are working on a home-made pinata kit. Yes, my daughter has recently discovered the wonder that is a pinata. And I mentioned this to my sister and in her recent Easter care package, the pinata kit was waiting for her.

She is currently gluing fringe on the Pinata talking at me. It's pretty much the best.

My dad, my daughter and I all share the incessant need to have projects and create in times of mental stress and anxiety. Sometimes I hate that I passed it down to her but in the instance of the pinata it's amazing.

The worst part is my motivation is flailing. I really need to step it up. I make no apologies for being tired. I work full time have a kid and dog and husband. I'm a tired mama; there are not enough hours in the day.

But I am very much that person who just feels the drive to improve and push, push and improve, consistently. I will always work harder, or extra if I can get to some of my goals. 

The new shows are fun because I feel like Netflix and the like are just never-ending watch lists. How are we supposed to make a dent in that? I've found the Good Place, Glow and of course, Maniac as mentioned before. My daughter found some new Barbie Series, Give a Mouse a Cookie and Pete the Cat.

New crafts are always fun. I consider myself a ghetto crafter. For me it is always about cheap supplies and it never has to look, just right. The important thing is the creativity, in my humble opinion. 

I always have a list of new projects, how many of them actually start and are completed in reasonable amounts of time is a whole different thing. I'm not one to take on too big of things when I know they will sit unfinished because that is the stuff that bugs me. However, projects make me happy. 

So here it is, a silly Saturday filled with cleaning and craziness. There are always looming plans, play dates and dysfunctions. I have laundry to fold and people to see. While I'm feeling calm and far more peaceful than a few weeks ago, I'm very aware of the wobbly-ness. This has been mentioned before as a favorite word and I still embrace it, completely.

I've been around enough of the stress of others to know where to take a step back and where to watch new shows, start new crafts and keep finding new projects for sure. So enjoy this weekend and I'm sure I will have an entire entry devoted to that of the pinata adventure soon!

The Reasons Why I Think Netflix's Series "Maniac" Is A Gorgeous Mental Health Awareness Journey

Netflix released a show called "Maniac" which has been on my "I have to sit down and watch that" list for almost a year or whenever it first came out. I love Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, especially together.

I was probably the only person on the planet who didn't understand all the fuss about La La Land. Don't get me wrong, Emma Stone performed wonderfully, sang and danced like a champ, but the plot went from weird to worse and then was so utterly depressing I would have rather just subjected myself to the Notebook twice in a row. On top of that I found the only cute scene to be the one where they are literally dancing around their own attraction, but who doesn't want to stare at Ryan Gosling? So, I lost 2 hours of my life, whatever.

I consider Maniac as Emma Stone's personal apology to me for La La Land, as ridiculous as that may seem, it makes me feel better to think of it that way. I found the series to be a strange triumph.

I'll keep spoilers to a minimum as I encourage you to watch on your own, but it's futuristic, trippy, sometimes a little out there, gripping, dramatic and emotional.

Long story short, in a somewhat futuristic version of NYC we meet Jonah Hill's character, who is immediately shown as confused and quickly outed as mentally unstable. This is followed by meeting Emma Stone, who is definitely fragile, possibly addicted and reliving some trauma, by her own choice.

The stories wind you all over, but Emma Stone and Jonah Hill end up testing a pharmaceutical drug to "fix" your mental and emotional trauma from some new futuristic company run primarily by forms of Artificial Intelligence. It takes us inside the minds of Stone and Hill for these weird dream-like reflections of what actually happened to them in real life, or some semblance of it. Somehow, against every programming issue and all odds, Hill and Stone keep meeting in each other's dream sequence as if the universe is pushing them together.

Throughout the series they drop these beautiful little hints to say, "big pharma can't cure," that's what therapy is for. Little nuances of "therapy is good but invokes complicated emotions," and "addiction is another hurdle of these advertised cures, by the way" are peppered throughout the story, along with other weird life truths that are often glossed over in most series with comedy, instead of confronted.

I will spoil a little, this is not a love story or even romantic. It's more, bonding through shared trauma and understanding how messed up things can be. It touched my heart by the end of it, to know that you could embrace your struggles if you have the right tribe:

I think we often find ourselves in a place where we feel like we need to find a cure for our ills and for most of society, we self medicate with what we can get our hands on: alcohol, recreational drugs, coffee, soda, food, cigarettes, the gym, how we eat, the list can go on and on. 

Then we see great advertisements offering a "cure" for your anxiety, depression and so on and so forth when really we just need to face the demons. This whole facing your inner demons thing is handled quite intensely and beautifully throughout the series for almost every character with which it is associated. It's figuratively, metaphorically and plainly executed throughout the stories, now that I think about it, and it's entertaining as hell.

This was one of those shows I just couldn't stop watching in terms of, you're locked on the screen because you need to try and make sense of it all. There are so many facets within that you're like, "Is that real, or imagined?"

It was darkly funny and ironic at moments, but ultimately very dramatic and heartfelt. Starting the series came to me at a time when I needed it most. It was a wonderful distraction but also kind of a reminder that even in dark, uncertain, weird mental times, you can find commonality and friendships.

If you can't get into the dreamy, whimsical fantasy mixed with bits of reality, you may not be able to get into it, but I for one found it refreshing and comforting. I commend Jonah Hill and Emma Stone for their artistic adventure. Currently this only has one season, and they ended it in such a way that a second season isn't necessary, but I'm kind of open to it.

Happy Wednesday readers! If you need a weekend binge-watch, you're welcome!