Nine things about me

1. I like the texture of dirt. I like to walk barefoot in it when the weather is warm, and I like to dig into it with my hands and grow stuff.

2. I own a 97 piece set of matching, nestable mental luggage but I can’t nest because it is full of ideas, thoughts, and attitudes that mostly no longer serve me. I’m looking at those daily, and tossing the trash. I don’t need trash, I need clarity. When I am done, I will only need one smallish bag and I will label it “quirks and idiosyncrasies,” and put it on a shelf called “novelties.”

3. I like repetitive activities. I enjoy knitting, crocheting, dish-washing, driving, smoking, folding laundry, and I like them because doing that sort of thing focuses my kinetic energy and allows my mind to fly free.

4. I don’t “dream.” I have nightmares instead.

5. I have gained 20 pounds since February. I am unhappy with this, not so much because of how I look, though I was certainly hotter then, but because I have less energy and more pain now. Also my clothes don’t fit right. I’m fairly sure this is due to higher cortisol levels from stress. I’m looking at reducing my allostatic load by reducing the amount of pressure I put on myself, and by beginning a regular exercise program. Beginning next Thursday morning.

6. I collect stories. People literally just come up to me and start talking about their lives. It has been this way forever.

7. I am a skilled cook. And if I offer to feed you, I am probably offering other things as well.

8. I’m a total girl. I love make-up, and high heels, and skirts, and perfume, and lacy underthings and all that stuff. But I also know how to use a hammer and a screwdriver and a saw; pitch a tight tent; and build and maintain a fire. I like to fish, though I am not very good at it, and I want to learn to hunt. I’m a very good shot with a rifle but not so much with a pistol. Yet. My middle name is NOT Dichotomy, but it could be.

9. I’m wicked smart.