Last time I wrote here, I admitted a sampling of the shame that accompanied my post-travel malaise and my week of relishing in my funk.

Right here. Right now. I feel better.

You see, I had to acknowledge my feelings and ferret out their cause. Stop comparing myself and my problems to others and theirs. Forgive myself. Write. Share it with you and my therapy group. The light switch flipped and over the next few days, I functioned.

Rolled up my sleeve for my first Pfizer vaccine and treated myself to ice cream afterward. Never, in my wildest dreams, could I have imagined getting a shot would render me downright giddy.

Spent an evening outdoors wrapped in blankets, sipping red wine, telling stories and laughing with neighbors. And on the freezing walk home, noticed the moon/star show the Universe was putting on in the perfectly clear sky.

Helped BF clean the camper and cover her until our next adventure; picnicked in the driveway, where the sun visited for a minute.

Made banana bread out of the three about-to-be-compost bananas that were taunting me from the fruit bowl.

Walked the neighborhood and stopped to chat.

Downloaded to Audible: The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende. She had me at her definition of feminism.

Bathed with my Serenity Acres Farms, goat’s milk salt scrub, soap, and lotion: Natural Goat Milk Soaps & Skincare – Serenity Acres Farm (serenitygoats.com)

This morning, I signed on to my favorite, gentle yoga class and welcomed all the creaks and cracks one hears when she hasn’t downed her dog in a few months.

I know what makes me happy. I know how to energize myself. But what I’m learning, is to sit with Malaise. Listen to her. Feel her. Learn from her. And then, when it’s time, move on.