Don't Know, Don't Care

"I Don't Know"

I am a huge fan of those three words. I even think the majority of problems in the world are because of the human inability to say and accept those three words. Religion. Taking sides in an argument. The right choice. These little red bumps that keep appearing on my back of my right hand. (I will never know.) "I Don't Know" is a good, solid and 100% truthful answer to many of life's questions and most people are not egoless enough to accept. And some are too butthole-clenched-controlling to trust the COMFORT those words  bring.

We are so hard-wired to be problem solvers. Find the correct answer.  And we have to be RIGHT! Oh Jesus on a pogo stick, people have to be right all the time, don't they? In a tricky debate, we feel pressure to choose a side.  And then be RIGHT about it!!

"What do you believe?"

I uhhh, uh, I haven't really done all the research, I kinda see both sides, it's pretty complicated ...

"Not good enough. Pick a side. Be with us or be against us. Control. Control!"

Then people just pick one that agrees with their level of intelligence, throw all their eggs in that basket, wear the cape of its colors, stomp a foot and announce, "THIS is what I've chosen to believe! I'm still confused about most of it, don't quote me on any of it - but I chose it and I will defend it to its death! Plus! This person I hate believes in the OTHER thing so I'm TOTALLY into THIS! And I'm RIGHT! I'm right, you're wrong, I'm right!"

Unfortunately, that's how I judge anyone with unrelenting convictions on broad, cosmic, sensitive, opinion-based issues. These hyper little wheel-spinners exhaust me.

I'm not saying I'm always a fence-straddler, but I'm definitely not a band-wagoner. I will not follow blindly and if I don't know how I feel about  a subject, no matter how important or sensitive or political or after-life-ish... my answer is I DON'T KNOW. And then I go back to Web MD-ing these little bumps on my hand for a few more hours instead of going to see a Doctor.

But to top that. The three words that I like EVEN more than "I Don't Know" ...are "I DON'T CARE."

Because I usually, genuinely, seriously do not care about whatever "hot topic" you are going on and on about. Doesn't affect me or my life, personally. Not my chair, not my problem. I don't care. I've got enough going on. Go beat your head against someone else's wall and when you're bruised an exhausted, ask yourself, "Why do YOU care?"  You probably don't know.

A Letter to My Former Self

Dear Fifth Grade Dianne:

This year was both awkward and a lot of fun. Your mom finally let you shave your hairy legs! Yay! The next morning, while sitting in the hallway admiring your smooth, chubby calves you couldn't contain yourself and blurted your excitement to a girl sitting across the hallway. "I shaved my legs yesterday for the FIRST time! Look how shiny they are!!"

This isn't the first time another girl is going to look at you like you're an idiot, roll her eyes and ignore you.  Get ready for a lot of that. For the rest of your life. Girls are assholes to each other, but ... It's kind of your fault. You say dumb shit sometimes. It gets better though. Don't be hard on yourself. You're still immature. (You learn that word in 5th grade. Nanci tells you you're immature all the time. She learned that word in 5th grade too and became obsessed with it.) Don't worry. You eventually learn how to make "weird" work for you. You get cuter and that helps. Also, you're going to grow large boobs in middle school and you announce it to NO ONE.  

Oh, Dianne. You have no sense of fashion you sloppy, confused little tomboy. Yeah, you wore your pink bathing suit with a black skirt. You thought people would think it was a pink tank top, but it even had some kind of shiny, cartoon print on the front of it. Nanci was horrified to be your friend that day. I'm sorry, but I really don't know what you were thinking. Unfortunately, you don't start dressing better until your 30s. You don't understand the importance of "accessorizing" until about 32. Until then, look forward to baggy clothes and concert  t-shirts. And not many boyfriends.

Here's where I was proud of you:
You made a diaper out of paper and then squeezed a whole tube of Clearasil into the crotch. You got caught passing this to a classmate. When Mr. Howard held it up in front of the class and yelled, "WHAT is THIS?"  you calmly looked at him like HE was an idiot and said "It's a dirty diaper" but you said it with a face that read, "What does it look like you boring, old, crotchety asswipe? It's a shitty diaper."

You were severely punished at home later, but I'm still proud of you. From this day forward you continue to blend gross with humor and your prissy friends will not like it and your will torture them with it. Ask Anita. She still talks about the day your frisbee'd a paper-thin, road kill frog into her perm.  (I'm smiling right now.)

You will stay friends with Tammy forever. She's odd too. She was there with you when you dumped the make-up out of the pink, sectional make-up tray you got for Christmas and used it to collect bugs. She gets you and you get her.

Anyway, keep your head up, chubbo. Middle school is coming and it's not going to be easy. You develop an intense love for delinquent Asian boys, Robert Smith and really high bangs. But, so does everyone.

Have fun.

Hypnosis

So, I downloaded this Deep Relaxation Hypnosis App and gave it a try last night. I was hopeful, but a little apprehensive. I have a mind that doesn't like being told what to do. Not by anyone, including myself - even when the advice is in my best interest. We fight. Me and the old brain. We get down and have a good, dirty tussle about once a week. I usually win - but sometimes it sucker punches me, resulting in mood swings, bad language and bad decisions.

(Rolls eyes upwards. You know what I'm talking about.)

I also just drank a cup of coffee and figured that alone was going to ruin my ability to lay still and listen to some creep tell me how to relax. (I just figured he'd be a creep. Come on, who talks to people like that? Creeps. Don't touch me while I'm under, you creepy perv.)

Well, he wasn't a creep. He was Australian. Which means he very well could have been a creep, but he had a sexy, deep accent so I was okay with it. (You can touch me. Just a little though. I have boundaries.) He was cool. I was laying in the bed in total darkness with Darren's (his name is Darren) echoed  voice in my ear buds with some spacey music behind him.

I started to relax faster than I thought I would. I noticed my breathing immediately. It takes forever for me to get to the point of long, deep breaths. I live my life in short, shallow breaths so I was surprised to find myself there so fast. My first intention was to fight it. I suffer  from sleep apnea and I know that when the deep breathing part of my sleep starts, so does the part where I stop breathing altogether. It sucks. It's always when I get really relaxed. It feels like I take a long, satisfying exhale ... ... ... and drift off ... and then forget to inhale again. And then I snap awake gasping for air. It sucks. Did I say that already? Well, it does.

I really wanted this to work so I told myself to just go with it. I reminded myself that people who are open to being hypnotized are more likely to be - and that this was for my own good, so just go with it. Don't fight it and don't be scared. Darren was at number 5 in the countdown, (Or was it a count UP? I can't remember.) and I noticed I was smiling. Just a little. That almost snapped me out of it again. "What are you smiling about, Dummy? If Corban walks up here and sees you smiling he's going to ask questions. Or make fun of you." "Oh, shut up, Dianne. There's nothing wrong with smiling. It's a good thing. Quit trying to ruin this. And quit worrying about what other people think about you." "Fine, you're right. Sorry. Wait. What number are we on?" "Shhhhhh!"

Then Darren said 10. Or 1. Can't remember. But what I do remember is that I felt like I was suspended in the middle of an enormous bowl of mashed potatoes. Not in a suffocating way. I was floating, but not in air. I felt like my gums were made out of thick foam. I don't remember the breathing. I was very much coherent and aware of what he was saying and the directions he was giving me, but much more focused on how relaxed I felt. I felt like my legs were bent, though I know they weren't. It's sort of like the body-high from getting stoned, but none of the anxiety. None, zero, zip.

I had given in. I didn't think I could do it, but I totally gave in and relaxed and enjoyed every bit of it. I slept peacefully then woke up on my neighbors balcony, naked and clucking like a chicken.

Nahhh. No I didn't. Seriously, It was pretty cool and I highly recommend trying it. And yes, I will be taking Darren to bed with me often, methinks. Anyway. just wanted to share.

 "Darren isn't all that attractive if you were wondering. We saw a video of him." "Really? You had to mention that? He's not ugly, he's just not what you envisioned. That's so unlike you to mention someone's looks. Don't be like that." "Sorry."