The premise of titling my memoir Left of the Dial was to suggest the benefit of achieving stability–a kind of equilibrium.
In the Flourish forum I snitched what I wrote elsewhere about summertime strategies because here in New York City we’ve had a heatwave going on one week.
It’s no joke in the summer to keep cool when you’re taking medication or just plain not in robust health. Sometimes the heat in a laundry room can be hotter than the tropics.
I make the case for having a stable routine now and throughout the year. And as we get older there’s a benefit of keeping cooler mentally and not sweating the small stuff or getting tempted to sweat any stuff.
In this heat it’s wise to see if your town or city has designated cooling centers like a lot of the libraries and other public places are set up here.
Stay in the air conditioning. Aerating our minds can help too. Harboring anger and hate and resentment for the rest of our lives is not the way to go.
A life lived with minimal and well-managed stress is the way to go. A short scene in my memoir recalls in vivid detail when I worked in an insurance office and was ingloriously given the boot. Getting out of a toxic environment is imperative when you have an emotional illness or other illness.
To live life well involves self-nurturing and self-compassion first because then we can act kind and caring towards others.
Living life well is as much about knowing what we realistically can and can’t do given what’s happening in our lives right now.
In this unreal heat I urge everyone to stay in an air conditioned room. Refrain from going to a beach where you could literally bake yourself to death.
Left of the Dial 