After the pre-holiday week of baking, cooking, wrapping, shopping, and cleaning, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised to be laid low by a bout of migraines just after Christmas (which I will heretofore refer to as malaise because it sounds better).
It managed to screw up our plans yesterday, but I’m mildly more coherent this morning and thought a post was in order.
St. Taleb writes about how humans are anti-fragile. We don’t thrive in conditions of stasis or excessive ease. In fact, the human body evolved to benefit from variety and from periodic stress. So feast followed by famine, coupled with a widely variant diet, it better for us than constant and copious calories of one type. Periodic intense exercise mixed with complete relaxation is better for us than too much of one or the other. And occasional serious stress coupled with feelings of security and safety are better than chronic low grade stress or, interestingly, no stress at all (which leave us unadjusted when something bad does happen).
So I will chalk my post holiday malaise as just the natural follow on from the excesses of the holiday season. Or as my friend wisely texted me after describing her holiday baking and feasting: “Now ready to eat fish and kale for six months.”
As for me, I’m just past the middle of nice long break, so what better time to shift gears from indulgence to self-discipline? It’s time to start incorporating Saturnian self-care into my routine again. Note, if you aren’t a newsletter reader, this is the kind of self-care that involves brisk walks, salads, and getting to bed at a reasonable hour rather than bubble baths and champagne (Venusian self-care) or massive feasting and hosting (Jupitarian self-care).
So more veggies and less sugar. More sleep and less napping. More saving and less spending. More organization and less benevolent chaos.
