Remember that hilarious meme that made its way around which said something to the effect of, "2022 sounds ominously like 2020 too?" Oh so witty and delightful in the way it rolled off the tongue, so many soccer moms and Facebook grandpas thought they were bringing social media comedy gold as they shared it among their Sunday School groups.
Friends, we here in China are living that shit.
Chinese citizens and expats alike are living the most hellish Groundhogs day ever and not even Bill Murray could work his magic here. There is no magic. Just one horrific case of deja vu after another weaving a tapestry of torment and despair as we sit in our apartments reminiscing about the days gone by of going to the grocery store to get a loaf of bread, quart of milk, and a stick of butter.
Damn, those were the good old days.
But this isn't a bitchy blog about something I can't do anything about. I cycle through emotions on repeat like a newly discovered album. Actually it's more of a shuffle. I never know which emotion is going to play next, but I breathe through them all, recognize this truly does suck, and get on with it. It being something I can control and do something about. Writing.
In the midst of what has been a spectacular shit show, I've discovered a story I'm having a ton of fun with. It's an LGBTQ+ YA contemporary fantasy story with a hint of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a dash of Goonies. The protagonist is a lovable narcissist discovering his stomping grounds of Arbortown, Oregon, isn't what he thought it was and his moms might be tangled in the core of it. Aaron Gloria Delfus' story is in its very earliest stages, but I'm already neck deep. It's what I need right now. Light hearted, funny, and refreshing are what I need right now. Arbortown is where I escape to every day at 3:00 with a cup of coffee spiked with Baileys and my MIKA Apple radio station playing in the background and create. It's what I choose.
In the midst of crazy shit you can't do a damn thing about, we have choices still. Some days those choices feel impossible to make, while other days, mercifully, the choice comes easy. Writing, creating, researching, exercising, baking, cooking, reading, learning, connecting. Every single one of them are choices we can make.
We've got this.
Is this a book you are reading or writing?