news from poems

As I went walking that endless bread line My landlord gave me a 2-week deadline And Labor Action ran a better headline: “This land was made for you and me!”

This land is their land, it isn’t our land From the plush apartments to the Cadillac car land From the Wall Street office to the Hollywood star land This land is not for you or me

So take your slogan and kindly stow it If this was our land, you’d never know it So let’s get together and overthrow it ‘Cause this land was made for you and me

And then in the middle:

bedroom is very messy I really should tidy up

bedroom is chaotic I NEED to tidy but my brain says no. Why. Whyyy.

I guess I’ll just have to watch where I step in here for the rest of my life. The mess is everywhere. I’m one with the mess.

A sudden Need to Clean™ makes you get the room looking like some fancy homes magazine cover, and you think “I’ll never ever let it get that bad again, and then...

-out of sight = out of mind, as in, if you can’t see it, you will forget it exists. Set up your space such that, when everything is put away, you can still see it all (remove closet doors, shallow shelves so nothing is behind anything else, etc.)

-one-step access. None of this “to get to this thing, I have to get a stool, remove the box in front of it, grab the thing i want, put the box back, put the stool back-” nah. One step access. Not even “this thing belongs behind this thing”. Open drawer. Is thing right there? good. Have to move other thing to get to it? bad. Multi-steps means you’ll rarely use it, and when you do, it will NEVER GET PUT AWAY AGAIN. Multi-step access is for deep storage and the items that get the least frequent use.

-an item’s home is within arm’s reach of where you are most likely to use it/want to put it down.

-items can have multiple homes and that’s ok. I have three pencil/pen cans around my room, and like two or three places where I’m “allowed” to place things like my wallet and keys (and I am NOT allowed to place them anywhere else, because then I’ll lose them forever).

-examine the mess on your floor and determine the categories, then ask why those things are on the floor. 

---Why pile of clean clothes? because I didn’t want to fold them up. Solution: fuck folding clothes, clothes only get sorted into categories and then dumped into drawers or crates. That’s fine and ok. 

---Why pile of kinda-dirty-but-can-still-wear clothes? because I don’t want to put them away (i wore them once) but i don’t want to put them in the laundry basket (they’re not really dirty yet). Solution: have a home for “kinda dirty” clothes. I drape mine over the edge of my hamper. 

---- a bunch of trash on your floor? Because the trash can is all the way over there. Solution: put a bunch of trash cans all around your room.

---- pile of papers on desk? because i need to put them in my files where they’ll eventually go. Solution: one of those cute magazine boxes on desk, specifically for “to file” papers. 

-permanent piles on surfaces go in cute little boxes exactly where they already were. e.g. pile on nightstand consisting of wallet, keys, meds, phone, etc??? cute little box right on the nightstand for all that stuff you’ll grab every day. Pile on desk of shit that you need to take back out to the kitchen but haven’t yet? grab a little tray specifically to accumulate things you’ll take back out to the kitchen at some point. box on nightstand for “stuff that could/usually does go in purse, but isn’t there today for whatever reason”. Lil box for “random tiny shit that I should put away at some point” like hair ties, safety pins, push pins, etc.

-it’s ok for things to “live” in the place where you’ll need them next, even if it’s not “away”, so long as those things aren’t in your way. My pjs live on my bed, because I’m going to wear them again tonight. If I’m feeling fancy I’ll fold them and put them at the foot of the bed. Most days I’ll just yeet them on there and that’s where they Belong. My meds belong in a lil box on my nightstand, because that’s where I’ll set out my pills for the next day.

- “dump station” = right inside the door, where you’ll divest yourself of everything automatically anyways. Hook for your purse, hook for workbag, a few hooks for coats etc (even though coats “live” in the closet, it’s ok for them to live here too), box/tray for wallet etc, place for shoes. Because I’m gonna dump them the moment I walk in the door anyway, and if their “place” isn’t right there, they’re just gonna end up part of the mess

-beware the corner piles. Observe them, question them, solve them. Shit accumulates in “dead spots” on the floor where you don’t walk often. Watch those piles. What are those piles? Where are their homes? And why aren’t they there? Are their homes too inaccessible? Did I accidentally start a new hobby and none of the supplies for that have a home yet? Is it something “in progress” that I still intend to work on/do something with? 

You can search "remote control organizer" and something should pop up.

Mine sits on my nightstand and holds:

My weekly am/pm pill sorter

At night it holds my glasses

It keeps my phone in place while it's charging at night

A packet of tissues

Nail clippers and a file

Earplugs and an eye mask in case of migraine

Emergency inhaler

Hand sanitizer

Small sketchbook and a couple pencils

Small notebook for making lists

The two sides that are closest to me are the most consistent, and are basically "daily meds, glasses, phone, nail file" and the back half of it accumulates weird stuff that doesn't have a permanent home but also holds less-used but still important to keep close stuff (inhaler, earplugs, etc.)

The first is the sternocleidomastoid muscle, or the SCM muscle.

This big red section is responsible for pain around the eye, cheekbone, and jaw, as well as some temple pain. Literally all you have to do is angle your head down a little, angle it away from the side that hurts, and then you can gently pinch and rub that muscle. I find it best to start at the bottom and travel upwards. The relief is so immediate! You can increase pressure as you feel comfortable doing so.

Here is a short and easy video showing this in action

The second is a fast and easy stretch that soothes your vagus nerve, which is the nerve responsible for calming you down. The vagus nerve, for those unfamiliar, is stimulated by deep breathing such as yawning, sighing, singing, or taking a deep breath to calm your anger in a tense situation.

You can stretch this out by sitting up as straight as possible (this does not have to be perfect to work) and interlacing your fingers. Put your hands on the back of your head with your thumbs going down the sides of your neck and, while keeping your face forward, look all the way to one side with just your eyes. Hold that until you feel the urge to breathe deeply or yawn, or until you can tell there’s a change. Then do the same thing on the other side. When you put your arms down, you should clearly be able to turn your head farther in both directions. If the first session doesn’t get rid of your migraine, rest and repeat as many times as necessary. I even get a little fancy with it and roll my eyes up and down along the outer edge sometimes to stretch as much as I can.

If you need a visual here’s a good video on it. I know some of the language they use seems questionable but this is real and simple science and should not be discarded because it’s been adopted by the trendy wellness crowd!

I seriously cannot believe I didn’t hear a word of this from any doctor in my life. Additionally, if you get frequent recurring migraines, you may want to see a dietician. Migraines can be caused by foods containing histamines, lectin, etc. and can also be caused by high blood pressure in specific situations such as exercise, stress, and even sex.