Cornflake Girl

So this week we’re posing about “surviving adolescence” and the truth is I’m not sure I’m qualified to write about it on a personal level. (Though hopefully I am on a fictional level, since, well, that’s pretty much what I do!) But the thing is, I never really feel like a grown-up, (despite home mortgage, husband, and all outward appearances).

I’ve never had one of those Oprah-type, light-bulb moments, where I thought—Aha! THIS is what it’s like to be an adult!

My first drink? Um, I’m afraid that happened long before I turned 21 . . .

My first presidential vote? A moment of exhilaration when I closed the voting booth curtain—immediately followed by the return of the not-so grownup me.

But then, maybe my being stuck in a permanent state of non-maturity (my preferred term to immaturity), really does qualify me to write on this topic since, truth be told, I pretty much rely on the same things to get by today, as I did back then.

So here, in short, is my survival list—in no particular order of importance:

Books. Immersing myself in another world is and always has been the cheapest, quickest, and bestest way to escape whatever’s bugging me!

Music. Like Books, what I’m listening to can either reflect my mood or change my mood. And while I still listen to a lot of the same music I listened to back in the day, I no longer want to marry David Bowie. He and Iman seem very happy together and I’d hate to interfere with that.

Friends. A few like-minded friends are the best defense in a tough world. I’ve got my e-mail friends, my phone call friends, my see-in-person friends, and the one thing they all have in common, (besides the fact that they ROCK), is that they can make me laugh—which releases endorphins—which makes me (even more) optimistic—which makes everything better!

The belief in better things to come. Yup, sappy as it sounds, I believe in silver linings, that that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, that the sun is always shining behind the clouds. I believe in all those sappy sayings you find on posters with pictures of eagles soaring or kittens hanging from tree branches--without, er, actually owning one of those posters!

Travel. My number one antidote to everything--when I’m stuck, bored, frustrated or all three—is to go somewhere. Whether it’s around the world, around the block, around the Internet, or inside a new book. Seeing something else and/or learning something new always adds new perspective.  

A good zit cream that works. What can I say? Some things never change

What about you? What helps/helped you get by?

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