How to Make a Decision

Credit: Jonathan Billinger

We all make 100,000,000 decisions a day.

Ok, that’s a totally random and unscientific number that I just made up, but you get the point.

With every sunrise, there are tons of little choices to make. For instance: What should I wear? Are these leftovers safe to eat? Should I approach and try to befriend this bear, or should I respect his dominance as the overlord of the forest and gtfo before he tears my face off?

And then, there are the big ones, the ones that have the power to alter the course of your life. Should I leave my job? Should I spend six months in the rain forest learning to be a shaman? Should I leave my husband/wife/partner, or stay? Should I go back to school? Should I move to British Columbia and become a fisherman/poet?

With big decisions like these, there’s always a lot of stuff to sift through in order to see the answer clearly. Doubts, possible outcomes, hopes, conflicting information, the opinions of others, emotions, etc., can end up creating an insane traffic jam in your head and leave you unable to think straight.

In the past year, I’ve had to make some tough choices. There were sleepless nights and questions of identity. For a while, I felt really lost, adrift in a sea of uncertainty.

“My mind is a shitstorm of uncertainty. Does anyone have a damn cigarette?” – Abraham Lincoln

I realized I had to come up with a solid strategy for making decisions, a good set of rules to come back to when I was really in doubt. So, like a total nerd, I spent time researching the subject. I read articles. I watched TED talks. I spoke to friends to see what they did. I also re-examined some of the choices I’d made in the past, looking at why I’d made them and what the outcomes had been.

In the end, I think I came up with a few good questions to ask yourself before making a big decision. Some of them are very similar, even overlapping, but in the end it’s worth taking a look at all of them before you make a really important move.

Examine your Motives

WHY are you doing this? Are you doing it because you truly want to, or because you feel it’s what other people think you should do?

We’re only human – it’s really tempting to do something just to get the approval of others, to have to that warm feeling of safety and acceptance. But that wears off, and you’ll be on your own again and living with your choices. I don’t mean this in a sad depressing way, but at the end of the day, it’s just you and yourself. The people who influenced you will not have to live in your skin.

Are you really going to be happy in law school, and in the career that follows? Or would you rather be traveling around Norway deciphering runes carved into ancient rock? Maybe the latter sounds impractical and crazy, and maybe people will question how viable a living that is, but if that’s where you want to be every day of your life, do it.

You decipher those runes, Greg. You decipher the shit out of them.
Credit: Sendelbach

It’s also important to look at what is motivating any fears you have. If you have worries about doing something, look at what’s really behind them. Are they realistic? Are they caused by events in the past that don’t, when you really think about it, apply to the situation? Or are they legitimate, with a real foundation, signaling a true warning?

Sometimes fear is nothing but a mental construct, something to break through in order to move forward. But, it can also be a good thing, a warning or message from ourselves that tells us to steer clear of something. Take time to sit with your fear and think deeply about where it is really coming from.

Talk to the people who love you

Sure, too many opinions from others can overload you, and might lead to even more confusion when you’re trying to make the right choice. Sometimes, as I mentioned above, it’s just better to ignore people.

But talking to the people who really know you and have your best interests at heart can be invaluable. They can call you back to reality and help you see things the way they really are, instead of through the veil of worry or guilt or pressure you may have put up around yourself. They might see things through a different lens than you do and have a totally surprising perspective on things.

Return to your core values

What do you believe?

When you’re really in doubt about something, go back and look at what actually matters to you in life and think about how the choices before you align with that. Sometimes, just thinking about the things you truly find important will trigger a realization, even an epiphany about a situation.

You may see something with fresh eyes and think Nope, that’s not right for me.

Or, it could give you the courage to do the right thing, even if it’s something you’re scared to do.

What would your child-self have done?

Me, back when I was little and didn’t give a shit.

Ok, so maybe this is kind of a weird one, but there have been times when it really helped me see things in a clearer light.

I think there’s a time in everyone’s life, somewhere right after becoming a conscious person and right before we start to feel self-conscious, that we are 100% ourselves. We’re these pure little spirits that haven’t been broken yet, lights that have just been lit. We know who we are and what we like and what we want. We’re not weighed down by guilt, embarrassment, past hurts. We’re just us, still covered in the shimmer of true Self that we came into the world with.

Go back and look at pictures of yourself when you were little. What did you love? What were you doing? What was really interesting to you? Did you still have a defiant light in your eyes? That Self is still there somewhere.

Did you love butterflies when you were little? Did you know their names and hang pictures of them on your walls? Were they all you wanted to learn about? That was a seed of who you are. It was true. So if you have the chance before you, quit that shitty job and go learn about butterflies.

What is the impact of your decision 10 years from now? 20? 30?

This really applies to the absolute biggest decisions, but I don’t think it hurts to consider it for the smaller ones, too.

Think about the life you want to be living years from now. Do you want to be a loved, respected doctor? Do you want to tend bees and sip iced tea on your porch? Be honest with yourself. Is this decision going to throw you off course, or keep you on it?

Talk to yourself like you would a friend

This is pretty similar to the whole “get advice from friends and family” thing, except it might come off as kind of insane, so you should probably do it in private.

I don’t think I need to explain this.
Credit: Argent-Sky

Take yourself out of the situation for a minute. Try to distance yourself and think about what you would say to a friend who was trying to make this choice. If you try advising yourself as you would someone you care about, things might occur to you or sink in that otherwise might not have.

For example: Jimmy, I really think you don’t actually want to be a squirrel therapist, you’re just feeling the pressure from your family and friends to follow in the footsteps of your father. Go to culinary school instead, I think that’s what you really want in life. Trust your fatty heart and learn to make the perfect duck egg omelet.

Go with your gut

It’s hard to say where intuition really comes from. Is it God/Morgan Freeman trying to tell you something? Is it some primal warning system from our inner selves? Or is it from somewhere else?

Whatever the case may be, intuition is the ringing of truth. It might tell you not to go down that particular street at this particular time. Or It’ll tell you yes, take a chance and go to that job interview.

If a deal looks great on the surface, and it squares with everything you want, but something feels wrong…don’t do it.

If you wake up in the middle of the night and just know what the right thing to do is, even if it seems impractical or wrong to your normal, daytime mind, trust that inner voice.

Intuition is sometimes hard to recognize, and it can actually take practice to really cultivate it and let it guide you. If a feeling about something, a doubt or worry, comes and goes, then probably it’s nothing, just a fragment of thought, a natural pause, cold feet. But if the feeling comes back again and again, trust it. If you push away doubt and it returns over and over, listen to that. If you keep thinking you have to call your sister, stop what you’re doing and call her.

The more you listen to it, the stronger your intuition will get and the easier it will be to listen to it.

Bottom line, trust yourself

Ok so really, what does all this boil down to?

If you make choices that push you in the direction of who you truly are, you’ll never make a mistake.

Or, you can skip everything and just use this binary decision chart:

 

Credit: Dirk Beyer

 

 

 

 

Weird Video Games From Childhood

The other day, I randomly started thinking about some of the video games my sister and I used to play when we were little. We had an old Commodore 64 computer, two joysticks, and a handful of random games we had found at yard sales. They were all classic 8-bit and totally crappy, but we loved them so much. We couldn’t wait to be done with school so we could sit down in front of the glossy grey screen.

It was a carefree time of DOS and bike riding and Twizzlers.

Anyway, it started me thinking about how weird and cool those games were. Today, I don’t really play video games because I get too antsy and bored, but I’ve watched others play and have a pretty good idea of what they’re like. They typically have some sort of point to them, like an elaborate, multi-part quest or something, and sometimes you can do other fun stuff like go on side trips to drink beer and steal a book from some random peasant’s cottage to get coins or whatever. They’re super realistic and fancy and the characters have complicated backstories and emotions.

The games I remember were much simpler, and definitely less grounded anywhere in reality.

Anyway, here are a few that really stick out in my memory (Ian actually did a search on YouTube and found longplays for the games, which I included in the post. So yes, I stayed up until like 1 am watching Commodore 64 gameplay).

Maybe some of you even remember these…

If so, your day might be weird and flooded with memories after reading this post.

If you’re younger and have no idea what a Commodore 64 even is, then this is a look at what your elders were wasting time on when they were little.

“Seesaw”

This game involved nothing more than a seesaw and these alien monsters who tried to push bricks onto these weird bird-looking things (we decided they were partridges).

All the disk came with was a dusty old olive-green cover with a picture of one of the crappy partridges(?) on it. The point of the game was to get inside the castle. You had to try to dodge the flying alien bricks and then pile them up on one side of the seesaw so that when the alien pushed one onto the other side, the bricks flew up and knocked out some of his alien brethren.

When the castle wall was low enough, you had to try to get yourself flipped up and over it so you could rescue the guy they had trapped in there. I don’t know what business a partridge has rescuing people or how they got involved in that situation, but hey.

 

“Trailblazer”

Ok, this is my all-time favorite game. It was basically just a soccer ball flying through space on this road/track thing made of many-colored squares. Certain squares did certain things, like slow you down, speed you up, or let you jump.

As the levels went up, it got harder and harder because there started to be more holes in the track. If you didn’t hit the right squares at the right time, you fell straight through into space.

Really, this game required like no skill. All we had to do was press the joystick forward and hit a button sometimes. We had no idea what any of it meant, and it was just total blissful excitement and joy for us.

I could watch this forever:

 

“Captain Blood”

I remember being super creeped out by the cover art on this game. It was this guy who looked like a zombie Captain Pickard, sitting edgily in a chair in a control room that I still think looked a lot like the Enterprise deck. The expression on his face looked like he had just enjoyed a little too much cocaine, but that he had to stay serious because this was a serious-ass mission they were on and he couldn’t screw around. I also got the feeling that he had been jilted by a beautiful and dangerous alien woman who had fled away into space after taking advantage of him…and stealing his heart.

The best part about this game was that it was totally confusing and you couldn’t really do much. You could mess with the controls a little, from the perspective of Captain Blood, and occasionally find a planet to blow up. Sometimes you could fly the ship around through this little canyon. Once or twice this weird alien guy showed up, and I think he was trying to talk to Captain Blood, but we didn’t really care and I think we usually just blew up his planet.

As useless as it was, we’d sit there for hours just pushing buttons with Zombie Pickard’s freakish white hands and hoping something cool would happen. But it never did.

 

“Airborne Ranger”

I feel like this game was supposed to be based on Desert Storm or something. Basically, at the beginning of the game, you had to jump your guy and some supplies out of a plane into an enemy base. He had a little parachute and everything. Then you just kind of ran around and hid and threw grenades at these little hut buildings and tried to avoid landmines. There were different missions you could do, but mostly we just sat there and laughed and made our guy do random stuff.

 

“Bruce Lee”

In this game Bruce had to make his way through a beautiful marble palace, mostly by jumping up onto pillars and balconies and stuff. And you had to jump up and get these little lanterns that gave you extra points.

Bruce also had to battle ninja opponents that came out of nowhere, which meant we just hit all the buttons on the joystick over and over again feverishly until the guy he was fighting died.

There was one guy who was like twice the size of Bruce. And for some reason, he was green. So, we started calling him Pickle. Pickle was the biggest obstacle in that game. The best way to beat him was to wait up on a balcony and jump down onto him when he appeared, and then do kick-jumps at him until he collapsed. It was really challenging and we almost never made it past him.

 

And last but not least…”Catastrophes”

This was the most gut-wrenching, frustrating game ever. It taught me a lot about patience, disappointment, and letting go of your dreams.

The point of the whole thing was to use a helicopter to add bricks to a little building and try to shore it up before another natural disaster hit it. Just when you were starting to make progress, the sky would darken, lightning would strike, and half your work got knocked away.

I don’t know what the hell kind of climate this game took place in, because there were sudden, intense storms like every 30 seconds. Maybe it was a foreshadowing of climate change….

Newburgh Brewery

On the banks of the Hudson river sits a gem. A gem that offers excellent beer, delicious fries, and happiness. A gem called Newburgh Brewery.

A couple of weeks ago, on a cold spring Saturday afternoon, we decided to take a ride up and have a beer.

The taproom, which occupies the second floor of an old brick building, is really spacious and airy, with an awesome view of the river. It’s a really relaxed, comfortable setting in which to enjoy a drink with some fine friends.

Honestly, I wish I could live there.

And get married there.

And be buried there, beneath the beautiful polished floors…

This was on a Saturday around noon. If you’re going on a weekend and want to dodge the crowds, this seems to be the best time to show up.

On this visit, we tried three beers: I had the Spruce Mousse (a black saison with pine needles and chocolate), Ian had The Newburgh Conspiracy (a super dark Russian imperial stout with hints of licorice and fruit), and my sister had a Chocolate Fruition Gose (a nice light beer with chocolate and orange).

From left: A Russian imperial stout with serious attitude (and a super high ABV), an enchanting and woody stout, and a happy, citrusy dream beer. Aren’t they beautiful?

All of these beers were totally, totally excellent, but I liked mine the best. Pine needles in a beer? Sounds a little weird, but it really works. As I drank it, I felt like I was walking through a dark, magical forest filled with ancient wonder and majesty. I sensed the presence and approval of Odin. It also brought back memories of camping under pine trees in Maine…so nice.

Drunk hands: the mixed, transient colors of these mood rings = tiiiny bit tipsy.

And the perfect side to these wonderful drinks? A pretzel and some rosemary garlic fries, with mustard sauce and house-made mayo. They were so good we had to actually reason with ourselves not to keep ordering more and just eating until we died.

If you’re up for more than just a snack (although, sucking down a basket of fries seems a little more intense than a “snack”…), they have a ton of other tasty, locally sourced food on the menu.

I mean, look at this. This photo is not edited. There were actual magical sparks emanating from the fries.

Just thinking about it as I write this makes me want to go back….

So, bottom line: if you’re anywhere within a 1-2 hour drive of Newburgh, NY, and you appreciate a good beer and delicious local food, I’d say it’s definitely worth the trip.

Sun Brewed Herbal Oil

Herbal oils are a great thing to have around – you can mix them into homemade lotions, lip balms, shampoos and body washes, or just apply them straight to your skin. They will make your life better.

Depending on the oil and herb used (like rosemary, thyme, or oregano in olive oil, etc), they can even be used on salads and in cooking. The possibilities are as boundless as your dreams.

The best part is, herbal oils are ridiculously simple to make.

Here is what you need:

• Dried or fresh herb of choice. For body products, I like to infuse calendula flowers. Calendula is a wonderful herb for skin care; it promotes cell repair, calms inflamation, and is antiseptic. I’ve found it really helps my super sensitive dry skin, and it’s great for soothing eczema. My sister and I also noticed that our skin is much clearer since we started using it in our face cream. Comfrey or lavender would be great choices, too.
• Oil. For body, I like to use jojoba or sweet almond oil (sometimes I mix them together, actually). Of course, a nice organic olive oil works too (and of course, the one to use if you’re making an edible oil), and avocado oil is great for very dry or aging skin. If you plan to use the oil on your face, I suggest grapeseed oil – it’s very light and won’t clog pores or feel too greasy when you apply it.
• A super clean, dry mason jar
• Jar labels
• Cheesecloth and a mesh strainer

 

How to make it:

• Fill the mason jar about halfway with dried herb. If you’re using fresh herb, fill it about 3/4 of the way.

• Pour in the oil until all the herb is covered (I usually just fill the jar almost to the top).

So gorgeous!

• Write the date and herb (and oil too, if you want) used to make the oil on a label so you’ll remember when you made it/what’s in it.

• Leave the jar in a sunny, warm place for 3-6 weeks. The longer you leave it, the stronger your oil will be. I typically try to stick it out for 6 weeks (because it takes so long to brew, I like to have at least one jar always brewing so that I don’t run out). Also, for the first week or two, remember to flip the jar and shake the herbs around every day so that mold doesn’t have a chance to form on the top of the plant matter.

Soaking up the sun.

• When your oil has finished brewing, line a mesh strainer with cheesecloth and set it over a bowl.

• Pour out the oil into the strainer and let it seep through the cheesecloth. I like to really wring out the cheesecloth in order to get every drop of goodness from the herb.

Doesn’t my hand look so professional and competent in this picture? It’s like a Mrs. Patmore hand. Oh God, I just got a pang of Downton Abbey nostalgia!

• Pour the oil back into the mason jar and top with a lid. The oil should last for many months if kept in a cool place.
• Enjoy!

100% golden goodness.

DIY Jewelry Shelf

In my experience, standard jewelry boxes only have maybe 5-10 necklace hooks. To me, that is unacceptable. I have at least 35,000 necklaces. Ok maybe not quite that many. But I think it’s safe to say that a lot of people have a few more than 10.

So, where do all the extras go? I’ll tell you where: a necklace graveyard, where they sit for year upon year, slowly working themselves into an impossible, mind-bending hell-knot.

Dear God!

In answer to this grievous problem, I decided to make a simple, classy jewelry rack of my own. Here’s how I did it:

Stuff you need:

1. A marble door saddle. I used one that was left behind by the previous owners of my house (actually, finding it kind of inspired this whole thing…it was really cool and I had to do something with it). If you don’t randomly have one of these laying around, they’re easy to find at Lowe’s or The Home Depot. And of course, the marble part is optional. You could just as easily use a plain piece of wood.
2. A 1×2 length of wood, cut to the size of the saddle.
3. Gold metallic spray paint – this is only if you want to paint the wooden parts of the shelf. I think it adds a nice touch. Any other color would look great, too.
4. Cup hooks. How many? That depends on how close you want to space your necklaces together/how many you’d like to hang.
5. 2 metal shelf brackets
6. A wooden dowel, cut to the size of the saddle. This is optional – the shelf brackets I found have a cool, swirly design that allows my to slip the dowel in and out and use it as a bracelet bar.

To Assemble:

1. Spray paint the wooden parts of the shelf and let dry.
2.  Screw the cup hooks into the 1×2 plank. As I said, how many you add is a matter of how much jewelry you want to hang, as well as the amount of mental fortitude and patience you have.

   

   Sooooo many. It took me six months to put all these in. And I lost both my thumbs.

3. Attach the 1×2  plank to the shelf brackets. Be sure to leave enough room behind the wood so that the marble fits in snugly.
4. Mount the brackets onto the wall.

   

   Awaiting the marble…

5.  Set the marble door stop/fantastically classy shelf behind the 1×2 plank.

   

   Ta-da!!!

6. If you’re doing the bracelet bar, slide it in through the bottom swooshy part of the brackets.
7. Untangle all your sad, forgotten jewelry (this may take up to 6 hours depending on how materialistic you are).
8. Hang up your stuff and admire all the lovely jewelry you have.

Don’t you feel more organized and successful now?

Ikea

Credit: Daniel S.

Recently, Ian and I had to go to Ikea to pick up a spare part that was missing from our bed frame. I looove Ikea, so any excuse to go there is exciting to me. To my unsuspecting mind, this would be a quick, in and out trip: get the part, stuff our faces with cinnamon rolls, maybe wander around in the showroom pretending we can afford everything, and then get on with life.

But, my friends, reality is often very different from our dreams.

Basically returns and exchanges at Ikea works like this: you take a number and then enter into a cold, collective nightmare of a purgatory filled with desperate looking people. Just when you think you’re starting to lose the will to keep breathing, they finally call you up. Then, you wait some more while they find your part or process your return. It’s not unlike the DMV, actually.

Most of the other people there looked lost, as if they had forgotten their families, their homes, even their own names and what it meant to be human during the long wait. But, a few people somehow had ice cream cones. I don’t know where the hell they got them, but those people really know how to live an excellent life. Ice cream in a waiting room = success.

Then again, I might have been hallucinating at that point and there wasn’t really any ice cream anywhere. We’ll never know.

The Ikea returns waiting area. I didn’t even edit this photo. If you’ve been waiting around there long enough, shit actually starts to look like this.

And then you start to see in the infrared, which is pretty cool but also a little bit horrifying honestly.

About 30 minutes into our wait, I started thinking deep thoughts. Like, what do the names of Ikea furniture mean in English? My bed frame is called the Hurdal…what does that mean?

With nothing else really going on in our lives at the moment, this seemed like a super interesting thing to investigate. Ian pulled out his phone and typed Hurdal into Google Translate, and we waited.

And waited.

Guess what? Google did not know what the hell it meant.

Nope, I got nothin’.

We tried a few other ones too, but to no avail. So, instead of actually trying to seriously look anything up, we decided that we would just translate stuff ourselves.

Here are a few we came up with:

HURDAL = barnswallow

INGATORP = rainy afternoon

EKTORP = kitten

POÄNG = bouncy

KVARNVIK = lawn

SVIRVEL = silver chalice of the King

BLÄDJAN = flower petal

GJÖRA = one who walks the forest

KLIPPAN = honored son

In the end, I have to say that the Ikea people were super nice and helpful and we got our part.

And, more importantly, our cinnamon rolls.

 

Introvert Life Isn’t Always Glamorous

Lately, it’s become quite fashionable to be an introvert.

Many people think that being an introvert implies that you like to read profound intellectual books and that you have a fascinating inner well of creative insight and great taste in sweaters. You’re sensitive and special and thoughtful and fascinating and kind of sexy.

Indeed, being an introvert can be all of these things. But it can also have a dark side.

Allow me to explain.

First off, let me start by saying that I like people. I enjoy going out. I’m not ‘antisocial’ or even ‘unsocial’. I like to attend parties and make new friends and have conversations and be out in the world.

To a point.

And then, suddenly, I get overloaded. A switch will go off and I just absolutely can’t take anymore. I morph from being a happy, gregarious 20-something woman into an irritable 50 year old Irish man who just wants to sit alone and read the Sunday paper and have a goddamn cigarette without his wife hassling him about the holes in his favorite wool vest.

My sister, a fellow introvert, often experiences the same phenomenon. We call it The O’Monaghan Transition Point.

After the transformation into O’Monaghan, things can be hard to manage. He becomes difficult to control. He just wants a damn whiskey. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone anymore and he doesn’t want to make plans for next weekend. He’s starting to hate everyone. He wants everyone to shut up, just shut up and stop nagging me.

Just leave me alone with me damn drink, will ya?
Credit: К.Артём

If I don’t carefully monitor my O’Monaghan levels, I’ll end up alone with no friends.

It’s a real problem.

Statistically, about half of all Americans are introverts. That means there could be O’Monaghans everywhere, all around you.  Many of them may not even realize what they truly are…until it’s too late.

Obviously, it’s pretty important to know if you’re an introvert so that you have a chance to prepare as best you can for a potential O’Monaghan meltdown. Here’s a very short (and completely unscientific) quiz to help you figure yourself out:

Do you feel secretly happy when an event is cancelled, even if it might have been kind of fun, because now you can just chill and maybe get an iced coffee and do whatever the hell you want?

Does staying home on a Friday night with a bowl of pasta and your favorite show sound totally fantastic to you?

Is self-checkout the best invention EVER?

After being in social situations, even if you had a great time, do you feel like you kind of want to just lie down on a mossy stream bank in the middle of a forest and recharge for a while?

Do you sometimes just need to sit quietly?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, you’re probably an introvert. If you said yes to all of them…then you definitely are. Welcome to the club!

Hopefully, for your sake, you don’t have an irritable alter ego like O’Monaghan. And if you do, may God be with you.

Now, would you please just leave me alone with so I can have a moment of peace?

Choosing the Perfect Beer

A friend of mine was clearing out her house a while ago. She had a lot of things in storage, a lot of stuff to sort through, and decisions to make. We came to the conclusion that she needed a drink in order to complete this task. Specifically, she needed a fine dark Irish stout. Because that’s a beer that gets shit done.

Our conversation got me thinking; how do you pick the right beer for the occasion/mood? It’s sort of like how people pair wines with different foods, except better because it’s beer. Mind you, this isn’t an exhaustive list, but here’s what I came up with:

Irish Stout: Like I said, this is the beer for getting shit done. When you drink this beer, you become more powerful and decisive. No one’s going to try to argue with you when you’re drinking it, because your confidence is just really going to skyrocket and people will definitely pick up on that.

Oatmeal Stout: Breakfast.

Coffee Stout: Breakfast.

Chocolate Stout: Breakfast. And dessert. And all the time whenever.

Red: This is a good beer to reach for when you really can’t make up your mind or you’re at a pub with a limited selection. It’s kind of just a good standby; not super exciting, but not your standard domestic either. It’s a great choice if you’re shooting pool with people you don’t know very well.

IPA: I have no idea about these, because GET THEM AWAY FROM ME. I realize many would crucify me for these words, but there it is. People who like IPAs are living such a different life from me that I can’t even pretend to give advice on this.

Porter: This is perfect if you’re in the mood to feel like you live in a rustic-chic barn and are enjoying a meal of bread and cheese after a long day of collecting your bountiful harvest. This beer will make you put your boots up on the table and think about what it means to be an American. If you have a leather vest, put it on before pouring yourself a glass.

Lager: See above, except now you also feel like you just totally ratted out a bunch of Redcoat spies. Good for unwinding and congratulating yourself.

Ale: When do you choose an ale? When you’re feeling successful and surrounded by friends. It’s going to make your eyes more shiny and sparkly, and you’ll laugh louder. If you’re a man, your beard will get thicker and glossier. Drinking this beer will confirm that you’re a boss.

Heather: If you’re lucky enough to find this, congratulate yourself on being totally classy. This beer is for victories and celebrations.

White Hag’s heather is the way to go for classy times.

Citrus: Any day in summer is vastly improved by the presence of this beer. It doesn’t even matter what else is going on; when you open one of these, your life is better than it was two seconds ago.

Berry: I’m sure a lot of people think these are great for summer, and I won’t argue with that. But for me, these are for getting through the darkest days of winter and the holiday season. A decent beer brewed with raspberries will help you forget that it’s January What the Fuck Ever and that this beer itself is the only thing you have to live for.

Pumpkin and Spiced Seasonals: These are for when you need to lie to yourself about the fact that a long, dark winter is rapidly approaching. Instead of accepting reality, stuff your face with butternut squash and drink one of these.

Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin. Perfect for pretending the rapidly approaching winter isn’t going to suck.

Burning Resins as Incense

When you live in the mountains, snow means everything comes to a stop. Schools close, people stay home, everything is quiet. The best thing to do is gaze out your window and watch the woods turn white.

Normally, a snow day this late in the winter might induce a psychotic case of cabin fever in me, but considering how mild the winter has been and how little snow we’ve seen, I didn’t really mind.

On snowy or rainy days, I love to light a few candles. The warmth of the flames seems to balance the cold, unforgiving weather outside. It makes me feel grateful to have a roof over my head and someplace dry and safe to be.

Sometimes, I also like to burn resin in a charcoal round. Although they smoke a lot more than incense sticks or cones, they really look beautiful when they burn, plus most of them have a strong, lovely scent.

One of my favorites is Frankincense. It’s collected by making deep slashes in the frankincense tree so that the sap runs out and hardens into ‘tears’. The Egyptians used it in a bunch of stuff; cosmetics, perfumes, even as…an embalming agent. Some cultures believe frankincense can increase one’s ability to communicate with the creator.

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I also really like Dragon’s Blood, which comes from the Daemonorops draco tree (rattan palm). How cool is that? In my opinion, dragon’s blood produces the best scent of all the resins – it’s sort of spicy-sweet. Dragon’s blood is typically just burned as an incense, but, so I’ve heard, it’s often incorporated in magic rituals. It can bring protection, aid a broken heart, or ward off bad energy. Sometimes, it is used in dark magic. As is often the case with this sort of thing, the intention is what matters when burning dragon’s blood.

To burn the resins, simply put a chunk in the center of a charcoal round. Lighting the round is part of the fun; hold a flame to it for a moment, and soon little sparks will begin to move through the charcoal and the resin will start to smoke and bubble.

SPARK ACTION!!

The round can get really hot, so I recommend putting it on a plate or heat resistant surface. I burn mine on piece of slate that had come lose from the wall in my backyard – I think it looks really cool, like a little altar.

In a minute or so, the resins will start to smoke and fill the air with fragrance.

Frankincense is suuuper smoky. You might need to open a window…

The Dragon’s Blood looks especially cool when it’s burning, sort of like…the beating heart of a dragon.

You can typically find resins and charcoal rounds in herb, tea, and witchcraft shops. I found my last batch of resins in a little out-of-the-way store when I was visiting Bethlehem, PA. If you can’t find any locally, another great place to get them is from Mountain Rose Herbs.

I hope you enjoy your next rainy day, and that you’ll give burning resins a try.

Ta for now!

Mindful Morning Tea

Every morning, you get a new shot at life.

Today could be the day you don’t lose control and eat six pounds of chips and salsa (the Vikings premiere was no excuse…although yes it kind of absolutely was). Today, you’re cutting down on the sugar. Today, you will finish all the shit you (way, way too) optimistically put on your list. Today, you will catch Ron in the act when he’s stealing your yogurt. Today, you will be calmer and happier and tremendously successful at everything.

Well, ok, by about 3pm when your patience for humanity is wearing thin and ALL YOU WANT ON GOD’S EARTH IS A CARAMEL MACCHIATO, many of these dreams will fade into a memory.

But, it doesn’t mean you can’t at least get a good start. For me, that means sticking to a morning tea ritual.

Like, not the intense kind of ritual with candles and the full moon and dancing and carefully arranged rocks and stuff (although, that does sound pretty cool, doesn’t it? I would totally go to that…), but the kind you can perform everyday.

To make my morning brew, I blend together about a teaspoon each of nettle, raspberry leaf, spearmint, and plantain. If I’m feeling classy and extravagant, I throw in a dash of rosehips.

Not only does this mix taste great, but the stuff in it is really good for you. Nettle is an incredibly nourishing herb (probably my favorite), filled with calcium, vitamins, and minerals. To me, it’s a healer, a wellness bringer, a nourisher.

Raspberry leaf is an excellent ally for us womenfolk; it supports the health of our whole reproductive system.

Plantain is a great helper of the immune system – in my experience, it’s especially good for minor colds and any time you’re feeling under the weather.

The spearmint…mmm. So good for the stomach, plus it really adds a pleasant taste to the tea.

And the rosehips lend a lovely, sweet-tart, berry-like flavor.

A close-up of the beautiful tasty herbs.

A teaspoon of each might sound like a lot, but I like my brews strong so I can get the most out of the herbs – I like to pour hot water over them, cover the cup, and let them infuse for 15-20 minutes before I drink them.

The key here is to just focus on drinking the tea. Think about the nourishing herbs, the comforting hot water. It’s almost like a meditation.

Block out all the other stuff going on in your head, like the bullshit waiting for you in your inbox, or the crappy thing someone said to you the other day.

Instead, create a quiet space where all you have to do is enjoy your tea, the morning light, the sky, and all the good stuff in the present moment.

Luna knows how to relax and enjoy the morning sun.