Time is an illusion, but so is everything else. That is why it is hard to live even 60 seconds consciously.

Rob’s kidney stone removal this month will entail him being admitted to the hospital, which is not close. My sister is driving down from PA and that is a godsend for us both.

Every day is a nightmare here in America, where democracy is dying. But elsewhere there is famine and wars aplenty.

My solution is to simplify everything in my life. And I will repeat what I just began with: time is an illusion. I still wear a wristwatch when everyone else uses their phone for a clock. Most people are late whatever they use to show up for appointments.

Wow. This essay is crumbling as I write it. It’s like water running uphill to remember yourself even for a moment. The rest of the time we are in the Nightmare Land where we know things are bad and don’t have any solutions.

All we can do is work on ourselves. The world is none of our business; we just think it is.

Need anymore helpful hints? Oh, yeah, right, we are so sound asleep that we think we are awake.

I have a gazillion things to remind me to wake up and they are all inside my mind. The problem with that is that the mind is an illusion, too.

We need self-compassion more than anything. And it doesn’t come in a box with a secret decoder ring.

Vicki Woodyard