In nautical terms, being in the doldrums means being in an area of the ocean where calm winds prevail. It's a place where the winds may even completely die down, where you and your sailing ship become trapped with no escape until the winds return. Used in language, "being in the doldrums" means existing in a static state, one of listlessness, boredom, a slump.
Thus far, summer has been all of the above for me. Except for J-man's broken nose, this summer has been calm. There has been none of the angst or ridiculousness of last summer. Also, I haven't been sick. After spending two months of the summer of 2009 attempting to cough up both of my lungs (I now lovingly refer to that time of my life as Consumption '09), this summer has found me with nary a whisper of fever, sniffle, ache, or pain.
This summer has so far been one of slumpiness. I have a room full of pictures to be scrapbooked, a box full of fabric to be stitched into Christmas gifts, two stacks of books to be read, a TiVo full of NCIS and Deadliest Catch, and I just don't care about any of it. Working up any sort of excitement about, well, anything, takes work.
Honestly, I feel a little like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Wake up, dress kids, make beds, fold laundry, eat, drink coffee, get kids outside to play, shower, eat, get kids to swimming lessons, one naps while two watch a Disney something, eat, entertain kids, bed.
I don't know. I think it's true that in times of adversity and hardship, we humans are at our most creative. At least, that's true for me. When shit's flyin', I'm all over the place. When everything is calm, I sit like a lump. I'm not saying I want a plane to crash into my house, I'm just saying I wish when everything is ticking along like clockwork, when I'm in the doldrums, I wish I could be as creative, as active, when life is in the middle of a hurricane.
You know?
P.S. It's frakking July already? Seriously, I've got to figure out who's shooting me through these wormholes 'cause it's getting old already.
Who Am I?
- Coal Miner's Granddaughter
- I am the 40-ish granddaughter of Frank (see header), a fiddle-playing coal miner from West Virginia. I was born and raised in said state and have lived in Georgia since 1994. I have a wonderful husband, three beautiful kids, one cranky cat, and one anxiety-ridden dog.
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Confessions of a Coal Miner's Granddaughter by Coal Miner's Granddaughter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
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11 comments:
Look - on your next trip into the future, pick up some lottery numbers on your way back, will ya? Because, you know, I know you'd share. Right?
Hey, I'm right there with you. Haven't managed to do anything this summer except back out of commitments and get myself midway through 3 projects and crash. Hopefully things will straighten out for both of us sooner than later.
I'm kind of enjoying my calm summer this year. It's so freaking rare!!
Then again, I was bored and listless the other day, too.
Can't win.
Calm is not conducive to creativity. Maybe we have to rest up for the next commotion and burst of creative energy. Maybe we need time to just sit back and enjoy the lull so we can appreciate the other times more.
Or not. ;)
Well thank goodness I came here today. On my lifetime to do list: Learn something new each day? CHECK!
I'm tired of the heat already, but I really really like the summer drop in traffic we get (and not having to take our oldest to school, which gives me an extra hour in the office every day).
I thought a way to keep myself motivated this summer was to work summer school - that way I wouldn't sit around the house with the overwhelm staring at me all day. Now I just get home from work, decompress, and stare at the overwhelm. I think I need a life coach.
I know exactly what you mean.
We're in the winter doldrums. Shivering. Or as much as one does in the Australian winter, which is a lot like the Southern California winter. About all the energy I can summon up is enough to huddle and cuddle in front of the fire. And I got no writing energy either.
I hear ya there! seriously, just had four days off with the kids and we have all slowed down to a crawl. barely got laundry folded.
i think it's like that saying, "an object in motion stays in motion . . "
LceeL - Check. Lottery numbers and I'll get the Super Bowl and Kentucky Derby winners for the next decade. ;)
Annie - I hate that for you, hon, but I'm glad it isn't just me. It's better to wallow in misery with company. ;)
Sybil Law - Exactly.
Finn - Or not. Definitely. ;P
Patois - HA!
Muskrat - You know, that's true. Atlanta traffic is much better this time of year.
Molly's Mom - Nope. No life coach. Just crystal meth.
Kidding.
Avitable - Quit encouraging me!
A Free Man - The Australian Winter Doldrums. Do those run counter-clockwise? ;)
Irrational Dad - It is. A total bitch.
Mrs. Hall - Welcome to the blog! And, you're right. Einstein would so totally be all over this shit.
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