New Word

I didn’t go to my regular Spanish language class this past week. And I didn’t go to another class I had planned to attend at one of the local community centers. But during that week I spent a day downtown at the Seattle Aquarium with a son and grandson. I spent another day at the University of Washington, admiring the cherry blossoms and browsing the UW surplus warehouse with another son. I went to a two and a half hour instructional class to learn the ins and outs of my fancy new sewing machine. The reason I skipped my regular and much-loved Spanish class was “overwhelmsion”, the new word I learned in an editorial this morning. I like the word. Overwhelmsion perfectly described my state of mind on class day. I don’t know if I’m getting old — well, yes, I  do know I’m getting old — or if I sign up for too many things that exist on my want-to-do list. There are so many things I’m interested in trying and apparently I have not learned to realize either my limitations or establish boundaries. Or neither. I had a school friend who once missed an important class and I asked her if she had been sick. She told me no, she had a day of self-care. No guilt. No expectations. A day of “me time”. She said she wanted to do what the Lovin’ Spoonful said. “Fall on (her) face on somebody’s new mowed lawn.” I guess it turns out I can’t do everything. But as long as I’m not sure, I’ll keep trying.

Photo courtesy PublicDomainPictures