For 3 years I lived in a basement. It was a mother-in-law apartment in a house but nevertheless it was still in the basement. Not a lot of light came into the place. Because of the location of the house I would only get late afternoon sun. And the little rays of sunny joy had to work their way around houses and trees to find their way into my house. So basically it was dark. All the time. Darker than it should have been for someone so easily affected by light or the lack thereof. This bipolar chick could be likened to a fickle houseplant. I need Vitamin D on a regular basis. And I wasn’t getting it. And you don’t realize how much you need it until you get yourself out of the situation.
So when I was looking for a new place (this was all before the ceiling collapsed) I made sure to only look at places that were BRIGHT. I needed big windows and lots of light coming in. And my current place has that. One whole wall is essentially a giant window. I look south towards the high-rises of downtown. So much light comes in my place! Even on the dark and gloomy gray days my place still seems bright and cheery. What a world of difference that has done for my countenance. All of my houseplants have been so happy drunk on vitamin D since I moved them in. Happy houseplants = Happy Sara. *sidenote: I give names to inanimate objects like my car (Mo’Nique) and all my houseplants (Verne, Twiggy, Rosemary, Timmy Thyme, Ivy and Charlie).*
Many of you know that I don’t watch TV. I don’t even own a TV. I found that during the blue winter months I would really struggle with exercising, being creative and getting out with friends. I would get home from work, turn on the TV, sit down to chill and then eventually when I shook myself out of my zone many hours has gone by and I had not done anything productive. TV was not filling me up with good things. It was just a big huge soul-sucking time waster. So I gave it up over 3 years ago and have never looked back. There are times I miss it (PLAYOFFS! MARCH MADNESS!) but for the most part I enjoy not having a TV in my house. I have found more entertaining things to do with my time. And now when I do catch some boob tube at a friends house I am bit appalled at the stuff I see. Like some of the commercials that come on. FOR REAL!?!?! TV has dumbed down America, in my opinion.
Having a huge window that looks down onto 3rd & Blanchard has now become my form of visual entertainment. Sometimes I just sit and stare out my window at the world below like some creeper peeping tom. Except I don’t have binoculars (yet!) and I am not trying to catch anyone in the nude. I just enjoy studying people. 3rd avenue is a busy street. And it brings out some interesting folk. The drug dealers each have their prospective corners. I am starting to pick them out as I am walking around. They tend to leave me alone but I can tell some of them are intrigued by Chaweenie’s pink tail and want to ask me about it. LOL even street thugs are charmed by that dog!! One day I will introduce myself to them as I walk her home from the park. Not sure how to approach the subject. Something like “Hey dude…I watch you sell drugs from my window up there (points up). You’re pretty obvious. I’m just curious as to what kind of product you selling?! How’s business in these parts??” Ha. Kidding.
Some of them must be in a pretty tough spot to resort to selling drugs. I think there are those who sells drugs because of the money and there are those that sell drugs because it is there last resort for survival. I can usually tell the difference between the two. I saw a woman down there selling and she struck me as someone doing what she had to do to feed her kids. There was shame in her eyes. It made me really think about social situations people are put in that require them to choose between right and wrong. I guess those lines get very blurry when your kids are starving.
The dealers on 3rd are constantly yelling down the street to each other. I sort of want to tell them to take some of their profit and invest in some walkie talkies. “Breaker-breaker 1-9: you are REALLY obvious when you are hollering down 3rd avenue to a fellow peddler.” I see all kinds of interesting stuff looking down on the corner. Sometimes I feel like the people down there must be able to see me. So I took Chaweenie down to the corner on Sunday and looked up to my apartment to check to see how visible I would be from the street. Not very. Mwahahahahahaaa *rubs hands together maniacally* I’m watching you. ALL OF YOU!
Last night I stood at my window and stared up at the big moon for at least 20 mins. TAKE THAT, TELEVISION! I prefer staring at the moon than staring at some crap-show on tv. If I lay on the floor (in a toasty sun spot) and look up it feels like I am living in a much taller building than I am. Birds fly by at eye level. The high rises loom above me. The sky is big. Living ELEVATED instead of in the dungeon of an old house has really helped my mental state. I have really enjoyed being able to open my windows and let the sounds of the city waft in while I lay on my couch reading a book in the sunlight. Even the sounds of sirens are soothing to me. It reminds me that life is going on all around me. Love it…
Xoxo
Sara Mo
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