How to Deal

I have approached this whole suddenly-out-of-work situation with an air of great calm. Oh, that's not to say I haven't gone through the standard stages of disbelief, denial, fear, bargaining, shame, depression, self-pity, and the rest.*

It seems like I should be handling this with a great deal more panic and terror. But, see, I've got a secret coping mechanism.

A month before I lost my job I was introduced to the blog The Babblings of Whimsicalbrainpan. After reading the story of The Fire...well, that put a lot of things in perspective. (Start here and then work your way down through the seven entries under the heading of The Fire right-hand sidebar.)

So whenever I'm feeling like I just can't cope, whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed by life or just plain unhappy with the way things are going for me, I remember what she went through. I remember how she came through it and is able to blog about it. And I think to myself: What the hell do I have to complain about?

And that's how I cope. That's how I deal with it.

*These stages are lifted from page 142 of Matt Groening's The Big Book of Hell, from Childhood Is Hell, Chapter 17: D-I-V-O-R-S-E. He also includes the stages of anger (haven't hit that yet), out-of-body experience, empty feeling, looking ahead, and secret hope.