Day CXXXI: Mail

I consider myself an intelligent individual. I did well in school, perform above average on standardized testing, can hold my own in conversation with most people and about many things. I am curious and genuine; I am a great listener and offer rather helpful advice. And when you're fully aware of these aspects of your self, of your particular strengths and accomplishments, they can be slightly detrimental to your self-esteem when they're not realized in completely similar situations. 

For example: I've been finding work exceptionally stressful over the past few weeks. Gearing up for ALA in Las Vegas and balancing the extra work from being down a staff member has taken its toll on my capacity to care about what I am doing. 

And I hate that! It's frustrating. 

Striking that impossible balance between personal fulfillment and enriching work is even more difficult than they make it in the movies. And for anyone who's watched Meg Ryan give in to Tom Hanks and Fox Books in You've Got Mail, you know how damn hard it is to stay happily afloat in this world!

For as unsettled as you can be throughout any given day, there is a panacea for that turmoil. And it's sort of unexpected.

Mail.

Good mail.

Mail that makes you smile and say: oh, someone was thinking about me!

Everyone loves getting mail that isn't a bill or spam; that has to be a universally acknowledged joy, right?

I knew I was receiving this package--a book from my mumsy--but the minute I turned the corner and saw the USPS tape sticking up and out of our mailbox, every ounce of gloom evaporated from my system. 

And that's a piece of mail! That's all it was! Something so simple, so common, but, damn, it certainly did the trick.

So I've resolved the following: if you'd like to receive a piece of mail--it's probably going to be a letter because I'm not a shipping warehouse, y'all--just leave your address as a comment on the blog or as a Facebook comment/message. Hell, you could even Tweet it to me! I want to do more things that actively make me feel more personally fulfilled, and I think this would be a pretty rewarding way to do so.

So, tonight, a toast: to mail!