I’m not into good vibes only.

Life doesn’t work that way, even though our social media platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, will have us believing it.

Perfect-looking people and trendy clothing, products, and destinations flood our feeds, selling a fantasy. In the fullest sense of the expression, we are outside, looking in. If only we participated by forking over some cash, we too could enjoy an overdose of those awesome, good vibes!

Our rational minds and experience tell us that good vibes all day, every day is a myth—but wouldn’t “good vibes mostly” be a nice compromise?

A little healthy dose of complication is the human way. Fear and worry help us process our lives, while encouraging emotional, mindful growth. When life feels perfect, we somehow find a way to be disappointed because we actually need a healthy balance. We need to express happiness and pain. We, as humans, need to experience death to be grateful for life.

Going through the hard times pushes us to appreciate our blessings when they arrive. The struggle to reach goals that are not met exactly as planned bends us around different corners and open other doors.

We can turn any “bad” vibes we experience into good ones because we can strive to treat our circumstances and our individual journeys as one big classroom—a place where we never stop learning how to “process” what life throws our way.

I know I won’t experience good vibes only today. I never will, because I can’t afford them. But, with this balance-seeking in mind, I can sure try to put some good vibes into my immediate atmosphere. I can exhale them into the day for myself, and for others.

Like every blessed day we are given, today counts.

I’m going to make sure mine counts by being productive, positive, and lighthearted. I’m going to let sh*t go, and get sh*t done. I’m going to clean my messy spaces, relax, and simply think for a while. I’m going to fill my soul with precious life.

I will “sound my own little barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world.” And these yawps will be some good vibes that resonate with others, hopefully.

And so, a poem:

“Good Vibes Mostly”

All I want to do is swim and read
and write my troubled, beating heart out
and vote
and unplug myself from the world
and make cute little cakes
piled high with buttercream frosting
with a cup of tea on the side
and I want to
make art
with my hands
my fingers
my voice
I want to sleep in a vintage canned ham camper for a whole damn month in the summer out west
and I want to ride my bike
across rough and smooth terrain
through peaks and valleys and roads less traveled
then savor a few sips of wine, red of course,
all wrapped up in a chunky old sweater
near a campfire
all the while, all the while—
looking up at the moon
laughing, laughing—
with my kindred spirits, my tribe, my fellow adventure hunters,
all the while
happy, satiated, peaceful,
and no,
I don’t want to check my email,
or my Facebook page,
or my stupid Instagram feed,
or yours either, sorry,
nor do I want to watch my fluctuating weight slide up and down on a scale
day in, day out
measuring, forever, exactly
how happy I’m allowed to be,
me,
on an ever-turning wheel
me,
angry at our government, at the spins, at the state of the union,
me,
begging for good vibes only,
but getting some bad ones too,
and so I will
check on my two grown babies
are you stressed?
are you being kind?
are you doing your best?
Mamma needs to see your faces, now please, not tomorrow,
and…
I want to watch a million more sunsets
though I’d settle for a thousand
because a thousand seems possible
and I believe in possibility
I believe, I believe—
in present moments,
so I will continue to write these musings, these offerings
from the elliptical
from the break room
I will endure your eye rolls, your sighs,
when I post my thirsty posts
I will push my words
out into the day
because humanity
needs doses of truth, yes,
mine, yours,
but oh how
we
all
need
a pinch
of
poetry
too.

Despite our personal setbacks and challenges, we can still be creative and kind. It’s as simple as that. And we can practice being proactive instead of reactive. We can write our blessed truths, big and small, no matter how frivolous or messy or uninspiring.