Today has been a strange day. I did not get nearly as much sleep as I need to function properly. It has snowed for most of the day, finally tapering off just a couple of hours ago, and I am groggy from an impromptu nap not long ago.

I am determined to finish this challenge of writing a minimum of 500 words every day but sincerely wish the “stick your hand in a bucket, grab some words, and throw them at the screen” schtick would stop. I’m writing because well, I have to write, not because I necessarily have anything to say or want to be writing. But, practice makes perfect and all that.

Tonight, in my struggle to come up with a topic, I asked my friends on FB for suggestions.

Conclusion? I have some weird but deep and awesome friends.

Here are their suggestions, in no particular order, phrased as quirky questions:

1) What do sheep have to do with toast?

There’s a girl with luscious red hair wearing a gorgeous cream-coloured crew neck Shetland sweater, riding pants, and riding boots. She shuffles about the kitchen, waiting for a whistle of the kettle as she slices some bread and pops it into the oven. Opening the refrigerator, she stares at the contents before reaching in and grabbing the butter. A faint whistle starts to fill the tiny kitchen. She removes the kettle from the stove-top, retrieves the bread from the oven and puts it on a plate. Then she grabs a cup, pours hot water into it, adds a tea back, and sits down at the table to savour a quick breakfast before a long day of sheep-herding.

2) Brain fog – how do you clear it?

There are plenty of theories on how to clear brain fog. Menial tasks, for one. Folding laundry, doing dishes, cleaning, cooking. Or one could go for a walk (of course, when the windchill factor is in the negative Fahrenheit zone, going for a walk is well, not wise), a hike (again, COLD), watch a movie, listen to music, take a nap, drink some coffee (although I wouldn’t recommend this at 10pm at night). Laugh. Laughter helps a lot. And I think someone named Hemingway drank a lot when he wrote but I don’t know if that helps with brain fog – I would think that increases it.

3) How do you accept your new self after a life-changing experience? 

Wow. We have a tough one here. Let go of the old you. Letting go is one of the most difficult things we ever do in life – letting go of ourselves, of our expectations, of living up to expectations others have of us. But until we shed these expectations, let go and start living, we are simply existing. Should we not have expectations? No. But we should not allow our past to hold us back from becoming the person we are meant to be. Life is fluid and like the trees, we need to learn to sway in even the strongest of gusts without breaking. And if we do break, it’s okay, we will sow seeds and grow into something even stronger. It’s not easy to accept your new self after a life-changing experience because we want to go back to that which is familiar but sometimes, we just can’t go back and instead must embrace that which is new.

4) Can one ever really go home again?

Yes and no. You can physically go home again but as I just stated in the previous question, you’ve changed because life is fluid. Things may be the same but you are different. This question reminds me of this past summer and finally returning to the Jersey Shore after moving away when I was a teenager. Since then, I too, like the shore, had been through so very much. But also like the shore, I too have rebuilt. We are both stronger after our storms, and will persevere no matter what is thrown at us. The final answer to this question is a firm yes and yet also a firm no.

5) How do you lose your regrets?

First, you wrap them all in a box and then you ship them to Papua New Guinea with no return address. But seriously. You live life fluidly. You let go, you learn to say yes or no with conviction. You own your actions, good or bad. Regrets are one of those things you give yourself permission to have, just like guilt or jealousy. Refuse to allow regrets into your life. That’s how you lose regrets. By living boldly and running headfirst into new experiences, reaching deep into the area outside your comfort zone.