case of the Mondays

I've had the pleasure of re-encountering iterations of the following message at sixteen, eighteen, twenty-one, and every couple of years, since: This doesn't matter, where "this" ranged from expressing my sense of terminal uniqueness with liquid eyeliner and bindi stickers on my forehead to triple-majoring in college to whether or not the cookies I am conscripted into baking come from a box.

And still -- still! -- even when one accounts for how many things cause grief that is actually totally unnecessary (because said things are irrelevant): Life is really hard. Even when you live comfortably, securely; even when you are privileged/blessed. 

Life can just be really hard. 2013 seems to be making it its personal business to remind me, and those around me, of that fact. A week in, and I'm already like, malari-what? Things are a big difficult painful mess right here among our immunizations and clean water, where babies won't sleep and significant others won't behave and the things we construct our lives around won't stay, heel, or come when they are called. 

So here's what I got, to get through Monday: a couple of things that are unambiguously Awesome, True and Good. 

#1: Malala is okay!  If you missed it -- this girl got shot in the head for trying to get an education, because sometimes, people are just mind-blowingly awful and one doesn't know why. But sometimes, though not always, the world responds with resounding "pound sand" to the awful people in question, and fifteen-year-old students turn out okay. (You will love the part of the slideshow in which Malala, undaunted, passes her hospital stay with her scandalous girl-nose in a book.)

#2 Kitties! Sometimes, kids just love kitties, and save up their entire freaking allowance every year to help kitties find homes. Evan's letters are amazing and included holiday-themed song clips, as well as a detailed rational for his growing kitty-saving donations. 

#3 Bears. And a certain Brendan Leonard's blog-tribute to bears, organized around the thesis that bears are awesome -- a delightful truth bomb which I really hadn't thought about a long time. 

So, Monday morning reprise: bears are amazing, the world is amazing, and really -- really -- things are going to be okay.