Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Indulgence and Deprivation

Yes, it’s back. It’s Stream of Consciousness Sunday.

Two things I’ve been missing in blogging lately: the ability to freely write and the sense of community. I had both of those when I hosted my weekly link-up, Stream of Consciousness Sunday.

For those of you that have participated, starting next week, I’m bringing the link-up back and I welcome you to join in, same as before.

For those of you new to Stream of Consciousness Sunday, it’s a way to carve out a personal little writing space on your blog with relatively little effort. It started out a few years ago when I was trying to get my creative juices flowing and I referred back to a college exercise I used to participate in called free writing. We were required to do it for 15 minutes but for my writing series, I encouraged five minutes.

The rules were and are simple. Don’t think. Just write. Set a timer for five minutes and let your fingers type freely. Feel free to correct your typos but don’t edit your thoughts. That defeats the purpose of the stream of consciousness.

If you want to give it a try this week, go for it! I spent five minutes with my brain dump and here’s how it all turned out.

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So many things are determined by your birth. But in most cases, if you’re born in the United States, you have a relative life of indulgence. Growing up, I had my moments of deprivation. We had meager food helpings. We bought used clothes, We bartered for a car. But those were moments. For the most part, I had the opportunity to grow up happy and healthy, if it was my choice.

So why is it so difficult as an adult? We bounce between wanting indulgence and deprivation. Enjoy this food, this wine, this indulgent chocolate. The best pizza, the most amazing whatever. And then we full overindulged and the answer seems to be deprivation. Get up early. Go run run run. Count your calories. Get rid of those carbs. And we feel deprived and empty, if not thinner.

Isn’t there a happy-medium? Isn’t there a way, place, method, or choice we can make that doesn’t make us feel indulgent or deprived but simply satisfied?

Couple that with the bombardment of messages to young girls that we are perfect the way we are. Not exactly. Being overindulgent is not perfect. It’s not ideal. It’s selfish. It’s self-aggrandizing. It lacks perspective in the global sense. We can find a way to love ourselves and yet try to be better versions of ourselves. I know it’s what I’m always looking for. I just don’t know where I’ll find my coach. My advisor. My mentor.