"Life goes on"

I love it when Sally says in Peanuts that her life philosophy is, "Life goes on," "Who cares?" and "How should I know?":

[High schoolers I worked with last spring did not know who Charlie Brown was. "Why is he bald?" one girl asked. "Does he have cancer?"]

 But I don't love Sally's philosophy in public leaders...

[Explanation for me in the future, when this ^ might not be obvious.
L to R: At the same time LA caught fire, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta (Facebook & Instagram) announced Meta would drop fact-checking, aligning with the desires of incoming US president Trump and his billionaire handler/minion?, Elon Musk, owner of Twitter/X.]

‘How should I know?’ is not a great approach to personal physical health & finances either, but it's been mine. Just ignore it, and it will go away--can be true for money & health!

Every so often, however, I make a big push to GET IT TOGETHER.
Which I spent the morning doing.
I am reapplying for health insurance from the State. (MN's coverage for povvos is great--basically it pays for whatever you need).
Since I quit the public schools 4.5 months ago, I've been without health care. Luckily, I didn't need it. I didn't bother to apply until now--the day before the deadline.

Aaaand... today I start 1:1 training again with Ben, the owner of a small strength-training gym in an old gas station where I worked out during 2020.
His gym's motto is Empathy | Resilience | Community.

It was such an upsetting time, I used to lie on the ground and stretch... and talk (wearing a mask). It was as much emotional centering as strength-training.
One day after the murder of G Floyd--the gym is a mile away-- I was walking home and truckloads of the National Guard rolled past me down the city street. I was so upset, I stopped at the gym and cried.
Ben was chill.

He is also entirely chill with people setting their own fitness/body goals. "Some people just want me to walk around the block with them." He says one reason he works to be strong is so he can help other people.
This is Ben:

This decision to work out again rolls on from my experience this fall of not being able to run-shuffle up a slight incline at Gooseberry Falls State Park. I started walking, but being back at the store, lifting and carrying, I can tell I've lost strength. I want to rebuild that--and maybe go beyond?
But for now, I'm coming from behind--I twisted my knee yesterday and am hobbling along.

 S  l  o  w  l  y  does it.

Also, you know, I keep thinking about the new weight-loss drugs, like ozempic. They are the opposite of what I want for myself, Being a Carbon-Based Life Form with Consciousness.
I am not a go-getter, I am not Pursuing Enlightenment with vigor. 
I just want to putz along in my small life;
but I want to be awake for it. You know?
I don't want to turn it over to the Medical Establishment.

Especially because I KNOW I started overeating because I felt empty and abandoned as a teen. The response I want isn't to knock it back with drugs, but to . . .
to wrap my arms around the whole shebang--emptiness and delight--and take it in.
Which I've been doing for years, and intend to continue.
Low and slow.

[I always want to add, if someone’s life is threatened by obesity, these drugs look to be miraculous! 

And also, of course everyone wants to do and can do different things.]
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 Recently someone told me that a "shamanic practitioner" who lives nearby (in the neighborhood going away from the thrift store, not toward it) is offering New Year readings.
I was dubious but curious, so I looked closer.
He charges $70 for a half-hour reading, so, no...
But worse in my eyes, he offers these only on Zoom.

I asked Penny Cooper. Can spirits come through Zoom?
She said they could... If they want.
But she went on to say they often don't want to, because the tubes are so small. Further, some of them are naughty and stuff popcorn in the tubes, so then the readings "might be wrong."

(I suppose spirits can do whatever they want, but that's her take, and I like it.)
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Time to go to the gym!

Here's the latest morph of the end-cap at work that started as a Hannukah display; then became solid colors; now––Suitable for Pasta: