Ten steps to stay sane

for Ray
1.
Eat well
Better yet- cook well
Make bread by hand regularly
(and cakes, and jam)
Understand the importance of dessert
(Eat ice cream-
Not a lot
but seasonally
and from time to time
out of season)
2.
Listen to live music
(at least twice a month
Better yet, play music
at least once a week)
3.
Have a lot of fulfilling sex
4.
Remember to take advantage of summer afternoons
to sleep in the sun
and winter evenings
to doze by the fire
5.
Live somewhere beautiful
(If you can’t live somewhere beautiful
find somethingplace beautiful
to look at every day)
6.
Love a lot
7.
Have a relationship with as many species of animals as you can manage
(If you can’t have a dog or a cat or a horse or a pet rabbit-
Buy a bird feeder)
Notice hawks
on the highway
and rats in the river
8.
Watch the plants
grow and die and grow
with the seasons
9.
Get to know lots of people
Have many acquaintances
Love your family and friends
Have one great love
Talk to them
On the bus
In the waiting room
On the phone
Or in bed
10.
Say I love you
and sleep
A lot.

Tina Pisco
“Ten steps to stay sane” is from She be (Bradshaw Books, 2010).