An Encounter with Cosmic Unhappiness

I have no idea why it is so but today I received the largest number of emails, text messages and phone calls than at any other point in my life. I haven’t finished any of the urgent things at work. The two editors-in-chief of my journal are MIA. Angry authors demand answers, so I’ll have to take over these colleagues’ roles tomorrow. A faculty member had a student leave her flute behind in his classroom, and somehow it’s my problem. Another faculty has a spat with her landlord. Another had a household accident. Klara ate my brain out with a tiny tea spoon for hours. We went to the orthodontist, and the wait was enormous, the office hot, and messages kept coming, making my devices ping, vibrate, and buzz like they were in their death throes. At home, I tried to boil eggs but forgot about them for an hour with predictable results.

The day had started well. I have a new cute dress, and I wore it with my artsy Colombian boots. Did some good writing. The lecture went well. But then I came across a colleague who is misery personified and his cosmic unhappiness hit me like a tidal wave. That’s when the insanity began.

On the positive side, I managed to avoid inflicting any physical harm on myself which always happens when I’m overwhelmed.