On the last page of Augusten Burroughs' impeccably perfect 2002 memoir 'Running with Scissors'  he either intentionally or unintentionally ( as these are really the only two scenarios) creates what has become, to me, the most effortlessly powerful closing of a novel, and the equally most poignant opening for any new chapter in my life. Alluding to the time-honoured yet timeless The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Augusten, as I so casually call him as we're obviously besties, recalls the opening sequence of TMTMS, in which Mary is seen dashing through the aisles of a supermarket, when she pauses at a meat case (insert dirty joke here), picks up a steak and then checks the price. After checking the price, Mary rolls her eyes, shrugs and tosses the steak in the cart. 

Whilst not particularly impactful on its own, what Gus-Gus (we're besties remember) does next, pardon my oversell, BLOWS MY MIND.  He takes this literal literary lemon, and squeezes from it a quart of metaphoric lemonade to create the ultimate life mantra for keeping calm and carrying on. To directly quote from Page 302 of the memoir, Sir Burroughs writes:

"That's kind of how I felt. Sure, I would have liked for things to have been different. But, roll of eyes, what can you do? Shrug. I threw my meat in the cart. And moved on."

You see, the point I'm trying to make, in an admittedly long-winded sort of way, is that like Mary, I'm currently hurrying through a supermarket, and like her I'm not too impressed, figuratively speaking, by the price of meat. My supermarket aisles however aren't stocked with bread or that really good kind of pasta that makes you fat just by looking at the box but instead with different kinds of 'goods' needed to survive my week. .

 In my supermarket, aisle one is stocked with the remnants of my past, the kind of items that are past expiration but are still displayed for show, such as my undergrad degree and the sleepless nights and work done to attain it. Aisle 2 shelves my personal relationships, most of which are spilled on the floor awaiting clean up. Aisle 3 has my grad school ambitions, and just my luck none are on special offer. Aisle 4 (my favourite) has my dreams of being a writer, though I only ever seem to window shop and not take anything home with me. And there in the meat case (insert second, more intellectual dirty joke here) is my current reality. The current reality that I don't have as much savings as I wanted, or the class of degree that I wanted. The reality that I'm a bit chubby and my skin could be better. The reality that I like sour skittles a bit too much and binge watch too many British reality television shows.  And the reality that I don't have or at least don't think I have  the work ethic, or influence, or smarts, or ability or looks that I think I 'should have' or that I 'should need' in order to purchase anything from aisles 3 to 4, much less to even borrow a mop to clean up most of Aisle 2.

 But hey! What am I to do? Not face reality? Not an option. I mean, sure, would I love if things were better? Yes. Would I want for them to be different? Most definitely. But that's not going to come from wishing my problems away. It's only going to come from me buying into this reality, and making something out of it.

Which brings us to the point of this blog. It's a space for me to explore my mind, to share my thoughts and take ownership of my life, in a way that I can see updates and  have cheeky little look-backs if I ever need the boost! This blog is not so much 'themed' as it is inspired by my life, as the quintessential lost twenty-something and operating on my newly bought motivation to create the kind of life I want. So like those dollar store noodles with the Chinese writing on the label that you're not quite sure what you're eating but you know it's Delicious, consider this blog that can of infinite wonder.  Some days there will be lifestyle related posts but on others I may want to share my creative fiction pieces or my poetry. And on others there may just be a tasteful yet irreverently hilarious rant, because sometimes this supermarket just isn't as good as some of the ones we've seen on tv.

So for my fellow supermarket hurry-ers and worriers, this is a space for us to be okay with our purchase. And not to worry. Life may not be perfect, rolls eyes. But what you gonna do? Shrugs. Sometimes you need to just toss your reality in the cart and keep it moving.

Because in the end, we're gonna make it after all.