Once upon a time, like 40 years ago, I entered a regional contest for Toastmasters International, Humor category. I spoke about the misadventures of Camping and the MOM. Throughout my story, I used the word mom as an acronym defining little tidbits of a mom’s life in a camping environment; master of marshmallows, mother of monsters, mistress of mayhem. Typing up my story notes for the contest, I learned something about myself. I was always a nervous wreck when it came to presentations or speaking in public, but I adored writing silly articles about life in general, what I see out the window, on the street, everywhere around me.
Over the years, whenever I’ve tried to sum up the stories of my life, I always come back to three words, Mistress of Mayhem. Now at the age of sixty-six, having reached my supposedly mature years, it is still a thrill to look out my window at the squirrel safe on his tree branch, scolding the dogs who are circling the tree trunk. It makes me smile, watching the little girls next door exploring ladybugs or making chalk pictures. More than anything else, I want to emulate that squirrel, creating just that little bit of mayhem in my corner of the world, inviting others to do the same.
Why? Because we are so focused on the business of being perfect people, that we forget to have fun regularly. Fun should be spontaneous. Thank you,
Ugly little sowbugs that crawl up your hand, They have tiny circles around them, like a rubber band.
Although it was a youngster’s acceptance of nature back then, I still try to find the humor in life. I love to laugh. It calms me down and helps me to accept that life is a mixture of funny and sad, the good and the bad. There are many things I could wish for today, that will never be part of my reality. But laughter is by far one of our greatest pleasures and is just a moment away. I invite everyone to join me in laughter – never pointed at someone, but with someone. As they say in Oz – that is a horse of another color.
I have two children, five grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. Now retired, I was part of the working world for fifty years, starting as a donut fryer when I was in my teens (a great story). I continued on in an office environment, a file clerk working my way up the administrative career path, Accounts Payable, Human Resources, Marketing, Community Relations, and Learning Administrator. My next career path, hopefully, my last, is a writer.