Managing the Mayhem

Every month I like to take a moment to share one of those little life‑moments that makes people tilt their head, blink twice, and wonder if I actually said the thing I just said.

Spoiler: I did. I always do.

This month’s moment of accidental honesty happened while I was juggling emails, festival planning, and the usual parade of author chaos that wanders across my desk like it owns the place.

You know how some people start their day with meditation, intention‑setting, or a gentle cup of tea while watching the sunrise?

Yeah. I start mine by opening my email like I’m defusing a bomb.

This week’s chaos crescendo happened on Tuesday, when I sat down with a perfectly reasonable plan: answer a few messages, update a couple of pages, maybe even get ahead on festival prep. A calm, orderly morning. A fantasy, really.

Seven minutes in, the universe said, “Oh honey… no.”

Suddenly I was juggling:

• a metadata mystery

• a file that decided to corrupt itself out of spite

• three authors with three unrelated emergencies

• and a cat who chose that exact moment to reenact Cirque du Soleil on my keyboard

In the middle of this swirling tornado of nonsense, someone asked me, with genuine sincerity, how my day was going.

And without hesitation, without a single neuron firing a warning flare, I said:

“I’m doing great,

but only because I’ve decided to ignore everything that isn’t currently on fire.”

They blinked.

I blinked.

The cat judged us both.

But here’s the thing: it was true.

Some days “great” means everything is on fire and I know exactly which fire to put out first.

Some days “great” means I remembered to eat something that wasn’t coffee.

Some days “great” means the chaos is at a manageable simmer instead of a rolling boil.

And honestly? I’ll take it.

So if you hear me muttering to myself this month, don’t worry, I’m not unraveling. I’m just negotiating with reality. Loudly. With hand gestures.

And if you ever catch me saying something that makes you pause and blink. Well… welcome to the club. Membership is involuntary, but the entertainment value is high.