An hour ago, I was at a loss about what to make for dinner for a friend who will stop by on Tuesday. Stymied and a little grumpy, I decided to forget about it, since there was really no need to do much about it right away. Apparently, as it turned out, my mind kept at it in the background.

Just now, while renewing my morning tea, waiting for it to steep, Tuesday’s dinner drifted back into my awareness. Looking around at what there was in the kitchen, I polled my tastebuds, wondering, “what would be good?” The idea of Mexican food bubbled up, seemed interesting, appealing. “Hmmm,” I mused, “maybe that’s a good idea.” Then I noticed the onion in the counter bowl, and remembered the three tomatoes and two avocados in the fridge. Suddenly it seemed easy to imagine this meal! A quick trip to the store for chopped beef, refried beans, the rest of what was needed would be easy. It was shaping up to be a splendid meal.

From my earlier grumpy, stuck place, the meal suddenly had traction, all thanks to my wonderful, tolerant, helpful mind. What a remarkable thing, I thought, to have such a mind. No matter what, it seems reliably to transport me (eventually) to the least expected but most welcome places. Even nowadays, when time has morphed each day into what feels so much like a cookie-cutter version of the rest. Am I the only person who has found it all too easy to imagine that this day will be much like the recent others, and also much like those ahead? What else can we do but bumble through, doing whatever we can to pass the time (for me: reading, writing, walking, and getting out the vote)? This COVID thing has made it seem all too easy to slip into ennui, boredom, frustration, even sadness, all framed by sameness, no matter whether you’re utterly isolated or enmeshed in the chaos of a household where everyone is working or studying from home.

Truth be told, I’ve been adamant with friends who broach the subject that we must refuse the notion of boredom. Boredom is for people without imagination. It requires nothing more than reaching outward from your regular dreams and habits to know this. Your walking route feeling stale? Find a new one. Your reading genre tired out? Try something different. Sick of computers? Try writing an old-fashioned letter. Switch it up. Find various alternatives. Make a deal with yourself to reject letting this wild ride of pandemia eat you up. Try Mexican food!

I once heard a motivational speaker, W Mitchell, who sustained horrific burns in a motorcycle crash that required toe transplants so he’d have use of his hands again, then paralysis when a small plane he was piloting crashed. [See more at wmitchell.com] His take on life: his injuries may have deprived him from being able to do the 10,000 things he once could do. So, he said, now his misfortunes had left him with only 9,000 things he could do. There’s still a LOT of room for adventure there! Move on. Live life anyway. I agree.

Even in these COVID-times when it seems all too easy to shrink into a cocoon, or bunker, or isolated fringe of our former lives, it matters to remember that we still have innumerable things we can do. If nothing else, sit back and ponder happy memories, shared experiences with dear, distant friends, times ahead that offer happy anticipation—even if it’s just a simple (socially-distanced) dinner with a friend.

Truth be told, I haven’t been listening as well to my own advice lately. My experience in the kitchen the other day was an excellent reminder of how our minds are present and ready to serve us. So this is a call to myself as well as anyone else who needs it: reject the slippery slope to despair. Today, for me, how refreshing it was to remember that I don’t need to be held hostage by unhelpful moods. Indeed, as the idea took hold, I even discovered that I have on hand the ingredients for margaritas.

There’s promise and light, today, thanks to my kind and understanding mind, the one that can still offer up a good idea or two.