The Taste of Anarchy

You what we did this weekend?

Well, nothing.

No, not nothing, something a bit more important and a bit more fun than nothing.

We made plans, set them out in our mind, checked and double checked both times and places. And then,we didn't do them. We just looked at each other, each day for each activity and said, 'Let's just stay home.' And that's what we did.

There is something wonderful about doing nothing instead of something, if that makes sense. To plan a day at home is lovely. But to plan to be away from home and then stay at home instead is oddly even more lovely. So we had two lovely, extraordinary days where we chucked in the planning and chucked in the organizing and chucked in the expectations.

Lovely.

What's really cool about this is that we were allowed to because the only people we had to consult was each other.

I wonder how many people with disabilities who live with care providers got up in the morning and said, 'You know, I know we planned and all we for me to go to the movies to day, but I just don't feel like it now.' And I wonder how many of those people went. How many were 'talked to' about irresponsibility. How many were 'strongly advised' to follow through? How many were given lectures about the time and effort made in planning?

I'm guessing that there were a few, hopefully not many.

It struck me as I was preparing to write this how non-compliant I am with my own plans and my own schedule. At work, I'm pretty compliant, I do what I'm supposed to do when I'm supposed to do it. I have deadlines in my head. I know that I have to have one script and one proposal done by the end of next week. And, it will be done. But, at home, I'm just not so good at sticking to plan.

Joe and I decided we really wanted a stew. So after the movie on Friday we went and picked up all the vegetables and made sure that we had everything we needed. On the way home we both confessed that we were a bit too tired to make stew. So, we had left overs instead. The stew vegetables sat there, unused and in fact, by the accusing look in the potato's eye, annoyed.

Saturday we got up and made stew in the morning so that we'd have the day to go out and do what we had planned. And then, we chucked it in and stayed home and smelled vegetable stew slowly cooking on the stove all day. It was awesome.

You know what else we did?

We ate forbidden foods! Listening carefully we thought we could hear a nutritionist sobbing somewhere. We munched on Butter Tarts while humming O Canada! They didn't just taste sweet, they tasted, divinely, of rebellion! It was great. Sometimes Joe and I live as if our parents are away for the weekend.

I wonder how many people with disabilities went into the fridge and grabbed something not on their diet, not on their prescribed and agreed to health plan, and were told to be sensible? I wonder how many, in the spirit of a season of feasting wanted to simply feast and had the food taken out of their hands? I wonder how many incident reports about butter tarts were written up, in serious hand, for meetings in the New Year?

I'm guessing that there were a few, hopefully not many.


So we broke rules this weekend, it seemed like a good way to end one year and begin the next. We know that the year coming, like the year past, will have demands and expectations and tasks. We know that. So it was nice to rebel, a little bit. It was nice to break rules, a little bit. It was nice to be irresponsible, a little bit.

Because life can be hard, days can be long, and years can pass both quickly and slowly at the same time.

Which is why God made butter tarts so sweet.

And couches so soft.