four walls

On a day like today, it is easy to forget that there is a world beyond the walls of our two bedroom apartment.

On a day like today, the challenges coming at me from within these four walls seem as insurmountable as all the problems of the four corners of the earth.

A day of no naps follows a night of no sleep. A stuffed up nose and fever exist simultaneously with three teeth trying to make their way to the surface.

This adds up to a miserable child who adorably wants to sit on my lap to be comforted one minute but is scrambling off to get into something she shouldn't the next. This does not make for a good day. This, along with the pressure to work on my course, makes for a certain element of constant stress.

I have always prided myself in maintaining an interest in the world beyond my little world. Many people have a daily life of hardships that I cannot even fathom. But is easy to forget about all that and to have a very narrow vision when it comes to day to day life.

For example, when I vote it is with thanks in my heart for the many people a hundred years who stood up for democracy (Emmeline Pankhurst and Nellie McClung among them) and the knowledge that for many thousands of years this was a privilege unheard of for men and women ( I am an historian, after all).

So on day like today when the four walls threaten to close in on me like an Indiana Jones movie, I need to remember that what happens beyond our home could have a great impact on what happens inside it. And the reverse is true as well.

Enjoying a nice glass of red wine while watching the evening news after a day like today makes it a little easier. Small blessings.