Too often, when life is being chaotic and crazy and harrowing, or in other words, life is just being lifey, I am a mad mess. Itchy, irritable, unwilling to handle the new. And extremely willing to be a chattering, rabbity, panic festival. 

These are not the occasions when I do my finest work.

And this isn't when I make clever, wise decisions.

This is when I'm shrill and defensive, bitter, venting fears. (And fears are contagious, so, let's make this a group party!) And it gets obnoxious being inside my own head, where it's suddenly suffocating and damp. 

So I stick this quote on my desk, propped against my pencil cup, to help me realize that I'm breathing too fast and too shallow.