Poison Ivy

Ever fall into poison ivy?  Stinging nettles?  Well, I have.  It isn't pleasant.  Not in real life and not metaphorically speaking.  It would seem I have encountered some "poison ivy" recently.  At first,  I was angry I had fallen into the poison ivy.  I mean, I didn't really know it was poison ivy at first, until I fell into it.  The rash that followed was painful and I was angry I hadn't  recognized it for what it was.  I contemplated not exploring outside anymore because I didn't want to chance getting that rash again.  I was angry the poison ivy was making me feel this way.  After wrestling with my emotions, I finally decided, poison ivy was not going to stop me from playing outside.  As a matter of fact, as far as I am concerned, there is no reason to even discuss poison ivy again.  It exists in the shadows and it will always be there lurking to get you when you least expect it, but I'm not going to stop doing something I enjoy because poison ivy exists.

Most of you noticed my blog was on lock-down the last 24 hours.  I didn't discuss the reason and I'm not going to go into great detail now, other than to say, someone had issues with things I had written.  I contemplated not writing anymore, but honestly, that thought made me so sad.  Writing in my blog is my therapy, my escape, my release, my exploration of my feelings.  No one has a right to take that away from me.  There are many things in my blog that people tell me they relate to, or that make them laugh when they need a pick-me-up, or things that I say that they are not brave enough to say themselves.  People appreciate my honesty and realness.  I didn't realize how much so until I locked the blog down last night to take a step back and reconsider things.  I cannot express how much I appreciate everyone's support and encouragement.  Everyone wants to know what happened, or who was offended.  I have not said and I will not say.  Not here, not at work, not in a text.  I have gone through my blog history and deleted several blogs for the sake of escaping the drama.  I have also edited some.  I suppose it gives the person that had the issue a sense of power to know that I have done so, but if that is how one gets a feeling of power, by stifling others, then really, I have no energy for that behavior.  And, if this person continues to follow my blog to find fault in what I do, they probably will.  I can't stop that. I'm not going to add additional privacy settings, or have an exclusive list for those that want to follow me.  Screw that.  If poison wants to find it's way in, it will and I will deal with the ramifications as they arise.

I do want to clarify a few things, so we are all on the same page.

• If you earned a blog name, congratulations!  You affected my day in a way that was significant.
• I am sarcastic and have a dark sense of humor. If you can't handle that and take everything that seriously, then get off my blog, please.  I don't have time for your delicate nature.
• My blog is called Angry Pony, not Friendly Pony, Happy Pony, Positive Pony, Sunshine Pony.  It's ANGRY PONY.  That means, my perspective is not one of sunshine and hope and unicorns. If you want to go to a magical pony ride, go to front of freaking Safeway, put 50 cents in the electric pony ride and go wild. 
• I spend a lot of time talking through things so they make sense to me, or at least attempting to make sense of them.  You either enjoy the ride or you don't.  My journey isn't for everyone, so if you don't like it, jump ship and swim your ass back to shore.
• Yes, I say a lot of things about my mood or how people irritate me.  Sure they do.  But you know what, I would do anything for these people and I prove that every day by taking care of people.  If I choose to mock them a little bit for the pain and suffering I'm put through, so be it.  Get over it.
• I do like my job.  I do appreciate my job.  I do enjoy the people I work with.  I also enjoy letting off steam, as anyone does after a long day.  My job is full of challenges, hardships, disappointments, but also full of people that I truly value.  So what if you occasionally get called out for something stupid you did.  Really, lighten up.  I make fun of myself DAILY.
• I will talk about my body, my view of my body, my weight loss journey, my Pranx, my feelings, my hair, shark week, sex, dogs, ponies, bad drivers, bad people and LIFE AS I KNOW IT.  If you aren't interested, DO NOT READ IT.

If you can't understand any of the above clarifications, I don't even know why you are here.  To everyone else, thank you so much for your understanding, your loyalty, your ability to laugh and take things for what they are worth and also see the ridiculousness of life and wonder WTF? every once in a while.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. My life, my blog. No poison ivy.

We can now return to our regularly scheduled programming.  I'm sure I'll be pissed about something else soon enough.  Stay tuned.