Is the expression "the devil is in the..." or "God is in the..."?

Details details details.

Usually when I freak out about things it's because my brain is trying to take in way. too much. stuff. Every worry gets expanded upon until "Being in my hometown is awkward and stressful" becomes "YOU WILL NEVER ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING BECAUSE EVERYONE IN YOUR HOMETOWN HATES YOUR FAMILY AND CLEARLY IT'S BECAUSE THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU." The hard part is that in the moment, that seems completely inevitable, obvious, and true. My brain has a serious disconnect between what I know intellectually and what I sometimes feel. It's annoying, at best.

I'm starting to realize that the best thing to do when I stress out about the big picture (my future career or lack thereof! my future marriage or lack thereof! the overreaching influence of the patriarchy and how I am just one comparitively tiny feminist!) is to scale my brain way, way back down and focus on details. This is one of the reasons I like knitting.

Some details that are pleasing me at the moment:

- I live in a 150-year-old farmhouse. The tangible textures, shapes, noises and quirks of it keep me intrigued pretty much 24/7.
- I have new books! purchased with a Christmas giftcard. Among these is Celebrity Detox by Rosie O'Donnell, whose previous memoir Find Me is one of my all-time favorites.
- My mom's dog Smokey. He's a 95-pound Blue Tick Coonhound / Black Labrador mix and is exceptionally spacey and mellow. He likes to stand up like a person and put his paws on my chest while I ruffle his hound dog ears.
- Pretty much anything Amanda Effin' Palmer does makes me happy, including her latest blog. She posted on Twitter that she loved the negative comments she was getting because they were just proving her point - that she isn't a classical pianist, and had to come up with something else instead. Unfortunately I can't watch the video right now because the computer I'm on is too slow...but her message always gets across in her posts. Be yourself and be happy with that. You don't have to prove anything to anyone.

In other news...have decided that even though I am very well paid, housesitting in my hometown is not worth the strain on my sanity, and I will be declining future offers.
Killian is coming back to the state tomorrow, I'm heading back up north in a few days and there is a possibility that I will EXPLODE from delight at seeing my friends for the first time in a month.
I find that when in doubt, chocolate is an excellent detail to focus upon.
My attempt to be zen in the face of uncertainty continues.

:-D