Kristine Joy, Writer

To Whom It May Concern and FWIW,*

• I needed for the dirt and rock infested road leading to Green River Lakes Campground outside Pinedale, WY to be significantly fewer miles long and/or not lacking cell reception for the entirety of! The 3 teenagers were not happy to be bounced around for an hour and twenty minutes at speeds ranging from a snail pace 4 mph to “Ludicrous Speed” 20 mph.
  • Nor, did we need to be further delayed by a cow in the middle of the road hoofing the ground. Moo-ve Sir Loin, this is taking long enough!!!
    • The cow needed to know that it wasn’t a bull / wouldn’t win a cow vs. Tundra standoff.
  • The only laughs to offset the mood were when we decided that the road needed re-naming:
    • Rocky Road
    • Traveler’s Demise
    • End of the Road
    • Psycho Path
    • Pothole Paradise
  • I needed not to have said what I should have known would not be funny to my daughter (made worse by the fact that it was said to my daughter in front of her boyfriend and cousin), “Hey, you’ll may be miserable but I’m in a better mood (my mood had been a bad mood rising). The vibration is good for something.”
    • I vow to my daughter to #think(longer)beforeIspeak next time!

• We needed for a flock of birds to not rain down shit that literally sounded like an instantaneously combusted hailstorm hitting the windshield and ultimately reduced visibility to barely.

• Knowing that my husband’s favorite president is Theodore Roosevelt and that one of his favorite National Parks is Theodore Roosevelt National Park, I needed to have discovered the series, Elkhorn, for us to watch on Amazon Prime. #HappyDaysElkhorn

• Years ago, following my move to college, I needed for my Mom to not waste a half day trying to figure out email. I received 8 emails, 5-6 paragraphs each, of the same content, but phrased slightly differently (ex: Do you have a favorite class? / What class are you most enjoying?). Upon inquiry, my Mom provided a (flabbergasted) explanation, “You got all of those?!? How? Whenever I hit send, it just disappeared!”

• I needed for my Mom to have tucked away and saved DisneyLand rain vouchers from 1989 so that we could use them in 2019.

1989 Disneyland Price – $29 (adjusted for inflation; $60 in 2019)

2019 Disneyland Price – $149

It may have taken my Mom a few hours to master email, but she passed Investments 401 with flying colors!

• After reading (in my attempt to BECOME weller read), Becoming by Michelle Obama, I’m convinced that we need a World Leader and that she’d be just what the World needs!
  • And I needed to have been inspired by / reminded:
    • “When they go low, we go high.”
    • The greatest thing that you can give someone is your attention and interest in their growth.
    • Kids (adults too!) need to know: “You belong. You matter. I think highly of you.”
  • I need Michelle Obama, or A “Michelle Obama” in my life.
  • And someone needs to tell Michelle that she is FAR MORE, TO INFINITY AND BEYOND, THAN ENOUGH; as a person, daughter, B(efore)FLOTUS, FLOTUS, F(ormer)FLOTUS, leader, writer, speaker, wife, mother, Princeton applicant and graduate, optimist, beacon of hope, humanitarian, mentor, fashionista, gardener, and the list goes on! Thank you for sacrificing (in so many ways both personally and professionally) such that Barack, his left hand woman (you!) and entire team could lead us for 8 years.

• Per The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey:

I would say that my “center” in life, in order, is:

Principles
Family (nuclear and extended)
Spouse

Close behind and in no particular order
(other than alphabetical so as not to present order other than alphabetical):

Friends, Money, Pleasure, Spiritual, Work

And thus, drumroll please, mic drop, I probably needed to have built less of my life around work (both my own work and my spouse’s work).

And I needed to realize that doing so would lead to an identity crisis at age 45 many moons before I turned 45.

• I needed for my “friend” to not pop up on Instagram as someone suggested to follow when I know for a fact that I had been following said “friend”. I’m no social media expert, but I believe this means that I got the boot. 👢

Lasso: If I were to get fired from my job where I’m puttin’ cleats in the trunk of my car …

Beard: You got the boot from puttin’ boots in the boot.

• When watching the Tour de France, I needed to have taken this picture of our TV screen and for it to appear as if it were a beautiful oil painting.

DAM, that’s pretty!

• When using a sports massage gun in the tent, I need for it to not to sound like a vibrator; especially when our tent is only a few feet away from a tent housing our daughter and company.
  • COME to think of it though, maybe I need a vibrator?!? 🤔🍆
    • Negative, Ghost Rider. #havewhatineed (the massage gun (!) and a husband who also has “spouse” in his top 3 maybe, top 4 pretty sure, top 5 for sure).

• I needed to watch Beast Games with my daughter because I yearn for quality time together. And, I needed my faith in society restored via:

Emma, Michael, Jeffery and Harrison ALL choosing integrity and their promise to a group of strangers over $1,000,000 in Beast Games!

• I needed for 96.5 Kiss Radio to remind me, “Be a good person but don’t waste your time trying to prove it.”

• I need a therapist in my life to convince me that my need for a therapist in my life should override my being too cheap to pay for a therapist in my life.

I appreciate your readership. I need the validation as writer; if there is a like or heart icon for you to depress, I’d most appreciate the support!

Sincerely,

K.J. Sculling

* The content is presented as “needs”, and some of them may front a harsh reality that evoke strong emotions. Others are expressed in pure jest to entertain myself (and maybe you?!?). Ultimately, the notion that we all live in a more idyllic world is at the core and not actual need. Life can be tough; regardless of your own circumstances, please keep up the fight because life can also be grand! The idea of ‘I Need…’ stemmed from my thought process while sitting at a red light listening to the song, Alright by Darius Rucker, on the radio (you can read the original ‘Idealist’ post here and all ‘Idealist’ posts here). If you’re inspired to submit your own ‘Idealist’ “needs” for future reader write-in posts, I’d love to hear from you via this form.