I have had a bad case of the blahs for the past two weeks. I am going to self-analyze and say that it is because two weeks ago we returned home after a wonderful vacation week at the beach with our daughter and two grandchildren. During that time away, we also got to spend a day with my sister and sister-in-law whom we had not seen since before the pandemic began or even longer. So it was a really wonderful time away. Sunny and bright and incredibly special in every way.
But vacations end and you ride the joy for a little while, but then it often seems, at least for me, that the BLAHS often set in. You don’t feel bad; you don’t feel good; you just feel blah. I hate it when the blahs invade.
In truth I can handle the bahs much better than I handle the blahs. The bahs are like “Bah! Humbug!” They transform you into a scrooge-like character who isn’t happy with anything. You’re perpetually (excuse the language) pissed off. Angry. Mad. Bah. I spent almost four years in the bahs during the Trump presidency. I can deal with the bahs. Anger gives you a certain energy. Bahs warn everyone around you to step aside, get out of my way. You think you will keep me down, you big bah?!!? No way. Bahs make you fight back. So the bahs I can deal with.
And then we have the Yas. I had to learn this one. My grandchildren would text me Ya when I knew they meant yes. Ya. Hmmmm. What does that mean”ya,” I asked my husband? I don’t know, he replied. Why do they always text “ya” instead of “yes”? Is it German? No, that would be “Ja” and I don’t think any of our grandchildren are studying German. Do they mean to say “Yo,” he asks? No, I think “Yo” is pretty much over itself these days. So ya it was and ya it is.
So I did what every device-obsessed human does--I googled it. I had to try several different googley questions, but finally I was directed to the Chat Slang Dictionary/Slangit. And there is was, in big, bold letters. Ya.
Here is what I learned:
Ya is slang for “yes,” which is a laid back way to answer in the affirmative. It is often used in texts and online and may also be used verbally in-person.
The term is used by people of all ages but is most often spoken by teenagers and young adults in informal contexts….
Ya is one of many slang words used to answer positively, which includes Yep, Yeap, Yasss, Yeah, and Yup. The term may be pronounced the same way as “Yeah” or as “Yah”…
Grandchildren have a wonderful way of keeping you on your toes. They will never make us even close to being truly hip or cool, but we will at least know what’s going on (a little bit) in that cooler, hipper dimension. We lived there once, too…in a galaxy which often feels far, far away as you age.
And who doesn’t love it when everything feels abundantly Ya. You wake up early, you walk extra steps on your morning walk, you smile, you laugh, you have beautiful energy as you bask in the yaness of your days.
But back for just a moment to the blahs. This is definitely the most challenging terrain for me. But blahs do happen. It seems the important thing to remember is that the blahs will go away. I am not sure you can make them go away because when you are in the blahs you don’t have much energy to make anything happen. But usually you fall into something almost accidentally--you make art, you watch a great movie or cuddle up with Ted Lasso, a letter from a friend shows up in your mailbox, you remember when you weren’t so blah but were a definite ya.
The blahs disappear just as mysteriously as they arrive. My two weeks of blahs started to fade a bit yesterday afternoon and when I woke up this morning---oh my! they were gone. Gone. The blahs are gone. The bluebird of happiness is back at my window.
Goodbye to blah, hello to Ya. I feel so wonderfully YA I think I’ll go post something on my blog….
Great post Jeanne....I like the picture of the indigo bunting too, but absolutely love the picture of you in the car!
Love the distinction of blas, bahs and yas.....Cool!.........Anna