Clown therapy

To celebrate New Year's Day my husband and I decided to take a drive to Laguna Beach with our dog Jet. The sky was crystalline and the sea delivered those negative ions we needed living in the Arts District of downtown L.A. Once we arrived to the town beach, we strolled along the crashing waves until we reached the miraculous tidal pools below Heisler Park.  Jet wanted to swim but Laguna Beach requires dogs to be on leash. 
In the pandemic it is difficult if not impossible to satisfy the pleasure of dining out.  The closest thing Laguna Beach restaurants are offering at the moment is take out on their patio or parking lot.  We were pretty hungry after our walk on the beach so we went to the Greeter's Corner straight away without investigating other options. They are currently allowing guests to eat take out while distanced on their patio which faces the town beach.  The server who brings you your order is not supposed to take any other requests while you are seated. Thus, you need to request all the condiments and drinks when your order with the host outside the front of the restaurant. Now is the time to carry your own cutlery unless you want to eat with plastic for the foreseeable future. We shared the Fish and Chips and Fish Tacos-both fresh and delicious.
After we finished eating we decided to take a walk north along PCH.  As we climbed the hill, I was struck by the massive poster for Wayne Thiebaud's Clowns exhibition mounted on the wall of the Laguna Museum of Art. Having not known about the exhibition I got very excited for a split second. But knowing we would not be able to enter the museum to see the paintings my excitement turned to sadness almost immediately. Happily being with Tim and Jet quickly brought me back to the present. What boggles my mind is that you can go to an indoor mall but you cannot go to a museum.  Makes no sense. I would much rather wait in line to enter a museum at 20% capacity than a mall any day. I just hope the Laguna Museum of Art postpones the exhibition until we can see the paintings in person. Congrats to Wayne Thiebaud who turned 100 on November 15, 2020!
Over the holidays, I had the fortune to watch the brilliant animation "Clown" in bed one morning with my husband Tim. "Clown" is narrated by the gorgeous Helena Bonham Carter; who else would you want to comfort you out of and prevent childhood clown phobias?! Based on the 1995 book CLOWN by author and artist illustrated by Quentin Blake, HBC brings the story to life with her charming voice and the animations are adorable. I highly recommend the film for everyone; a short thirty or so minutes and perfect to watch around Christmas-with or without kids. To watch it, you may need to trick your computer into thinking you are in England.
Some therapists may suggest confronting your fear(s) to overcome them.  While I am not afraid of clowns, I do not find them comforting either. While my two recent clown, however not irl experiences were not really confrontations, I did re-evaluate my feelings for clowns and have decided that I would rather see a clown in representative form rather than in person-pandemic or no pandemic.