I have a trick I use when I’m sad or scared or anxious. (Actually, I hesitate to call it a “trick” because it comes to me entirely unbidden—I don’t perform it as an exercise, but I slip into it reflexively and without intention.)

Here’s what I do: I imagine myself inside a children’s book. Not just any book though: the sort that has a little town in it, beautifully rendered in images. There’s a library, full of shelves of books in jewel tones, and a friendly librarian who peeks over her half-moon glasses at you. There’s a candy shop with glass jars of brightly colored gumdrops and jumbo swirled lollipops and baskets of taffy twisted up in waxy pastel paper.

Here’s how I used to make scrambled eggs: Crack eggs carefully into a mini blender with a tiny bit of olive oil. Add a pinch of sea salt. Blend on high until frothy. Melt butter in a nonstick skillet before pouring in the eggs. Cook on very low heat, stirring constantly, until creamy and just barely set. Don’t worry about the fact that it takes you 15 minutes to babysit your eggs because girl, you’ve got time! Relax!

Here’s how I make them now: Start to melt butter in pan. Crack egg directly into pan with one hand before butter is even warm while unloading dishwasher with other hand. Stir furiously over high heat. Flip eggs out into a bowl a minute later. (Spoiler alert: They are basically as good this way as the first method.)

Actor Hugh Laurie (yes, he of the sardonic British wit and House acting fame, although I know and love him best for his role in Jeeves and Wooster) apparently put out a blues album a few years ago. Who knew he had such versatility?! We all contain multitudes, as it turns out. Upon being asked why he went out on such a limb, career-wise, he said this: “It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.”