This Monday's Ripples message was all about taking notice.
When I read this one, I got excited. Because I immediately thought, "yes! I do that!"
You see, some people might call me a space cadet. It's true that I frequently have my head in the clouds. Sometimes this comes at the expense of having my head focused on whatever task happens to be in front of me.
However. I secretly like to think of this is one of my best attributes.
Maybe it's because the author of Ripples has the same personality type as me, but we are clearly on the same page. Meaning that we like to pay attention to little things in the world which single-minded, highly-focused, head-in-the-moment types of people might never bother to notice.
(No offense if you are one of these single-minded, highly-focused, head-in-the-moment types of people. I'm sure I can think of dozens of reasons why you are very bright and may end up being more successful than me.)
For instance, when I first walked down the hallway and to the restrooms in the gloomy building where I am working this week, I immediately noticed the pretty piano / orchestra music playing in the background. Which made me think of classical concerts, Disneyland, and France. (Common theme: places I'd rather be than at work.) This was an instantly welcome sound. And a simple reason to be happy during an otherwise boring afternoon.
Or when I was driving through the not-so-glamorous outskirts of Dallas last night, I instantly fell in love with all of the green trees, open fields, and big storybook houses which I stumbled upon after taking a wrong turn. (No, I am not moving to Dallas. This was a temporary kind of love.)
When I read this one, I got excited. Because I immediately thought, "yes! I do that!"
You see, some people might call me a space cadet. It's true that I frequently have my head in the clouds. Sometimes this comes at the expense of having my head focused on whatever task happens to be in front of me.
However. I secretly like to think of this is one of my best attributes.
Maybe it's because the author of Ripples has the same personality type as me, but we are clearly on the same page. Meaning that we like to pay attention to little things in the world which single-minded, highly-focused, head-in-the-moment types of people might never bother to notice.
(No offense if you are one of these single-minded, highly-focused, head-in-the-moment types of people. I'm sure I can think of dozens of reasons why you are very bright and may end up being more successful than me.)
For instance, when I first walked down the hallway and to the restrooms in the gloomy building where I am working this week, I immediately noticed the pretty piano / orchestra music playing in the background. Which made me think of classical concerts, Disneyland, and France. (Common theme: places I'd rather be than at work.) This was an instantly welcome sound. And a simple reason to be happy during an otherwise boring afternoon.
Or when I was driving through the not-so-glamorous outskirts of Dallas last night, I instantly fell in love with all of the green trees, open fields, and big storybook houses which I stumbled upon after taking a wrong turn. (No, I am not moving to Dallas. This was a temporary kind of love.)
I later fell in love with the walnuts in my salad. They were really good walnuts.
Other examples of things which tend to be worthy of noticing include window views; blue skies; people, along with all of their actions and reactions; and anything else which happens to create a peaceful / cheerful / interesting moment. Admittedly this could be a lot of things.
I'll be honest. During the past two years I have wrestled and struggled and racked my brain to understand why anybody would ever want to be a grown up. Sometimes it seems like grown up life is inherently filled with routine boring-ness. I have even wondered if all of the happiest and most thrilling days are behind me. At a minimum, grown up life seems to involve longer stretches of predictability, broken up by fewer moments of excitement. Which is not really my lifestyle of choice.
I tend to be pretty keenly aware of people around me. As such, I've noticed that many people deal with these dull patches by maintaining a constant stream of busy-ness, by focusing on what is in front of them rather than worrying about the future, and sometimes... by drinking a lot.
But staying focused isn't really my strongest skill, and drinking too much just makes me feel sick the next day. So, instead, I do the very thing my mom used to tell me to do when I was a bored kid stuck inside the house during summer vacation: use my imagination. Enter "head in the clouds" philosophy. I daydream about happy things. I write blog entries when I should be working, and I linger too long in bathrooms just to hear the orchestra music. I make a point to notice little things, and I hold onto these things all day long. I try to let in the positive while filtering out the negative, and I make a point stay connected with the world around me. Because it's so much bigger and more interesting than the mundane realities of grown up life would sometimes have me realize. And in doing so, I like to think that I am able to create my own meaning. At least enough to hold me over until those intermittent moments of excitement come along. And those seem to be sneaking up on me more frequently. Which is a good sign.
Isn't there some expression that goes "stop and smell the flowers" or something like that? I think that's pretty much what I've been getting at. So I'm not going to pretend to be startlingly original, or anything. But what a good philosophy this has been for a girl like me to keep in mind.
I guess what I'm really trying to say is thank you, Paul, for helping me to rationalize the act of being a space cadet.
I tend to be pretty keenly aware of people around me. As such, I've noticed that many people deal with these dull patches by maintaining a constant stream of busy-ness, by focusing on what is in front of them rather than worrying about the future, and sometimes... by drinking a lot.
But staying focused isn't really my strongest skill, and drinking too much just makes me feel sick the next day. So, instead, I do the very thing my mom used to tell me to do when I was a bored kid stuck inside the house during summer vacation: use my imagination. Enter "head in the clouds" philosophy. I daydream about happy things. I write blog entries when I should be working, and I linger too long in bathrooms just to hear the orchestra music. I make a point to notice little things, and I hold onto these things all day long. I try to let in the positive while filtering out the negative, and I make a point stay connected with the world around me. Because it's so much bigger and more interesting than the mundane realities of grown up life would sometimes have me realize. And in doing so, I like to think that I am able to create my own meaning. At least enough to hold me over until those intermittent moments of excitement come along. And those seem to be sneaking up on me more frequently. Which is a good sign.
Isn't there some expression that goes "stop and smell the flowers" or something like that? I think that's pretty much what I've been getting at. So I'm not going to pretend to be startlingly original, or anything. But what a good philosophy this has been for a girl like me to keep in mind.
I guess what I'm really trying to say is thank you, Paul, for helping me to rationalize the act of being a space cadet.
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