Am working toward full comprehension of the exact line of division between a false start and a short yet complete burst of thought. It’s not as easy as it sounds to tell the difference between a lost train of thought and the only other stop on a short track loop.
I was born in Eureka, South Dakota, but by age two and a half convinced my parents to move to Battle Lake, Minnesota, located on the shores of the lake of that name, in a county named for another lake, Otter Tail. It was easier to convince them than that might make it sound.
If I’d known I was listening
I’d have said nicer things
About myself.
Everything about me is accidental. I didn’t like anyone else’s plans for me, so I taught them all a lesson by never making any of my own. Hah! I was right. I got here, anyway, without any silly old plan.
When you work for a large corporation, ridiculous ideas, directives, and projects come down from above on a regular basis. This is to be expected when you consider that the main job of most mid-management positions is to justify one’s existence in that position. “I haven’t seriously screwed anything up” is apparently not sufficient answer to the question “What have you done for us lately?” This is just one reason I keep telling my current employer that I’m just fine at the store assistant level. I don’t need that sort of stress and nonsense in my life.
Did you know that the reason men have to wear neckties when wearing business or formal attire is that shirt buttons in the 18th century were handmade, meaning that it was unlikely that 5-6 perfectly matched buttons could be gathered for each shirt?
I was raised in a family that treated participation in sports as an important thing in and of itself. Not important for the lessons to be learned, not for the leadership or teamwork abilities gained, but important only for the sake of being good at all sports in which one participated. This twisted my world view, and actually kept me from pursuing possibilities outside the limiting range of options that perspective gave me, until I was out of high school and away from active participation for a year or so. It was at least another decade before I was completely free of the residues of that false importance.
The two biggest reasons that men and women often have trouble understanding each other, are 1) Men, and, 2) Women.
Pursuing happiness rarely actually works, because happiness is a shy and skittish thing that prefers sneaking up quietly from behind over be chased.
I’ll leave you, this week, with something I’ve already said elsewhere:
What does this appear to be? What is its sound? Is there color in how it feels? Does it leave an aroma as it passes? Be careful how you answer these questions, as they may lead you down the road of poetry. On that road you may easily find or lose yourself.
See you next time.
5/26/17
PS: Oh, and speaking of reflections, here's a random photo of some.
I was born in Eureka, South Dakota, but by age two and a half convinced my parents to move to Battle Lake, Minnesota, located on the shores of the lake of that name, in a county named for another lake, Otter Tail. It was easier to convince them than that might make it sound.
If I’d known I was listening
I’d have said nicer things
About myself.
Everything about me is accidental. I didn’t like anyone else’s plans for me, so I taught them all a lesson by never making any of my own. Hah! I was right. I got here, anyway, without any silly old plan.
When you work for a large corporation, ridiculous ideas, directives, and projects come down from above on a regular basis. This is to be expected when you consider that the main job of most mid-management positions is to justify one’s existence in that position. “I haven’t seriously screwed anything up” is apparently not sufficient answer to the question “What have you done for us lately?” This is just one reason I keep telling my current employer that I’m just fine at the store assistant level. I don’t need that sort of stress and nonsense in my life.
Did you know that the reason men have to wear neckties when wearing business or formal attire is that shirt buttons in the 18th century were handmade, meaning that it was unlikely that 5-6 perfectly matched buttons could be gathered for each shirt?
I was raised in a family that treated participation in sports as an important thing in and of itself. Not important for the lessons to be learned, not for the leadership or teamwork abilities gained, but important only for the sake of being good at all sports in which one participated. This twisted my world view, and actually kept me from pursuing possibilities outside the limiting range of options that perspective gave me, until I was out of high school and away from active participation for a year or so. It was at least another decade before I was completely free of the residues of that false importance.
The two biggest reasons that men and women often have trouble understanding each other, are 1) Men, and, 2) Women.
Pursuing happiness rarely actually works, because happiness is a shy and skittish thing that prefers sneaking up quietly from behind over be chased.
I’ll leave you, this week, with something I’ve already said elsewhere:
What does this appear to be? What is its sound? Is there color in how it feels? Does it leave an aroma as it passes? Be careful how you answer these questions, as they may lead you down the road of poetry. On that road you may easily find or lose yourself.
See you next time.
5/26/17
PS: Oh, and speaking of reflections, here's a random photo of some.
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