Sigh....the Mellon Arena (forever lovingly, The Igloo) will be quiet, my stunning 16-year-old niece is quickly looking forward to life after Beaver Sr. High School, my Mom's 73rd birthday was yesterday, lots of high-school graduation parties. It's kind of a reflective time, so I'm looking back.
Just a little. Just a year. I'm geeky that way.
It's been about a year since I lost a job with a company I loved for most of my time there, with people there I still love. But I'm about to start a two-year graduate program in a field that so far, seems so gratifying that I can't believe my luck in having the opportunity. So, I want to check-in with myself, and record some of the things I learned between the two events. Geeky, I know. But, I just want to remember that.....
- Even though some other careers sounded equally gratifying, I chose the right one.
- I can share a work bathroom with four healthily gassy men. And, a spider.
- There's a huge value in being income-poor. The financial restrictions of planning full-time studenthood have helped me appreciate more what I already have, and get creative about how I spend what I can. Just ask the mailman, who liked his homemade Christmas gift so much that he gave me a homemade, "you really shouldn't have" card in return.
- Certain people are irreplaceable. So I'll be less full, if the bond breaks.
- How to be lazy: work hard and be busy, so that you actually salivate and dive passionately into idleing time. Laziness, in doses...the best. Especially, with a fellow idler.
- Cheerleaders are everywhere. People really do want other people to succeed.
- Caring for and being with others is boatloads better, than hyper self-absorption.
- The garage will probably stay the creepy spider haven that it is. I will rip up carpeting, I will change light fixtures and toilet seats, I will paint, I will prune big trees with big scary pruners. But that garage, will wait for my future husband - wherever you are, darlin.
- I would've loved being a stay-at-home Mom. But I also love work outside of home. Am I really that unspecialized? Maybe, I'm just really lucky.
- The garbage men will take anything, for a few bottles of water and a little appreciative sweet talk. And, homemade cookies.
- The Allard School crossing guard is really Santa Claus. He HAS to be.
Now the other thing, was the Idler experiment. You know, because a few of you've been asking how the "nap-read-eat-read-read-nap..." plan has gone. It sounded great back in January but right after that, I started working lots of part-time hours, and endlessly shoveling snow. So I didn't truly try idleing until last week. And I can tell you, I took it too far. So.....
- How not to be lazy: Extreme Idleing, as done last week. It annoyed the HELL out of me. I had no part-time job accountability, avoided people, and ignored anything other than basic life functions, some frenzied tree-pruning for garbage day, and, the confused dogs. By Wednesday I was a self-certified sloth, and couldn't start a coherent thought or utter a meaningful sentence. Probably because I laid awake all night after too many daytime naps (so, sadly, no young David Cassidy dreams). A few friends told me I was "off" and seemed worried that I'd turned into a sleep-deprived 14-year-old boy. So, thanks, SO much for the mid-afternoon calls to make sure I'm now not sprawled on the couch, or patio, or, your front lawn.
So, experiment interruptus. Or at least, revised protocolus. Back to "normal" activities. Which means I'm back to being girl-with-a-twist, sleeping through the night, then unleashing whatever I usually unleash on the world at large.
And, so darn thankful, for all of it.
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