Month: March 2009 (Page 1 of 2)

i miss the good ol’ days of xanga where i could list my “currently reading”. i just bought Mark Steele’s (Flashbang) newest: half life die already. so far it’s holding up to expectations, which are exceptionally high.

today in an interview a candidate said a phrase that i had to write down. she was talking about irate customers (I’ve been interviewing call center people) and she said, “you just can’t dwell on it.” I wrote it down: check out my company notepad, it says “dwell on it.”

back in my Hebrew days i learned that it has synonimic meaning with living. a dwelling place -as in “how lovely is your dwelling place….” and don’t even tell me you didn’t start singing the early 90s rendition in your head – a dwelling place is the place which you reside, live, are currently inhabiting. that’s not the BDB definition, that’s the MWM def.

but my thought was… wow, that’s pretty sad if a person is living only in the experience of the irate customer. because, well, that’s not really living. that’s just agony. there’s so much more out there.

jj and i had a discussion this evening about parallel thoughts. he dwells in the past. nothing ever measures up to what he knows from experience. i dwell in the future. when X, Y and Z happen, then [fill in appropriate reason to begin enjoying things]. neither are friendly neighborhoods to set up shop.

we sometimes joke about our tendency to live a neighborhood away from “nice.” our house in upper was in a dumpy area, but a brisk walk away was a nice new development. our current home had it’s glory days sometime in the early 90s, but over by the electric tower is a new subdivision, complete with a “lake” (don’t be fooled. it’s a pond).

i’m shocked we didn’t see the similarities before. not only is our house just outside of “nice” but our ability to be content is just outside our grasp because of our dwelling. and not because we’re banging at the door and can’t get in… but rather we’re finding reasons to linger around the front or back door, hesitent to move in. that’s not so much the fault of the residence, but the potential occupants.

If there is one person in the entire bible that i can say i have a good handle on what he thought or i can say that i understand his feelings, it would be the older brother in the story of the prodigal son. i can’t say much (no, ang, this isn’t a reflection of you…), but i AM that guy, because i’m a jerk like that. you know the feeling – i want a party to be thrown for me for doing the right thing. but never in a million years would i trade a party for what life has brought the prodigal.

i was watching Criminal Minds on wednesday and one detective told the other (formerly Greg of the Dharma era): “That’s not your conscience talking, it’s your ego.”

Good stuff to chew on, self.

On a happier note, Henry has slept through the night for 2 in a row. i’d like to think we’re on to something here. thanks, rebecca for the pep talk.

(picture is unrelated to post, but he’s so darn cute)

today, at first glancing of FB statuses i see that a large population of people are celebrating St. Patty’s day. the today show has major coverage – they even flew to ireland (really, do we lack real news that much??). it’s all the rage. i even got together with a group of girls last night (not even the real holiday!) and they made me change into a green shirt to celebrate.

why? does anyone even know the real origins of the holiday? or who st. pat was? its on my to-do list for today to wiki it (that and the history of the catholic fish fry and the KofC). but yet hundreds of people will be drinking green beer and looking for others to pinch all day long.

i have a theory. like i tell my friends, i’m not a professional, but i have great theories. my theory of st. pats is this: sometimes we just need a reason to celebrate and have fun. sometimes the drain of life is just a bit too much and we forget the many reasons we have to celebrate and enjoy life. there’s really nothing else in the month of march to do or look forward to except st. patrick’s, so we make a big deal because, well, we need to. we need something to look forward to!

i wonder if more of us made a concerted effort to find a reason to celebrate every day, what life would look like…