Self-Flagellation, Nerf Darts, and Naps

Tragically, I have a fatal flaw.  I have ideas that zing through my brain like Nerf darts, bouncing off of all the other ones and creating new and glorious hybrid darts that inspire excitement and wonder.  This is not the flaw.  The flaw is that the darts always fall to my brain-floor eventually without ever reaching their destination.  True, destination is not as important as journey, but I'd like to finish something.  Or continue something.

But kudos to me, I'm still keeping up with this blog.  Sometimes I slack for a few days, but I have made a commitment, so I am sticking to it.  Keeping up with the blog is good, but the blog is about keeping up with my life. Hmmmm. Only half done, as usual. [note to work people: I am only this way at home.]

I need to make a commitment to making my bed.  I think that's what started this.  I made my bed this morning, and I honestly haven't done it since the time I wrote about it in an earlier post.  It's been a while.  And so making my bed actually made me feel bad. Sort of counterproductive. 

We women do that to ourselves, don't we?  Damned if we do, damned if we don't.  Damned if we do half.  Damned if we overdo it.  My brain gets tired of berating me, and of course of picking up all the Nerf darts that I left on the floor.  So it gives up.  Damned if I don't is the easiest of the damned truisms.  Obviously. 

But I don't want to do that anymore.  Recognizing is half the battle.  Ack, just the thought of another battle makes me tired.  I'm going to take a nap.

Cultural Creatives: Are you Ready to Rise?

Talking 'bout a revolution....
So what makes a "Cultural Creative?"  According to sociologist Paul H. Ray, cultural creatives are made up of people with varying degrees of the following traits: focus on or interest in spiritual mysticism, ecological and community sustainability,  relationships with others and acceptance. Belief in the importance of world travel, altruism, and activism. Self actualization and feminism. Concerns about violence. Creativity in daily life. Nature as sacred. Distrust of big business. Simplification of life in general. Alternative health care.

Sound like you?  This "group" has the potential at this juncture in time, according to Ray, to actually create another renaissance in thought.  To revitalize the culture.  But many don't know they are members. And you can't have a renaissance without awareness.  The way this will work is if people band together in larger and larger communities, find each other and generate power in numbers.  It's started to a degree, in indie craft forums and green community groups, for example.  Consumers and other audiences already have gained more power over business through online networking and the viral spread of ideas. 

I for one am ready.  I've got my eco grocery bags and knitting needles, my little man, some of the most unique and interesting people on the planet that I'm lucky enough to call my friends and family, and my humble little blogs.  My immediate family (all conservatives) told me I'd lose my idealism by age 30.  Guess what?  I'm 34 and I've still got it!  And by "it," of course, I mean all that and a bag of soy chips.  Hey, ho - let's go!

Self-Editing for English Majors

I promise I will tie this in to my blog theme, but I had to share that today I had a conversation with my boss at the IT company about expectations, since I never hear anything from "that side" of the building - I am a marketer and copywriter.  I'm a bit on the sensitive side, so I need a little pat on the back every once in a while.  Finally I asked for it.  The answer I got?  You do a great job.  I love your work.  But can you try to shorten your explanations in the future?  We don't know what you're doing half the time because when you explain it, you get so excited that you go on for a while and we glaze over.  Sorry, just being honest.  We're all super-logical over here. I don't even type like you do.  /makes clicking noises and jiggles his fingers

Ouch.  Okay, I get it.  I am a bit long-winded.  And I tend to babble when I get excited.  So I started taking a look at myself a little more harshly... 

The Trash Heap Has Spoken - Woe, Woe, Woe

Do you remember the Trash Heap?  The oracle, Marjory, who guided the Fraggles in their trials and tribulations?  She knew what was up.  Probably because she had a little bit of everything in her.  I think I've been channeling the wise and soulful Trash Heap lately, because my natural inclination - without any major visible home ec improvements lately - has been toward curtailing the waste that my son and I generate. 

In little ways, that I think about as I'm doing them, I am making small changes in the greening of my home life that I think will add up to a decent-sized impact when taken all together.  Some of them may stem from my recent financial snafu, and a renewed consciousness about wasteful spending.  So maybe that all happened for a reason.  At the very least, I got something good out of an unpleasant event.

For instance...