I have been moving the dining room table away from the piano this morning, and clearing all the bric a brac off the top of it, getting ready for the movers to come.
We have been babysitting it for a friend, and now that she is in her new place, it is going home with her.
So what? Well, it's funny the sequence of events that change of any kind brings about.
When I was removing things from the top of the piano, I also had to move a lamp out of the way that is attached to one of our bookshelves. And there on the shelf was the laser pen. The one we used to shine on the floor and Robbie would chase. It was the last thing that could coax him into playing in his old age. He would bark and run and make a fuss. But we couldn't let him do it for long, else he would be limping around the rest of the day.
So I started missing him. Robbie
Some people might say, "What you need is another dog." Maybe that's true. But not right now. That's all I can say about it. Not right now.
I was rereading some articles on blogging yesterday and have been mulling over in my mind why we are doing this. After all, it's pretty weird writing a bunch of your private and sometimes half baked thoughts and then sticking them in a public place. Lot's of times I write things down hoping to make sense of what I see happening in the world.
And I admit a bunch of this stuff IS half baked. A partially worked out brain puzzle spread out all over the table.
( Are you sure you aren't OVER mulling this topic there cupcake?. . . Analyze this analyze that. Why can't you just DO it and leave it at that?)
Well, I don't want to be "unconscious". I want to know why I do what I do.
( *I* am going to become unconscious from listening to all this angst.)
Somehow, I think you will survive to curmudge another day.
As I was saying,
I entertain a theory about modern life. We are so much of the time looked at, treated like, catered to, and expected to react like, consumers. In order to sell to us, it helps the marketers to be able to categorize us into neat little boxes and then not waste their advertising dollars on trying to sell me, say, rap music but perhaps a nice collection of 'Oldies but Goodies' from the 60's instead.
We are encouraged to pre-sort ourselves by refining our likes and dislikes in everything from clothing to music to the books we like and the technology we are willing to buy. It saves the marketers time don't you see.
We are constantly "selecting".
"I want a cell phone that can take pictures, (with the optional movie function, should I decide to upgrade). I want it to download music too and have a roving range covering the western half of the United States. I want that downloadable ring tone function so I can choose from over 3000 different tunes that will play when I get a call. And I want a fuchsia plastic cover plate (the one with the sparkles, not the matte one) and a purple carrying case with zippers, (not velcro) and the extra long life battery option. I'll take the 'loss by theft or accidental damage insurance package'. And by the way, I don't want to sign a two year contract, I want the six month one, and I want that special service where I can chose my phone number which just happens to be my birthdate. . . .Oh yeah, I'm not paying more than 19.95 a month (plus surcharges, taxes, bribes, levees, and signing over the rights to my first born's first born) Can I get that today?"
No PROBLEM!
Well, here's the problem. Human beings want to be seen as unique. One of a kind.
And in a cosmic sense that is exactly what we are. There is no one exactly like you.
Not one. But at the same time, we also want to be part of a tribe, a clan, or a group of some kind. It's a constant tightrope we walk.
But this "selecting" routine, seems to make us... well okay, I'll speak for myself... makes me more and more picky. And I feel like it isolates us more an more from each other. Well, I can't go there, they are going to be eating meat. I can't do this or that, because I might see something I don't like. I don't go to that coffee place, they don't sell organic coffee. It's insidious. But these things aren't the REAL things that make us unique. They are only likes and dislikes, the lowest common denominator.
There is a price to pay for all this nicety in our preferences.
Sometimes I hear in the words of the diaries I read: I am me. I am not my things. I am not a sum of my consumables. Don't put me in a cubbyhole. Don't judge me by what you see on the outside. Please take a few moments and listen to what's in my heart, what my soul whispers to me in the dark of the night. What does your soul whisper to you?
Maybe someday it really will come about that we do what Martin Luther King Jr. said.
Maybe we will learn to judge people by the content of their character.
Not how good a consumer they are.
(I have a feeling it's going to be a LONG week around here....)
Comments (13)
Alli
But regarding to MLK, I think most people do not have the power to see beyond the superficial, a larger part of society rate upon status, not heart.
Butterfly
Hugs from me to you complete with fuschia sparkles
R xxxxx
robbie was a nifty surprise
i think to keep a journal is awesome it can be a creative outlet but more importantly i think it is mentally healthy it helps you sort out your thoughts and feelings i think modern society offers little that can help people with their mental health medication and therapy always comes after the fact if people kept journals all their lives and explored their sensitivities the world would be a better place
in fact i read a book on anger management a while back and one successful step in their process of healing is for a person to sit down and write about what made them angry why they were angry and how did they respond and what would have been a better way to respond
see my italian temper is undrer control i am not pissed off at being called a cupcake i have been called worse hee hee or are you calling yourself a cupcake but then you will call others a cupcake if you call yourself a cupcake it becomes the egos way of functioning hee hee
a beautiful entry mon amie
I love your writing and come here often .
Thanks for sharing .
Hugs
Linda
xxxxxx
Having all those choices can be fun, but they can also serve to make us more discontent. The more we have the more we want and yet all those choices can not fill the void of an empty heart.
There is an old say "less is more". I often find this to be so true. Simplicity allows one the opportunity to stop and savor the moment; to embrace the beauty that is everywhere around us; to delight in the quiet company of a friend.
sometimes I wonder what it is really all about....
x
--Solo
Go to a pen store and try out a few (usually you can do this) and make notes of the ones you really like. Then try to find them online for cheaper! ;) That's what I do. I have a $350 pen I ordered on sale for $169 because it's really beautiful but it has a brass barrel and it's HEAVY so I don't use it much, so it wasn't really a bargain, was it? I like shopping with Levenger because they have a good guarantee and they have really good quality inks for a good price. I got a pen from them and had it engraved, and when I got it, the nib was messed up and I couldn't get it to write smoothly, so they replaced the pen for me, even though it was engraved. Look around their catalog; it's fun!
I recommend spending $50-100 on one good pen (and you know which one I lean toward!). You won't regret it when it becomes your best writing companion.
--Solo
"And when I talk about therapy
I know what people think:
That it only makes you selfish
And in love with your shrink.
But oh how I loved everybody else
When I finally got to talk so much about myself."
There's a reason I keep going back to Dar William's music.
The loss of a favorite pet is hard to overcome. I send my deepest of condolences. Robby sounds like a wonderful friend and is still watching over you in Heaven.
Lots of Love....... Bogo