AFTER FRIDAY and a WEAK-END, HELLO MONDAY
Sunday, January 8, 2023
Walking around a corner or overhearing a conversation – seeing something out of the ordinary happen – two things happen; my thought process goes askew, and I grab that thought while it is fresh so I can do something with it before it drifts away on the breeze.
Not always, of course, but too often, I have the thought, and it gets away from me before I can capture it, something happens, or I walk across the room, and I cannot remember that spark no matter how many times I re-trace my steps …
These writing prompts aren’t magical. They show up – become a fleeting moment, prompt for some action I’ll take, or that opportunity is lost.
In recent months my better-quality focus has produced better writing and longer pieces which some have criticized, but it has also changed what I write. Most often I begin each piece triggered by a prompt, often from my inventory of little bits I’ve saved, and sometimes they work their way into a column, but more often, of late, what you read is the Musing piece I wrote yesterday. Fresh and immediate with less polishing time.
Yesterday, Saturday, was a strange one for me – coming off a busy week, heading into a weekend of re-organizing some things that haven’t been working out as planned, taking some think/pause time to muse about this life, what I’m doing and why, a recommitting to what matters most to me and recognizing I can’t bend anyone’s will except my own, can’t march to anyone else’s drummer.
Some of that think time yesterday was rumination about my friend Gordon; his funeral service was planned by him, including some things that were read, but the execution was done from a different point of view – that of his wife, her children and grandchildren. Their perspective, as they explained, differed significantly from the life and stories he’d told me. He wasn’t a liar to me, but his life was being spun like media does when it distorts things too often.
And it doesn’t matter, those who knew him and knew his story likely aren’t fussed, but I am a little because it hits home in other ways that I’ve experienced. Families prefer the version of events they see or choose to see in a completely biased fashion.
Conversely, we see our families and close personal relationships as we see them, not necessarily as they indeed are. That’s enough to derail my brain for a day.
I don’t know what I’ll be prompted to write on this page tomorrow. Still, this reminder, on top of the number of focus shifts lately, has me feeling better about my understanding while not always happy with the reality I understand so much better.
This day is the start of week 2; 51 weeks to go, a world to change, and so little time …
P.S. – if you have nothing to do, I recommend a Mel Robbins TEDtalk, one I’ve seen before and re-watched the other day – one of those powerful messages that I seem to get more out of on the replay; I’m not alone it has 30.5 million views, one of top 10 TEDtalks