You Look Like Shit

Next time I go to the movies, I will be keeping count.

Chris Rocks.

Word of the Moment: INTERESTION

From the tales of Online Dating, we have a new feature, Word of the Day. Today's word is INTERESTION. Here's an example:

WELL I CONSIDER MY SELF INTERESTION SO WHAT R U LOOKING FOR ONE TO CHAT WIT OR ONE TO MEET WITH

Also to be noted in today's lesson, the word myself can be written as two words and punctuation is a lifestyle choice. Don't judge.

Haiku of the Year

It's time to move it

It's time to move it, move it

It's time to move it!

Lyrics from some song I can't remember the name of.

What does the world need from me in 2011?

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard Thurman.

Someone in my old meditation group posed the question when considering what occupation she wanted to pursue. The discussion was loosely based on virtuous careers (if there is such a thing), and how to balance between living a peaceful life and existing in the real world. I'm struggling in my present job because it seems so unnecessary and redundant. Simply put, I find it boring. But then as I say to my son, "if you're bored, it's because you are the one who is boring." I need to find a new way to conceptualize my work.

So today, I stumble across this quote from Howard Thurman. I'd never heard of him before, which was a surprise to me. When I was growing up, my parents were determined to instill cultural awareness throughout our home. My mother made sure we never missed a Jet, Ebony, Right On! or Essence when I was growing up. My father made sure we had the Call & Post every Thursday, which is still today Ohio's leading black newspaper. I'm sure I read something of him, but it didn't stick. According to the always reliable Wikipedia, Mr. Thurman  was an influential American author, philosopher, theologian, educator and civil rights leader. I thought what does the world need was a big question. But now I think what makes me come alive is so much bigger and way more relevant.

Off the top of my head what makes me come alive is being creative. Being creative, thinking creatively, repairing or building, cooking, reading, learning are all things that make me feel engaged and plugged in. Recently, I've been really frustrated with the buildup of dog hair in the house. My vacuum didn't seem to be picking up all of the hair. I would find myself on my hands and knees with masking tape trying to remove the excess hair the vacuum just rolled right over. Considering the entire house except the kitchen and baths are carpeted, you can imagine how frustrated I was. Especially since my vacuum is a Bissell Animal Carpet Vac. I bought it for the express purpose of keeping my dog. It was really discouraging. That Dyson jerk kept popping up in my head, but I refuse to give him $500 dollars because he likes his balls.

Now with the holidays, I felt really ashamed to have folks come for a visit. I decided to take a look at the vacuum; broken belt, clogged filters, duh!! Off to the big blue box, spend $25 bucks, tinker, tinker, crack, fix...brand new-live vacuum!! Ta-da!! I was so happy, I vacuumed every inch of carpet I could find. I was genuinely proud of myself for doing what I should have done anyway. Very simple task, but it affected the quality of life in my home. Or maybe just in my mind. But to me it's the same difference. And the dog stays.

So now I figure I need to really focus on activities and projects that give me the same results. I think this is much more interesting than trying to save the world or finding what makes me happy. The vacuum really is irrelevant. Creativity is my fuel.