By the way, the paper strips are this sort of confetti, which had been in an Easter basket.
Also, in light of Easter...Happy Zombie Jesus Day, everyone!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Easter Randomness
There are times when a little brainlessness is good for everyone. I'm in a particularly odd mood tonight and randomly started braiding paper. Yes, you read correctly...three strips of paper, folded into a braid. It actually turns out to be interesting.
By the way, the paper strips are this sort of confetti, which had been in an Easter basket.
Also, in light of Easter...Happy Zombie Jesus Day, everyone!
By the way, the paper strips are this sort of confetti, which had been in an Easter basket.
Also, in light of Easter...Happy Zombie Jesus Day, everyone!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
A Reason, A Season, or a Lifetime
A recent conversation and newly crossed path brought memories of this bit of wisdom I first read a long time ago, and which has stuck with me for years. Every now and then it pops up, but given it's one of the few things that always seems to strike a chord when it does, I think it deserves a place here among the musings and ramblings, and is certainly worth the read and some time spent pondering.
~Is______________
Author Anonymous
Many of us are fortunate enough to have friends who are a consistent part of our lives throughout all our ups and downs. However, sometimes others we consider friends appear to enter, then depart from our lives for reasons we try to, but don't always, understand. This piece nicely explains the flow of people in and out of our lives.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do for each person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are! They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part, or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered. And now it is time to move on.
Then people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons: things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Unhabitual Creatures of Habit
As humans, we are creatures of habit. This has been well documented by any number of psychologists, sociologists, etc. However, what they often fail to study is how the people who live even the most unroutine lives still find ways to fit habit into them.
Anyone who knows me knows that I typically live one of the most irregular lives for forcing a routine into. What time I go to bed and get up (if I sleep at all); what, if, and when I eat; and where I go and how long I'll spend somewhere are all extremely flexible and fluid, and rarely stay the same for more than any 24-hour period.
However, I am still a creature of habit. For example, I can tell you /exactly/ how I dry off when I get out of the shower. That shower doesnt have to have been at the same time of day each day, doesnt even have to be the same type—be it in a bathtub or in a standing shower, etc. But no matter what, any time I am wet and drying off with a towel, I will always do it the exact same way—face, then arms (left to right), then legs (left to right), then back, then front, then hair. This never changes, and if I do try to alter it and dry in some other order, I don't actually feel dry, and typically will end up going back and drying in the normal way all over again.
There are hundreds of these little “habits” I can find throughout my day, no matter how random that day might be. The key question I have, though, is /why/.
Why do we feel the need to have routines and set up little habits, even when we may be the least routine-oriented person alive?
Some, I believe, has a good deal to do with how our minds work. We are wired to function on associations. Those associations can be extremely complex and deep rooted, like a woman distrusting a man instinctively because he has a similar scent to her abusive father, or they can be extremely simple, like associating the color of a shirt with a n apple because they're similar in shade.
Those associations are essential to our ability to grow, learn, and function within our daily lives and within society. It is because of those associations that we have the ability to speak, write, or read...someone at some point taught us that the letter “T” is associated with a specific sound when spoken, and that that in turn is also associated with any number of words, and the associated combinations mean different things. When we were babies, we learned that that feeling in our stomachs meant we were hungry, so we would cry and someone would come feed us, so we then associated that hunger with food and learned to eat when hungry. However, because we would cry, we also associated the crying with food, which made us feel better...thus a good part of the root reason there are so many people who are emotional eaters.
Every association eventually leads to a reaction, and the reactions eventually become habitual. These habits are essential for our ability to function efficiently within our lives. Can we change them? Certainly...but the greater question might be if we really need to or should change them. If we are fighting habits for the sake of fighting them, we are fooling ourselves, because there will always be habits, by our very natures. So, while we may not like to think of ourselves as creatures of habit, we will still tie our shoes the same way, we will still put the same leg in first when putting on our pants...and I will still dry off after getting out of the shower the exact same way, every time. Because, at the root, we are creatures of habit.
Anyone who knows me knows that I typically live one of the most irregular lives for forcing a routine into. What time I go to bed and get up (if I sleep at all); what, if, and when I eat; and where I go and how long I'll spend somewhere are all extremely flexible and fluid, and rarely stay the same for more than any 24-hour period.
However, I am still a creature of habit. For example, I can tell you /exactly/ how I dry off when I get out of the shower. That shower doesnt have to have been at the same time of day each day, doesnt even have to be the same type—be it in a bathtub or in a standing shower, etc. But no matter what, any time I am wet and drying off with a towel, I will always do it the exact same way—face, then arms (left to right), then legs (left to right), then back, then front, then hair. This never changes, and if I do try to alter it and dry in some other order, I don't actually feel dry, and typically will end up going back and drying in the normal way all over again.
There are hundreds of these little “habits” I can find throughout my day, no matter how random that day might be. The key question I have, though, is /why/.
Why do we feel the need to have routines and set up little habits, even when we may be the least routine-oriented person alive?
Some, I believe, has a good deal to do with how our minds work. We are wired to function on associations. Those associations can be extremely complex and deep rooted, like a woman distrusting a man instinctively because he has a similar scent to her abusive father, or they can be extremely simple, like associating the color of a shirt with a n apple because they're similar in shade.
Those associations are essential to our ability to grow, learn, and function within our daily lives and within society. It is because of those associations that we have the ability to speak, write, or read...someone at some point taught us that the letter “T” is associated with a specific sound when spoken, and that that in turn is also associated with any number of words, and the associated combinations mean different things. When we were babies, we learned that that feeling in our stomachs meant we were hungry, so we would cry and someone would come feed us, so we then associated that hunger with food and learned to eat when hungry. However, because we would cry, we also associated the crying with food, which made us feel better...thus a good part of the root reason there are so many people who are emotional eaters.
Every association eventually leads to a reaction, and the reactions eventually become habitual. These habits are essential for our ability to function efficiently within our lives. Can we change them? Certainly...but the greater question might be if we really need to or should change them. If we are fighting habits for the sake of fighting them, we are fooling ourselves, because there will always be habits, by our very natures. So, while we may not like to think of ourselves as creatures of habit, we will still tie our shoes the same way, we will still put the same leg in first when putting on our pants...and I will still dry off after getting out of the shower the exact same way, every time. Because, at the root, we are creatures of habit.
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