You all know what I mean by that. You have to...right? We've all spent the last 10-15 years in front of the tv, surfing the web, driving passed giant billboards & being bombarded with everything from miracle diet pills to Nike shoes that sync with your i-pod to do something ridiculously awesome. The world is in a perpetual media frenzy and we're just lucky enough to make it through the day without going crazy and ending up on CNN in a white Bronco speeding down a California highway...and that's a little extreme...and, as is often the case with me, I am digressing from my point.
If you clicked on that Nike link you weren't sent to a fancy flash website with professional athletes modeling the latest in sports fashion and oozing with disgusting amounts of sex appeal and cool. Instead you were sent to a lesser known Nike website...that of its origin. Nike was a Greek goddess who symbolized triumph and who's name literally translates to victory.
And you thought they were just a shoe company with a strange, but cool name. Ha.
So what does an ancient Greek goddess have to do with all of this? With me? Not much actually, other than what she stood for is cleverly embodied in Nike's most famous slogan: Just do it.
Indeed.
My roommate left for Europe on Friday morning and that has left me plenty of time to let my mind wander (yea [its] the wanderer....[it] goes around, around, around...). And again, as is quite typical with me, recent movie views have triggered my neural synapses (whoa...science!) to open the floodgates of thought. Maybe I'm editorializing this too much....nah!....ok maybe just a little. :)
I watched Martian Child, which was outstanding, and Just Friends, which isn't on par with the first (at least not intellectually) but funny nonetheless. In Martian Child, some of the more prevalent motifs are "never give up", "be yourself", and "its never too late to tell someone how much they mean to you." Oddly enough Just Friends has the same thematic elements but presents them in a more comedic fashion, where Martian Child uses snippets of comedy to wonderfully offset the intense drama and serious tone of the film.
How does this relate to me? Wait...me? As in "me" the person who reads this or "me" as in the person typing this? Huh? (Here's a hint: either one works fine)
I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I know that I am constantly bargaining and making deals with myself...."after I eat this frozen pizza for dinner, I'm going to start eating healthier" or "as soon as the weather gets nicer I'll be more active" or "today I'm going to actually call people at work and try to bring in more business." Any of those ring true? They may not, but I bet you have your own inner barrage of compromises and procrastination. Or sometimes its not so personal and private...and you continue to promise an update on a trip to Vegas that happened over two months ago now. :P
Many things led me to really start thinking about how often this happens....including my looming termination of employment....which has forced me to start looking for new jobs and ponder that infamous "What is one of your weaknesses and how are working to turn that into a strength?" interview question. What a bunch of crap. I was just thinking what a stupid question that is, and how it would be so great to say that when asked the question. I am full of weaknesses and areas that need work. We all are. If we answered that question with full honesty, we wouldn't get hired 90% of the time. What are my weaknesses? I'm not a morning person, so I tend to be a few minutes late....I tend to do the bare minimum, just enough to keep everyone happy but never really striving for more....I like to create elaborate excuses (aka lies) for why certain things don't get done, or why certain results weren't achieved, or why I simply didn't make it into work today. YIKES!!! That's not going to get me hired anywhere. No instead they want to hear some bull**** line about how "I tend to pay too much attention to the details, so I'm learning to still be detailed oriented but combining that with effective time management." Congratulations we'd like to offer you the position....you liar.
Bringing this all back to me and why I felt to compelled to express all this at 12:28 in the morning instead of going to sleep...so I can wake up on time and get to work on time (damnit, I'm a hypocrite!).
So....?
So...I don't know what I want to do with my life, as far as my professional career is concerned...and I'm ok with that fact. Knowing what you want to do with your life is great. Getting to do what you want to is fantastic. Knowing you are doing what you want to do, and absolutely loving it is amazing. For now though, not knowing is good enough....because I know that while I wander aimlessly through the corporate jungle of business & finance I'm going to surround myself with people I love....and that is phenomenal. In Martian Child, John Cusack's character says something to the effect of "...weird is reaching out to someone, expecting nothing in return, but simply doing it because you care." I just butchered the line but think I was able to at least capture the essence of what he was trying to say.
So here I sit (haha I'm not standing), not knowing exactly what I want to do with my life...but find myself strangely content with that idea (at least for the time being) because I know with absolute certainty, who I want in my life....and its quite the lengthy list because I've managed to meet some extraordinary people....not extraordinary in what they've done (though I know a few of those too) but more so with who they are. I do a terrible job of keeping in touch with people, and letting them know how much I care...or at least I feel I don't do it enough. So while I may continue to barter within myself for that extra scoop of ice cream, I am going to fight like hell (inside myself, mind you) to keep my friends close, and my family (and "family" :D) even closer.
Oddly enough its that (now infamous) third night in Vegas that I am thinking of right now. Someone I had recently met for the first time was asking me about my tattoo and if it had any special significance. I told her each of the four letters stood for the first names of my mother, father, sister & brother...my family. She commented on how nice or special that was, and I remember (very clearly) saying..."well they're all I have." Not to say I don't have plenty of other wonderful things in my life, because I do and am forever grateful. What I meant was so much in life is fleeting and temporary, but you will always have your family...however that manifests for you....whether its a mother, father & siblings or your children or close friends or a pet....your family is whatever makes you feel safe, happy & strong and that is something that you can never lose.
If you clicked on that Nike link you weren't sent to a fancy flash website with professional athletes modeling the latest in sports fashion and oozing with disgusting amounts of sex appeal and cool. Instead you were sent to a lesser known Nike website...that of its origin. Nike was a Greek goddess who symbolized triumph and who's name literally translates to victory.
And you thought they were just a shoe company with a strange, but cool name. Ha.
So what does an ancient Greek goddess have to do with all of this? With me? Not much actually, other than what she stood for is cleverly embodied in Nike's most famous slogan: Just do it.
Indeed.
My roommate left for Europe on Friday morning and that has left me plenty of time to let my mind wander (yea [its] the wanderer....[it] goes around, around, around...). And again, as is quite typical with me, recent movie views have triggered my neural synapses (whoa...science!) to open the floodgates of thought. Maybe I'm editorializing this too much....nah!....ok maybe just a little. :)
I watched Martian Child, which was outstanding, and Just Friends, which isn't on par with the first (at least not intellectually) but funny nonetheless. In Martian Child, some of the more prevalent motifs are "never give up", "be yourself", and "its never too late to tell someone how much they mean to you." Oddly enough Just Friends has the same thematic elements but presents them in a more comedic fashion, where Martian Child uses snippets of comedy to wonderfully offset the intense drama and serious tone of the film.
How does this relate to me? Wait...me? As in "me" the person who reads this or "me" as in the person typing this? Huh? (Here's a hint: either one works fine)
I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I know that I am constantly bargaining and making deals with myself...."after I eat this frozen pizza for dinner, I'm going to start eating healthier" or "as soon as the weather gets nicer I'll be more active" or "today I'm going to actually call people at work and try to bring in more business." Any of those ring true? They may not, but I bet you have your own inner barrage of compromises and procrastination. Or sometimes its not so personal and private...and you continue to promise an update on a trip to Vegas that happened over two months ago now. :P
Many things led me to really start thinking about how often this happens....including my looming termination of employment....which has forced me to start looking for new jobs and ponder that infamous "What is one of your weaknesses and how are working to turn that into a strength?" interview question. What a bunch of crap. I was just thinking what a stupid question that is, and how it would be so great to say that when asked the question. I am full of weaknesses and areas that need work. We all are. If we answered that question with full honesty, we wouldn't get hired 90% of the time. What are my weaknesses? I'm not a morning person, so I tend to be a few minutes late....I tend to do the bare minimum, just enough to keep everyone happy but never really striving for more....I like to create elaborate excuses (aka lies) for why certain things don't get done, or why certain results weren't achieved, or why I simply didn't make it into work today. YIKES!!! That's not going to get me hired anywhere. No instead they want to hear some bull**** line about how "I tend to pay too much attention to the details, so I'm learning to still be detailed oriented but combining that with effective time management." Congratulations we'd like to offer you the position....you liar.
Bringing this all back to me and why I felt to compelled to express all this at 12:28 in the morning instead of going to sleep...so I can wake up on time and get to work on time (damnit, I'm a hypocrite!).
So....?
So...I don't know what I want to do with my life, as far as my professional career is concerned...and I'm ok with that fact. Knowing what you want to do with your life is great. Getting to do what you want to is fantastic. Knowing you are doing what you want to do, and absolutely loving it is amazing. For now though, not knowing is good enough....because I know that while I wander aimlessly through the corporate jungle of business & finance I'm going to surround myself with people I love....and that is phenomenal. In Martian Child, John Cusack's character says something to the effect of "...weird is reaching out to someone, expecting nothing in return, but simply doing it because you care." I just butchered the line but think I was able to at least capture the essence of what he was trying to say.
So here I sit (haha I'm not standing), not knowing exactly what I want to do with my life...but find myself strangely content with that idea (at least for the time being) because I know with absolute certainty, who I want in my life....and its quite the lengthy list because I've managed to meet some extraordinary people....not extraordinary in what they've done (though I know a few of those too) but more so with who they are. I do a terrible job of keeping in touch with people, and letting them know how much I care...or at least I feel I don't do it enough. So while I may continue to barter within myself for that extra scoop of ice cream, I am going to fight like hell (inside myself, mind you) to keep my friends close, and my family (and "family" :D) even closer.
Oddly enough its that (now infamous) third night in Vegas that I am thinking of right now. Someone I had recently met for the first time was asking me about my tattoo and if it had any special significance. I told her each of the four letters stood for the first names of my mother, father, sister & brother...my family. She commented on how nice or special that was, and I remember (very clearly) saying..."well they're all I have." Not to say I don't have plenty of other wonderful things in my life, because I do and am forever grateful. What I meant was so much in life is fleeting and temporary, but you will always have your family...however that manifests for you....whether its a mother, father & siblings or your children or close friends or a pet....your family is whatever makes you feel safe, happy & strong and that is something that you can never lose.
1 comment:
beautiful, dude. i for one am glad that i can call you "family". there is not much else i can say. you are great!
~brando
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