Thursday, August 6, 2009

Habits that used to be worthwhile

I find myself quite often coming to the realization that I am, in fact, grown up, and that time, in fact, is going faster and that, in fact, my metabolism is slowing, and that, in fact, the future that I had been planning for is here, and it isn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I spent many years planning for the so-called future without really realizing that the future would instead be a culmination of many presents, and that if I spent all of my free time planning, instead of developing some skill or talent, I would learn only to plan. And what I have I discovered? I’m good at planning. And that there isn’t any thing wrong with being idle.

Every once in a while it will hit me that I’ve become a full fledged creature of the habits I had, and not the habits I intended to have. I haven’t quite gotten in to the habit of finishing things, and the habit of being relaxed I’ve avoided entirely. What an interesting thing to realize. I hereby plan to spend less time planning, and more time chilling. It’s all too easy to get caught up in organizing abstract things. I need to waste more time, or learn to waste time in a way that contributes to my value/worth/interest as a human being. I’m getting there.

In the meantime, I was sitting a table of people during my last couple of days at Future Builders and a discussion of clothing/style came to be. Many of the people liked the 80s, liked the 50s and 70s, and hated the 1990s. Grunge. Tommy Hilfiger. Plaid. Flat tennis shoes, Swatch watches, Nirvana t-shirts, off-brand cigarettes. Diablo, Warhammer, Magic the Gathering, and anime. Delia*s. AIR shop. And the consensus? Everyone in that room with the exception of myself and one other person hated the 90s. My initial response was to hide my Flik-Flak watch.

I had a Pop-sickle t-shirt, a yellow web belt, and lime green Tommy shoes back in the day. I had red pleather pants and white leopard print jeans. I wasn’t stylish, but I wasn’t too out of touch, either. I enjoyed 90s style, and still do, but it’s toned down. I’ve become practical. I’ve grown up. I've started wearing dresses.


1 comment:

  1. Two thoughts came to mind as I read this:
    (1) "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" - John Lennon
    (2) On Wednesday evenings when I go to Saint Mike's I do something called "Centering Prayer". This involves emptying oneself of all the stuff that we pick up in the course of a normal day: emotions from the past, fears/concerns about the future, etc. and being present to the now. Being present to life in this moment. My good friend Sam will sometimes start our session by saying (from Psalm 46:10) "Be still and know that I am God" ... "Be still and know that I am" ... "Be still and know" ... "Be still" ... "Be"

    So keep making plans for tomorrow but also take time just to be.

    All my love... peace!

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