It's Always Something

How can I distract myself? Let me count the ways.

Julie Sucha Anderson

I have a new distraction. I don't know that it's a distraction per se as I don't really know what else I should be doing. I could say writing my book, cleaning my house, watering my plants, spending time with friends, finishing an abundance of unfinished projects, reading the long piles of books in my stash. You know, making the world a better place --volunteer service and all that jazz.

Seems like I did that crap for years. Not interested anymore.

Do you feel like I'm setting myself up for an excuse? You betcha baby. A few months ago I was hooked on Scrabble. Now I play only a few games with three people, but I also added a couple of Words with Friends games. I know, I know. I'm ashamed. I know I'm a hypocrite, but Scrabble wouldn't load and WTF would and there you go. Impatient and fickle, I go with what works.

Since I only play with a few family members and a couple Canucks I met in my more active Scrabble days, I no longer seek random partners in word building throughout the world to distract me and occupy my time.  I've discovered a much better opportunity. Pinterest. So fun and so brainless. Look at a picture. Decide if you like it. Repin it to your boards which are very easy to make up. Couple clicks here and there. Only takes five minutes a shot.

 They even offer a few boards already made to get you started, but it only takes a couple hours of perusals to figure out that what they originally offer will not suffice. Hence, you create your own.

Very sick Halloween decorations
Weirdest Animals in the world
The "Okay, I could live there" or
"I want to go there" pin.
Or
I went there
Or maybe I do like birds or
I'd like that hat and that cat and that pizza pie on that grill lodged on top of the Taj Majal. Wait!!!

Suddenly an entire scenario comes forth as you choose from this massive mosaic in front of your fingertips. Patterns emerge and  the opportunity to shore in on what you really like organizes your life right before your eyes. You can plan your perfect day - or week - or trip - or life.

For instance - how about a trip to Alaska?

Like those? Pin them on your Alaska album. Or maybe you like motorcycles --

Or you like flowers -- 

Or views from windows--

Or blue water

Or lakes or oceans --

Let's do a dream trip.

Dear Mr. Pinterest,

I have made my decisions based on what you presented on your website. I appreciate your assistance in making my dream fly.

I want to go to Iceland and stay in that snow cave hotel and when I'm there, I want some conch tacos shipped in from Providenciales. And that hat that's shaped like a peacock. Oh, and don't forget my husband - but if you can't find him, get one of those young muscular guys leaning on some car who has his shirt off. Really tan. About 35. Nice pecs. Any of those guys will do. And the car - don't forget the car. You know, right next to the really big tree you can drive your car through. Yes, that one - the VW bus.

Oh, oh, oh, don't forget to bring some flowers and pretty dresses and teacups for afternoon lounging and a clothesline. Have to have a clothesline or else all the clothes will smell like people who don't have a clue about clotheslines.

Bring the Mystery Date and Twister games from the past and the Yardley lipstick. Leave Chatty Cathy at home. Find a Merry go Round.

Bring all the weird looking animals and the cute ones, too. Make certain all the amazing bugs are in cages. Don't forget to pick up the Airstream for the ride home.

What else...

Food - everything on my pin, plus drinks. Which means we'll need a cook and a bartender. Okay, you have all this? Because I need to get back to planning my next trip. Hmmmm. I think Machu Pichu. Don't forget the wheelchair for that one.

Hey, if you want to share in the fun, just type in Pinterest.com and in a few days you can be a member too. You can waste time just like me, yet see the coolest stuff. You can see the desert in bloom, baby animals, cool insects and sea life, recipes, cabins, oceans, dreams.

Even better part? You run into some of your blogging friends and even your neighbors.

Dreaming. Putting dreams together or not putting them together. Just seeing them. Fun.

Come join me. There's a pin right there in red on the right side of my blog that will get you there. You can see what I like and see if it is for you. Addictive pleasure, but, hey, beats crack, channel surfing, and cleaning toilets.

(I feel like Pinterest should pay me for this advertisement.)

Puzzle Pieces

Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?

Winnie the Pooh

When you were a kid, lying under a tree or while cuddled under a warm blanket, did you envision yourself as a grownup? In my Midlife Jobhunter quest to discover what I'd like to be, I've returned often to what my thoughts may have been when I was ten. I mention 10 as somewhere I read - I think in Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach - that we are the closest to our authentic self when we are 10 years old.

Ten. Oh, to summon back the youthful vision of ten.

When I completed Breathnach's year long study many years ago, I discovered a long forgotten photo of myself -- at 10. Sure luck as I don't have many photos of my youth. But, alas, from a book my oldest brother had gathered for me, I discovered a picture in front of a birthday cake -- a smile on my face and 10 candles ready to blow. I studied the face of that child, excited about life, unaware of what might lie ahead, and tried to recall her dreams, desires, and hopes.

I'm sure at the time I journeyed through Simple Abundance, I also journaled my recollections. But life, once again, segued me off in another direction.That journal is now buried in a box in the attic and I have no desire to dig around up there. I must begin anew.

Sitting on my porch this morning, accompanied by the morning glories that burst open today,

I recall I liked to explore, albeit with trepidation. I was neither the one with the most guts, nor the most fear. I would climb the trees and ride the neighbor's horse, but always with a tug of angst in my chest. I wasn't fond of getting hurt. But I never minded following a new trail in the forest. I had a good sense of direction and the ability to remember where I came from. I could always find my way back.

I know I wanted to see the world. In middle school, we had assemblies in the auditorium. We saw movies of far away places, different cultures, adventures. My family didn't venture far - a week at the lake in summer and a four day trip to Chicago in the fall. Sunday car rides offered a view of life surrounding our small corner of southern Minnesota - the cornfields flying by, interrupted by the cows walking home or a railroad track with a train due. As my older brother was drilled on his math facts or the parts of speech, I sat in silence, watching the heart and soul in the countryside glide by outside the window. I dreamed.

My mother always talked of visiting Paris so from an early age I knew another world existed. Her father left her a $1000 life insurance policy when he died. She planned to take that money and go to Paris someday. Then more kids were born and life took over and many years passed, the $1000 depleted. But in my head, a world beyond the gridded sections of Minnesota countryside existed. Paris, New York City, the Pacific Ocean.

What does this have to do with my authentic self and what I want to be when I grow up? Hell if I know. Trying to piece it together, I guess. And today, you are my listeners as I sort things out.

Sorting. Always seem to be sorting. Laundry, thoughts, me.