sixth grade teacher
despite best efforts
Mrs. Maki
unable to banish
the word ain’t
from American vocabulary
did she know
we create our shared language
and often
when you tell somebody
not
to do something
they do more of it?
All human conflicts can be reduced to the struggle over whose realities will prevail.
~Lee Thayer
So….after asking for more Kacey Musgraves, Spotify sent me Merry Go Round.…..listen to the lyrics and interpret them for yourselves….
life ain’t what we want, it’s what we know
Can I tell you something?
For most of my life, I thought it was shameful to want things…..to want life to be different than it is…..
I had no idea I was creating my life through my thoughts and actions…..that my thoughts and actions are part of our collective culture.
As a culture, we’re told we want extrinsic rewards (stuff—whatever stuff floats your boat) and I believe we’re coming to remember we want intrinsic rewards too (like creativity, love and connection).
C’mon….who else is tired of living in a culture that feels like it wants a divorce?
Who wants different?
I do!
Yesterday a friend shared a quote:
Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress.
Working for something we love is called passion.
I asked, “What do you love?”
Her honest reply, “Hmmmm….trying to figure that one out.”
It is the intrinsic rewards that matter most—not the extrinsic rewards—over time those destroy a person’s inner life.
~Lee Thayer
If we get our inside right, will the outside take care of itself?
A few years ago I did another self-examination of “what do I want to be after I grow up?” and decided I wanted to be Deb’s husband and partner. Not the BEST husband, because then there’s no room for improvement; just a better husband than last week, is all. So that’s my goal!
In high school chorus we performed a few songs from The Fantasticks. One focused on what happens when we say “No.” “Why did the kids pour jam on the cat! Strawberry jam all over the cat! Why did the kids do something like that, when all that we said was No!” In a more focused response to today’s BFN, I think there’s an integration of our inner self with the external world. Ideally our inner compass guides our choices for how we engage with, or disengage from, our external circumstances. As a citizen of a very materialistic nation, just knowing that our “insides” matter too comes as a novel idea.
Liked the flow in today’s remarks!