I know it’s been a few days of absence and I do apologize for that. I was on vacation in well… Colorado! Amongst the mountains and forests, I forgot my phone. Not in a the panic sense but in the forgot to check it or just pull it out sense. I wish there was some big epiphany or anything, but it was just a note. A note on how often we tend to pull out our phones in silence. Its a nice break from a silence amongst conversation but for me, this tended to happen too often leaving a lot of group hangouts consisting of phone breaks/moments of everyone being on their phone. After all, see one out and you immediately think of your own. With this in mind, I decided to embrace the silence on my trip. I started to fill in the gaps of noise with conversation topics. Of course not all of them lead to conversation (we all have our duds or short-answered topics) but it’s ok. Conversations are filled with ups and downs; they’re an art form and it’s OK for some awkward blank spaces, some of the best pieces of art do. It’s a better blank opposed to one filled with light from a phone screen. A quiet blank invokes thinking and working with the conversation while a phone break just halts the conversation and distances the people. I know our phones are awesome (mainly for games and social media for me) but there is a time and a place. Just like there is a time and a place to experience on of my favorite states at the perfect moment.
Local
Eating was been a passion of mine since twenty pounds ago (couple of years give or take some pounds). In this passion I started to try new places and dishes later turning to local places. I loved most of them, but regardless of the food and atmosphere I always enjoyed the experiences, but I never really talked to the chefs or owners or managers. I missed that deeply human connection that food and drinks brings.
We all like supporting local dinners -those with a love of heart and food at least. I would even venture that we like to be known somewhere. We like to have a “usual.” But all of that is enhanced when we can talk to the people who call the restaurant “work.” We need to support the local business but ultimately, it is so much better when we can call those locals friends.
“It takes a village.”
I never really understood this phrase, I’ll be honest. I’ve always heard that it takes a lot of people to raise a kid but I thought that meant parents and maybe a grandma or two; I never saw why someone needed a whole village just to grow up. But then I got older. I got older and noticed that when faced with the multitude of problems, we go to many different people. We talk to moms, dads, bar tenders, barbers, we talk to so many people because we know that certain people are better suited for certain problems. It takes a village because we all need a small army of family and friends to work out the crossroads of life. Each problem has multiple solutions and knowing which way to go is as terrifying as hitting that publish or send button; each way we solidify what the world will see in a way. That is why we need so many people in our lives that can offer good advice or at least a warning side for certain paths, because everyone takes their own path but sometimes the intersections are similar. Sometimes, we know exactly what not to do and can pass on the advice of the village.
Exactly
Hearing someone else acknowledge our feelings or thoughts keeps our sanity. We are each complex and confusing and sometimes our best overthinking and self-evaluation results into a picture similar to dumping all the puzzles pieces out. You know that combined it makes a picture, but now idea what that picture is at the moment. Throw in an exactly. Throw in someone else that perfectly describes what you are feeling or thinking and let that phrase fall from your lips. Exactly is powerful because it confirms that we are not mad nor are we lost. We just need to voice what we are experiencing and find that person to understand it exactly.
On Reading
Almost anyone will tell you, “I wish I read more” or “I haven’t read a book in ages!” Of course there are other ways to get around to reading like audio books which is great for on-the-go people, but the essence of reading lies within the commitment to sit down and read. It’s in that moment where one can just experience the book (for better or for worst) where the importance lies. Our days are filled with endless schedules and energy drainers. If left unchecked, anxiety will sweep in with insomnia holding the baggage of a tiring life. Reading can help this. Being truly in a book and letting the world fade for a moment from view is endlessly rewarding.
Most would take this time to recommend a self-help book or, better yet, a book that they have written. But that’s not what this blog is going to be. No, this blog exists to explore and so in that mission I encourage you to try a new book. Maybe one bought years ago or maybe a book that just has a cool title at the library. Read and should you chose to do so in a new book to you, I’d be happy to geek out with you over it.
Balance
There is always too much to do and too many good shows to watch…again… for the third time… this year. It’s a lot easier to further increase your status as a FRIENDS expert than to tackle that dream list of yours. Work out every other day, try a new restaurant, read a book that is currently a dust holder. We all have a list whether mental or written down that we dream of completing but more often than not it remains a list and not a reality. Creative people struggle with this especially due to how many ideas we get on any given day. Or the fact that completing something means putting it out there to receiving hate or praise. Of course, we think of only the first leaving is in a fear until we turn on that tv or laptop.
Perhaps then, when it comes to balancing easy things and scary things, it doesn’t need to be scary. Many people talk of how “no time like the present!” or how dreams are only dreams till you work on them, but not often of how some people it’s terrifying to the point of paralyzing. Balance is something where both sides of the scales need fixing and sometimes it takes many adjustments to find that balance. This is the key to balance, starting off slow and growing in confidence so that one day you are working on your dream list in bliss, not even realizing what time it is how which episode holds the pivot scene.
Welcome to My New Life Blog
All the world’s a stage, but in need of better scripts.
The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.
— Oscar Wilde.
Life is full of wonderful struggles and different ideas. It has been related to a play perhaps for another Shakespearean pun or a note on how fake people can be. This blog will explore what it means to be an active role in this life and the struggles of such, especially for those inclined to change the conventions of it all; the artists.
Exploring life one trial at a time. 