Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Busy life!
Whew! It's been busy lately!
Some things:
Some things:
- I'm going to Niagara Falls next weekend
- I have been working lots, no surprise
- I am getting all my financials under my belt
- Planning on taking a class, potentially a french class soon
And this big thing, one of my best friends, is leaving to go to Ireland for a year. I'll do more of a post on that later…I am still thinking about how I feel about that at the moment. Liz is also in Scotland for two weeks with her family, which seems like a really fun trip, I hope she is having a good time.
Friday, May 16, 2014
TOW: Unexpected Surprises
It's funny how humans plan things. Woody Allen said, "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans."
One time, when having a conversation with my friend Brennan and his mother, she mentioned that her second son, Emerson, was a 'surprise.' I had to think about that for a bit and it made me pause….how can pregnancy be a surprise? And yet, when you think about it…even when planned, pregnancy is a surprise. Happy or not-so-expected. Life is surprising, right from the start. And when you think about it that way, you'd think more people would be excited by the unexpected. And yet, we spend most of our lives trying to plan for the unexpected, to be well prepared for things we could never know beforehand, and try and guess what is right and what is wrong.
Why do we make plans? Why do we care so much about the future?
I think we understand patterns happen in our lives. We understand that some people are good, some are bad…some situations and events frustrate us, and some make us happy. We look at new people, at new situations, at new things we have not encountered and think, "Ah, this is just like that one time…" We can look at life without newness, with an eye that says, "Aha, I understand what is happening here. I see patterns."
But then…it's God's laughter. Because the older and wiser we get, the less likely we're able to deal with unexpected surprises because we think we have seen so much, we think we have seen it all.
And some people stop living, and only accept patterns as what is 'acceptable.'
We don't know it all and we can't predict it all. And those who wish they could become the most unstable in times of crisis.
I think there are times when we are overwhelmed, when we don't know how to deal with situations that surprise us. Becoming old is the idea that we want to stop being surprised, we want life to get easier for once, instead of harder. We want to know that the future is going to be alright.
But we can't know that.
In the end, we will only be able to reflect on how we reacted to the unexpected, not to what we would have done, had we known. Because we never will.
The best thing we can do is live for the right reasons, be who we are for the reasons we believe in. We could become rich and happy, we could become poor and sick.
But it's probably not what we were expecting, was it?
One time, when having a conversation with my friend Brennan and his mother, she mentioned that her second son, Emerson, was a 'surprise.' I had to think about that for a bit and it made me pause….how can pregnancy be a surprise? And yet, when you think about it…even when planned, pregnancy is a surprise. Happy or not-so-expected. Life is surprising, right from the start. And when you think about it that way, you'd think more people would be excited by the unexpected. And yet, we spend most of our lives trying to plan for the unexpected, to be well prepared for things we could never know beforehand, and try and guess what is right and what is wrong.
Why do we make plans? Why do we care so much about the future?
I think we understand patterns happen in our lives. We understand that some people are good, some are bad…some situations and events frustrate us, and some make us happy. We look at new people, at new situations, at new things we have not encountered and think, "Ah, this is just like that one time…" We can look at life without newness, with an eye that says, "Aha, I understand what is happening here. I see patterns."
But then…it's God's laughter. Because the older and wiser we get, the less likely we're able to deal with unexpected surprises because we think we have seen so much, we think we have seen it all.
And some people stop living, and only accept patterns as what is 'acceptable.'
We don't know it all and we can't predict it all. And those who wish they could become the most unstable in times of crisis.
I think there are times when we are overwhelmed, when we don't know how to deal with situations that surprise us. Becoming old is the idea that we want to stop being surprised, we want life to get easier for once, instead of harder. We want to know that the future is going to be alright.
But we can't know that.
In the end, we will only be able to reflect on how we reacted to the unexpected, not to what we would have done, had we known. Because we never will.
But it's probably not what we were expecting, was it?
Sunday, May 04, 2014
It's been a long time since I've posted on here!
I've been meaning to post here every weekend for…well…for a really long time! ^_^
A couple things have gotten in the way of my writing time:
-Moving. I have only just recently started to get everything under control. And under control is…probably an overstatement.
-Filing an insurance claim. I hope I never have to do it again….it's possibly the most annoying thing I've ever done. I had to double check a bunch of receipts and get new receipts from people who misquoted me, and my old landlord still owes me money. Lots of fun for everyone.
-Taxes. Losing your T4 among a mess of papers means stress….along with having to change your address, locate all your old tax paperwork, which is now everywhere because you moved all your possessions into a storage locker for a month and half, and then moved it into a new apartment the same month your taxes were due.
-A funeral service. We recently buried my grandfather. It was a very difficult weekend. There were good highlights, I guess….but burying your family…..it's not enjoyable.
A couple things have gotten in the way of my writing time:
-Moving. I have only just recently started to get everything under control. And under control is…probably an overstatement.
-Filing an insurance claim. I hope I never have to do it again….it's possibly the most annoying thing I've ever done. I had to double check a bunch of receipts and get new receipts from people who misquoted me, and my old landlord still owes me money. Lots of fun for everyone.
-Taxes. Losing your T4 among a mess of papers means stress….along with having to change your address, locate all your old tax paperwork, which is now everywhere because you moved all your possessions into a storage locker for a month and half, and then moved it into a new apartment the same month your taxes were due.
-A funeral service. We recently buried my grandfather. It was a very difficult weekend. There were good highlights, I guess….but burying your family…..it's not enjoyable.
I was supposed to say…I put a rose down for my Auntie Jocelyn, who couldn't be here. And one for me….and I suppose my older brother and Tammy, who couldn't attend because of a sick baby.
-New job: It's been a REALLY busy first month for me. They hired me in an upswing of work, and I have been working against the clock to help everyone finish their projects on time. The amount of overtime on my schedule has been a little much, but I'll be done it soon.
-A really busy social life: I have sort of ventured out into the world of dating again. That….takes up a lot of my time. ^_^ And my friends have been busy, as well.
In a lot of ways, life is perfect, even when it's not, at least for right now. I have a new job that I love, I have good people around me, and a good family.
Time for bed.
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