Designing My Life

Three months ago, I wrote an entry about re-vamping my life for more inspiration and happiness. For a couple of weeks, I made small bits of progress, but my "step by step" approach proved to be no match to the overwhelming power of unhealthy cycles and reinforced bad habits.

Two weeks ago, I headed out for ten days of vacation, followed by two days of intense cleaning up of my apartment, and two days of intense cleaning up of my office. This weekend, I've rested. :-)

I'm hoping that I can start this process again - and that my vacation was long enough to give me some momentum in breaking this cycle. And hopefully I'll be writing here more regularly again.


Useful "desk cleaning" trick

When the piles on your desk have gotten to be too overwhelming - set up three or four empty boxes with labels like, "File" "Find a home for this" "Quick To-Dos" and "Ongoing Projects." Then just take everything off your desk and as quickly as you can, dump things into one of the boxes. Once you have a nice clean work space, you can go through the boxes one by one, which is SO much easier than staring down the whole mess at the same time.

For the past 5 years, I've been using the same brand of paper journal. It's really only been 6 years since I've developed a strong journalling habit, and it turns out that the physical tools of journalling really do make a huge difference for me. It's kind of funny, actually, that I attribute this very important part of my life to an ex-boyfriend who was dramatically incompatible with me in a number of ways, but who bought me my very first successful journal. Many other significant people in my life have bought me blank books that stayed blank, so this was a fairly impressive moment of insight (or luck, but I prefer to give him the credit of insight).

Now, I use Paperchase journals (wide-ruled with ribbon bookmarks and flexible fabric covers in a variety of colorful fabrics) - Borders stores always have a display of these in their stationary/gift sections.

Yesterday I was browsing in a Borders and discovered a Paperchase journal in their clearance section. The fabric cover was a really ugly multi-colored stripe pattern that I didn't like. Still, it was a significant discount from their usual price, so my inner bargain-hunter tried to talk me into it. But at the end of the day, it came down to the fact that my journal is something that I turn to with my most insecure and anxious moments, and I just couldn't do that with ugly stripes. And my mother, from whom I learned most of my frugal habits, has always said that a bargain isn't a bargain if it's buying you something you don't really want.

I've said a lot of this before, but for my current purpose, it needs to be said again:

( My life is a mess.Collapse )

So - having glanced through any number of paperback moneymakers on this subject, I think I've boiled down the useful wisdom to three basic principles, which I'll attempt to verbalize:

1) Figure out who you are, and what you want your life to be like. This includes how you dress, what you eat, how much you exercise, where you spend your days, who you spend your time with, and how you act upon the world.

2) Discard everything that doesn't fit with the above Give away the pants you hate. Stop eating that thing that makes you feel gross. Be nice to cleaning people and bus drivers.

3) Design/Reorganize/Arrange everything else to make it as easy as possible to be your ideal you in your ideal way Not every day is going to be a winner (neither is every meal), but being intentional in how you approach your days (and your underwear drawer) is going to be a lot more successful than reacting to the things that happen to you.

Having said all of that - books, life coaches, and similar things all seem to assume that you have the available cash to just throw out a lot of things and replace them. And, obviously, I don't. So the final principle I have to add is this:

4) Take your time

I've been thinking thoughts like these for over a year now. And I haven't made much progress yet. As of today, I think I'm going to dedicate this LiveJournal to my own exploration of what all this means to me. At least for the next couple of months.

So - after years of hearing stories about such things, I have finally received a really inappropriate email intended for someone else. It seems a reply to an email originally from the intended recipient, whose initials are the same as mine. The text of the email is racy, naughty, and also seems to be proposing phone sex between a married woman and a man with a girlfriend. I've never met the intended recipient, the husband or the girlfriend in question.

All of which make me go "ugh.... what do I do?"

For years now, I've devoted my life to theatre, and have been largely surrounded by people who already know why it's important.  But just a few weeks ago, I had a fascinating conversation with a financial planner who asked me to articulate its importance to me.  As a non-artist who only occasionally sees theatre "with [his] wife," he really didn't have any of the same assumptions.

At any rate - the debate of "are the arts important?" is at an interesting place right now, due to the NEA's placement in the proposed stimulation package, and an amendment that Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has proposed which would eliminate any funding for arts organizations.  (as a side note - does anybody know where one would find detailed, unbiased reporting on the debates currently happening in the Senate? All I've found so far are a variety of opinions from all sides, but nothing that describes his amendment in detail. This link is the best explanation I could find, but I'd prefer one that didn't also offer a point of view).

Anyway - it turns out that I do have something to say on this subject.  To borrow a phrase...

This, I believe:

I believe that many people will show you studies and experts that "prove" things like music education preparing the brain for math and science, and professional theatres stimulating their local economies.  I believe these things may be true, but they are distracting from the real truth, and they are the wrong argument to make, in the end.

I believe that the Arts feed and nurture the soul in a unique and irreplaceable way.  Artistic expression (whether in a professional studio or in a 3rd-grade art class), frees us from the sometimes drab or harsh realities of life and allows us to reimagine our own possibilities.  For every child who's had a hard time fitting in, or struggled with family drama at home, or had trouble learning to read or do math or throw a softball; and for every child who has trouble talking about what it's like to feel those things, participating in Art, Music, Creative Writing or Drama should be considered as much a necessity as healthcare.

I believe that Arts appreciation, whether at a concert or in a museum, creates community through shared experiences and enlarged perspectives.  I believe that seeing or hearing the stories and ideas of others continues to challenge the adult brain and keeps us from becoming rigid in our beliefs or hidebound in our bad habits.  I believe that the exhilaration one feels when listening to the final bombastic movement of a symphony is just as valid as the introspection that may be caused by a poetry reading.  I believe that sharing these things with the strangers in the audience becomes the thread that holds the community fabric together. 

I believe that not everyone will enjoy everything.  That some people will never enjoy poetry and others will never enjoy classical music.  But that very few people will never enjoy anything.  I believe that a healthy community supports a variety of artistic venues and activities, just as a healthy diet involves a variety of foods. 

I believe that for all of the reasons above, and for many more, the Arts should be supported by both the government and the private sector even if there were no material benefit to the sciences or the local economy.  I believe that these factors double or triple in importance during times of high stress, such as an economic downturn or upheaval on moral issues.

However, I also understand that lawmakers need to have solid numbers to take home to their communities.  As such, they should at least listen to the experts that talk about the benefits to the science and local economy.  Because those things are true, too, even if they're beside the point.

If you're not available on Monday (or perhaps you have a gluten allergy?) - you can join us on Saturday, January 31st for Stage Left's Greatest Hits

Stage Left Theatre
3408 N Sheffield
Chicago

3 pm - $10

We'll have staged readings of scenes from some of our most popular productions from the last several years. Plus, the general goofiness that always arises around these folks. And we're upgrading our usual concession stand to include homemade treats from two of the most amazing bakers I know. (and probably also some stuff from me, but I'm not the highlight in that department, that's for sure).

Seriously - this is super cool:

On Monday, February 2nd, those of you in Chicago can support Stage Left by eating yummy Italian food. No joke.

The good people at Mia Francesca on Clark street are doing a cool "Eat and Earn" program. If you go there on the 2nd of February and tell your server you're there to support Stage Left Theatre, they'll donate 15% of your bill to Stage Left.

The important details:

Monday, February 2

Mia Francesca
3311 N Clark St
Chicago, IL

For reservations, call 773-281-3310 - and be sure to tell your server you're there for Stage Left's "Eat and Earn" night.

Alternately, tell me you want to join my group, and we'll make a night of it, because I'm definitely going, but it'll be more fun if I'm not eating alone.

I know, I'm becoming That Person who only posts links to silly things on the internet.

But unlike last night's ridiculousness, today's discoveries are just plain funny:

Ellen Degeneres meets her comedy match.

Ellen and Gladys talk about American Idol

...and about technology and politics

I really want this woman to be my grandmother.

I couldn't take my eyes off this ridiculous game show.

To it's credit, there's nothing even remotely "real" about it. Not even a pretense of real life, or skills that would ever come in handy anywhere. Apparently it's from Japan, which kind of makes sense given the other Japanese game shows or competitions I've seen somewhere.

As an added bonus: Where else can you hear the phrase "too much hottie for one hole"?

This workday interrupted to provide you with a link that might just come in handy someday. For someone. Somewhere. Working on a group project for their high school english class about 80's metal bands. Or something. Or, at the very least, will probably make you giggle.

The David Lee Roth Soundboard