October 29, 2009

Big whoop – you wrote a book

If that’s what you’re thinking

Big whoop you wrote a book

I don’t blame you

It’s not that big a deal anyway

No real accomplishment anyhow

Somewhere north of half a million books

Get published every year

What’s one more?

Or one less

And still I’m here blogging

Hoping someone’s here reading

The bottom line

I wrote a book

I hope you read it

Even better if you like it

Way better if you tell others

That you like it

But why should you?

Read it

If you think

Is this it? Is this all there is?

To life?

If you think

There’s something they’re not telling us

(Whoever ‘they’ happen to be)

If you think

I’ve got stuff

Lots of stuff

A fancy car

A fancier house

The fanciest job

Of anyone I know

And if none of that is enough

If there’s something missing

At the deepest level of your being

But you don’t know what

And it’s bothering you

Sometimes

Sort of

If any of the above rings true

If you nod in agreement

To any of it

Then you may like the book

If you carry a strong dose of skepticism

If you have a curious mind

If you’re unconvinced

Of the conventional wisdom

On careers On money On success On retirement

On life

The book may be for you

If however

You’re one who thinks

I want to die

With the most toys

Cause then I win

Sorry

I’m sorry


Share
October 25, 2009

The thing with normal

Ever find yourself lying in bed, in the early morning, having one of those dreamy half-awake, half-asleep internal conversations? It happened to me again just this morning. Here’s how it went…

So, what is wrong with normal?

What the… Who are you?

I’m your alter-ego. Think of me as your internal, close-captioned, personal zeitgeist. I’m the yin to your yang. I zig when you zag.

You like clichés much?

I do tend to run on some

Really? Hadn’t noticed… Well, what do you want?

I want to keep tabs on you, check out what’s on your mind

Look pal, I’m not really into supervision… Hey, hang on a minute, this might be fun. You mind if I write stuff  down?

No, no, no. No writing down. When they sent for me, nobody said anything about writing things down. Plus, I’ve seen your work. I don’t want to be taken out of context

Taken out of context? What’s with you? Delusions of celebrity status? And what do you mean sent for? Who sent you here?

Your imagination

Aargh, I wish I could turn that thing off, just once…

Look I don’t have all day, so could we get started?

Alright, alright. Start with what?

Start by telling me what’s wrong with normal

Not much, I guess.

Not much? It’s in the title. That tells me something’s up

Hey, no peeking… You need to respect people’s privacy, man… Oh alright… Let’s just put it this way; the world has a tenacious appetite for it.

Normal?

Yeah.

What do you mean—tenacious appetite?

Here’s a theory. It’s not my theory. I first heard it from my friend Gwen. But I like it, and I’m using it. So there.

Yes, yes, very well. And that theory is?

That the range of normal is narrowing all the time.

Uh?

Let me express it another way. It seems, these days, there’s a hell of a lot of stuff getting tagged as abnormal.

For instance?

Did you know there’s medication for shyness?

So?

Well, wouldn’t the existence of medication suggest that shyness is abnormal?

I’m not sure, really

And it’s not called shyness anymore, either. There’s a fancy name for it—Social Anxiety Disorder. And, you can bet, when someone coins a fancy name for something, there’s a good chance those same someones not only want to label it abnormal—they want to give you medication for it.

So a cynic, eh? I had no idea. As your alter-ego, I really should be made aware…

And divorce.

Sorry?

Divorce.  Apparently that’s not normal either.

Do they have medication for that as well?

Hell, I don’t know. Look it up.

You’re combative too?

Sometimes. Is that normal? Do you think?

Hmm… I’m not sure

Look, forget all that. What I’m saying is there’s just too much pigeonholing going on.

How so?

Waddya mean, how so? Don’t alter-egos have magazines and TVs? You never saw those ads?

Ads? What ads?

The ones that start with, “Do you suffer from?” The list is endless… sleeplessness, sadness, short attention span, forgetfulness, moodiness…

OK, alright, I get the picture

What’s worse though are the supposedly abnormal behavioural traits.

Like shyness and divorce?

Yeah, then there’s the talkative and the taciturn; neither, apparently, is normal. Normal, it seems, only exists on a very narrow point, somewhere in the middle. What I’m saying is, society is getting damn fussy about normal. And, by extension, it’s overvaluing conformity.

You got something against conformity?

I’ve got something against what it leads to.

Explain

There is, I believe, A growing intolerance for non-conformity.

I’m not sure about that. I haven’t seen evidence of that… then again I’m an alter-ego, we don’t get out much

Look at it as a series of equations. If non-conformity equals not normal. And not normal equals bad. Then non-conformity also equals bad.

I, um, was never good at math. What does it all mean?

It’s simple, it means society frowns on non-conformity, and because non-conformity also equates with individuality, then society frowns on individuality.

Great, math again

Look, all I’m saying is that non-conformity—and individuality—should be encouraged, not shunned. I’m saying we need to stop pigeonholing everybody.

Why?

Because we risk becoming a world of automatons; over-medicated automatons coaxed into behaving within ever-narrowing parameters.

And?

We risk losing our true identity. We’re afraid to stand out, we become me-too-women and yes-men.

True identity’s important to you, uh?

Well, duh… Look, apart from stuff like creativity and expression—which, I think, flow from true identity—don’t you think it’s important for folks to just be themselves?

Well, I suppose..

And how are people going to feel comfortable about being themselves if we go around suppressing individuality?

What do you suggest then? Wear yellow socks? Do head-stands at the bus stop?

Hey, if that’s who you are, go for it. But there’s more to it than that. The point is, don’t be afraid to explore and demonstrate your uniqueness. Celebrate your individuality and let the world know what you stand for.

I’m not sure about all that, it sounds kinda weird

That’s it! Exactly it! Let’s all pronounce our individual weirdness, let’s advertise our non-normalcy. So what if I like honey in my coffee? Not normal to you? It is to me. So what if I like sitting with a group of  people, just listening to the conversation, hardly saying a word. That abnormal to you? Sue me. I like accordion music too. You don’t? Which of us is normal (or not)?

OK, OK, take it easy, er, hang on a sec…. Hello? Security? Can I get some backup down here?

Espousing my personal tastes isn’t enough of a gesture though… I know. Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll make a list of my individual beliefs. Just put them out there, tell everyone what it is that defines me. Screw it if you think I’m weird. Better yet, I’ll celebrate the fact you think I’m weird. And, even better than that, I’ll encourage all of you to express your weirdness.

Uh, what’s that you say? Where exactly will you be making this list?

Watch this space.

Kinda figured that

Listen, I gotta go. And no offence, but you won’t be showing up too often will you? It’s just that I kinda like working solo.

____________________

By the way, I’m messing about with fonts and was hoping to get comments about the fonts used on this post. So, waddya think? Too big? Too small? Or Goldilocks-right?

-

Share
October 20, 2009

The view from there

Those who know me know I love Italy. The people, the atmosphere, the vistas, the food, the wine, the caffè cappucino, lungo, macchiato. I love it all.

On my last trip, though—the one I got back from but two weeks ago—I discovered something entirely new to love.

Before leaving for my all-too-brief Italian adventure, my editor asked me to prepare some ancillary stuff—pages of addenda, acknowledgements and references that I described in a prior post called The view from here.

Eager to get to it, I imagined having time, during my travels, to get some ideas down. What I didn’t relish though was the thought of dragging a computer along, nor was I keen about writing for hours on my mobile phone’s diminutive screen. The solution? An old fashioned one of ballpoint pens and a notebook—the kind made from paper and cardboard (screen and keyboard definitely not included).

P9182450

Let’s face it, I’m old enough to remember an epoch when no one had computers. But that was  decades ago, and I now approached the thought of writing on paper—no built-in formatting? No editing tools? No spell-checker or thesaurus? How prehistoric!—with some trepidation.

And yet, as it turned, out, writing on paper was a kind of cool, retro experience, like listening to Aqualung on vinyl.

Or… Perhaps it wasn’t so much how I was writing as it was where I was writing.

What I mean is, how could low-rent writing tools in any way temper breathtaking million-dollar views?

P9152269

Hard to grumble about anything when sitting there, right?

Being an early riser, it took me no time to settle into an easy routine of writing first thing in the morning, usually from that balcony overlooking the bay of Naples and the historic town of Sorrento.

The crisp breezy winds, the fragrant air, the melodic intonation of the Italian language and, of course, that incredible view—what a view!—inspired me, every morning, to scratch away with my ballpoint pen until a pronounced blister appeared on my middle finger (yeah, I hold my pen kinda funny).

But that didn’t deter me either.

Because I knew another inspiration awaited me.

After putting in my hour or two, an easy stroll to the hotel’s dining room rewarded me with breakfast of un caffè e cornetto, and basket upon basket of fresh delectable fruit.

Is there a better way to start the day?

Or end it, for that matter.

Because, I’d finish the day off pretty much the way it had begun; sitting, late at night, savouring, and recording to memory, the sights and sounds of that magical experience.

P9132162

Ah, Italy. The perfect place for lovers of history, romanticism, la dolce vita and, as I recently discovered, writing.


Share
October 14, 2009

Life according to Those in the know

STEP

YOUR TASK

YOUR GOAL

1

Stay in school

Get a degree (preferably one that’s trendy)

2

Get a job (or start a business)

Earn lots of money

3

Rejoice

Remember that you are a happy, successful individual who has “made it”

4

Retire (with a fat nest egg)

Live large (you don’t have that  much time left, you know)

5

Die (happy)

Leave a honking inheritance for your offspring, charity or pets

What you were looking at is the official, easy, five-step plan to a happy life.

At least, as laid out by Those in the know.

If you’re not in the know, you’ll be pleased to know, the consensus, from Those in the know, is that an individual—any individual—only needs two skills:

1) The ability to outshine other participants in landing, and maintaining,  a well-paying job

2) The facility for amassing a large pile of money. That you’ll need later. Much later. Maybe forty years later.

In the time-continuum that falls between you making yourself attractive to a well-paying employer and you stockpiling your ripe retirement fund, you’re pretty much on your own.

Although, what Those in the know might suggest is, if you had to pick from careers that included astronomer, broker, calligrapher, doorman, elephant-trainer or filing-clerk, your final selection should be based on earnings (remember that maximizing income and amassing a retirement fund are key criteria to Those in the know).

You may well ask; who are these mysterious folk called Those in the know?

They are career counsellors and retirement advisors. They include consultants and educators. They’re made up of parents, relatives and well-meaning friends. They’re you, and they’re me.

They are, in fact, anyone who has ever said, “Just think of the money you’ll make.”

As if a successful life is measured by income and bank account. Or, for that matter, by legacy and reputation. Or, even worse, by position and title on a business card….


Share
« Older Entries