Sometimes I’ll ask of what I’m doing – “is this the best usage of my time?” You know, I write a lot about being creative, and being productive, and not being distracted. That’s all well and good, but we’re not machines.
I’ve seen some truly remarkable people at work and they’ll barrel right through. Nothing seems to get in their way. But it’s not for everyone. The best use of your time isn’t always what others would call the best use of your time.
There is a group of Americans, and I don’t know how big that is, but there is a group who as yet remain undecided. Sometime between now and November they’ll have to make that choice.
I think what it ultimately comes down to is an individual vision of America. No one should be happy with the way the country is. The question will be: do we believe that the fault lies with the current administration? Or is it in spite of the administration’s attempts to improve it?
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. ~ T. E. Lawrence
Tom Magliozzi (host of NPR’s Cart Talk) once said that “Reality often astonishes theory.” I wrote this down at the time I heard it, and recently came across it again.
It reminds me of another saying, this one by Mike Tyson. “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
And they both seem pertinent now, because no matter how prepared any of us felt for this year, it seems that nothing has gone to plan. So, we get to improvise. Play around, hope, and pray. After all, next year is only mere months away.
I heard once that any invention from history is still in production, somewhere in the world. Siege weapons, smithing equipment, printing press, etc. now, I don’t claim to know the veracity of whether it’s all-encompassing or not. But I do know that, amid this push for digitalization, there is still a place for the analog.
“Somebody was trying to tell me that CDs are better than vinyl because they don’t have any surface noise. I said, “Listen, mate, life has surface noise.” – John Peel
I listen to vinyl, write in notebooks (with fountain pens, no less), and still like the feel of a physical book in my hands. So, if you’ve been in front of one screen or another for a while, give it a break and try something old school.
“Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden
Each morning the sun shines upon the only day you get to live: today.
What you do with it is, in most ways, entirely up to you. Yes, there are circumstances beyond our control that will invariably affect us. But our responses? Those are ours. No one else’s.
So rather than call it a disaster, or a failure, or any other number of negative monikers, instead call it your masterpiece. And don’t put it off until another day.
“On August 18, 1920, Tennessee was the last of the necessary 36 ratifying states to secure adoption. The Nineteenth Amendment’s adoption was certified on August 26, 1920: the culmination of a decades-long movement for women’s suffrage at both state and national levels.” – wikipedia
One hundred years of amendment nineteen to the US Constitution, which states, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
I want to say that I think voting should be easier than it is. Maybe attach it to the social security card, giving an instantaneous voting right once you turn 18. No need to register.
That wouldn’t it be wonderful if Election Day in this country was a National Holiday, so that every citizen could partake. Somehow.
Voter turnout in 2018 was the highest recorded in a century for mid-term elections. And that was 49.3% of the voting-eligible population. Hell, in 2016 it was only 60.1%, and that was a presidential election year.
One hundred years ago, people fought and protested to gain rights that we now don’t really appreciate. Voting is one of our primary instruments in the governance of this nation. That so many don’t participate tells me that somewhere along the line a disservice has been committed.
It’s too late to fix this year, and I’m fairly certain that voter turnout will be immense anyway. But it should be something that is considered going forward.
For more information on the celebration of Amendment Nineteen, visit the Library of Congress website.
I’ve been playing around with the new block editor on Word Press for a while now. I’m not quite a fan yet. And, at the risk of sounding old-fashioned, I think I prefer the way it was.
That’s a bad habit we get into. Getting stuck. Liking the way it was so much, we’re not willing to really explore the way it is… or the way it could be.
As I contend with the blocks here on Word Press, think about what you are fighting against – some change that you’re hesitant to accept. Just possibly, it could be better than what was.
Sometimes we mix up our sense of self with some external feedback. A failed project, suffering relationship, lost job.
You are not a failure because something failed. You are simply the creator (or a part of) something that failed. It doesn’t define you, just as you don’t define it.
Remember that, even after failures, we keep going.
Michael's Musings 