Mediocrity Is Prohibited!

Today, I ran across an article online to help me in my Reboot entitled, 7 Things Leonardo Da Vinci Can Teach You About Creativity.  http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/7-things-leonardo-da-vinci-teach-creativity-141000774.html

The author is really writing for someone in business to tap into their creative side to 'get ahead' but I found some of the information useful, personally.

It caught my eye because it mentioned Leonardo Da Vinci, who maintains a spot on my list of admired figures.  The reason I like this guy is because, as mentioned in the article, he was not only the artist behind the Mona Lisa.  Leo (yeah, we're close like that!) had volumes of drawings and inventions and ideas far beyond his time. He would have a blast with all that is available today to take his plans to another level! His excitement and curiosity are infectious!

Now, on to how this applies to me and my journey...

I say, again, there is no reason on Earth why anyone should say the words, "I'm bored", "There's nothing to do", or worse, "I can't". 

I realize that each life is so very different from the time we wake to the time we bed-down for the night (or whatever order it's done for you).  I realize there are many different responsibilities we have daily using up daytime/nighttime/OUR time, and keeping us from pursuing what we'd love to be doing AT the time.  I realize that many of us don't even know what we want to do with our time. And, it is precious. 

It's so precious that we need to use it carefully.  Thus, part of my Reboot is going to be dedicating my time to thinking.  You heard me.

We are all so busy Doing that we don't get a chance to THINK.  The thoughts we have are mostly superficial, often, of clothes, food, tv, who-said-what-to-who, etc. that we are not open to the full use of our talents and skills. 

The other part is attempting to truly find what my gift is.  Daunting thought, but not impossible.  Many, regretfully, never give it a thought, at all.

Just when we think we have no talent or skill, a crisis or a rare quiet moment presents itself and we discover it.  What we do with it is the question.  If and when it is discovered, we must not let it drop and ignore it.  That's a crime against Nature.  I feel it should be mandatory in our minds that we must complete something regarding what we've discovered about ourselves. If it's not completed to the end of the process, that's ok. After all, Leo designed a helicopter and never got to see one fly.  Someone else may grab the ball and run with it but at least we did our part.  And we enjoyed it.  How rare is that these days?

The trick to this is that money must not be a motivator, nor fame or notoriety or approval.

That curiousity I mentioned has to be developed again. It was so natural and present as a child, then knocked out of me by Life.  I'm out to rediscover it and then take off running with whatever comes about.  I'm ready to say "Yes" instead of "No" to what comes to mind.  I'm ready to seek the talent or skill that was gifted to me.  I'm ready to not settle for 'good enough', anymore, and seek 'right'.  I'm ready to be as fearless as I was as a child.  I'm ready to push past the discomfort that comes from changing up the routine.  I'm ready to do better even if it's not someone else's best.  I'm ready to do the best ME I can.

When I was a little girl, I imagined myself a chemist. I sat backwards on the closed toilet seat using the flat-top as my lab. I'd mix anything I could find in the house in little cups, just to see what would happen. In fact, that's how I create recipes to this day but not in the bathroom! I liked the Marx Brothers and would open a wire hanger into a "D" shape, stretch rubber bands across it and pretend to play like Harpo, or piano (table) like Chico. Agreed. Those things were a little nutty, but I was a weird kid. I was the 'household' ballerina and tap dancer because of Cyd Charise, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. I flipped, bent, balanced, and split to be an Olympic gymnast. My favorite tree still stands in Lincoln Park in Chicago that I could climb into and be "Jane of the Jungle" observing others from above. I took old clocks and phones apart to see what was inside. I wrote. I drew. I painted. I sang. I sculpted figures from clay. I did needlework, weaving, and crocheted and knitted with pencils. I designed dresses, added numbers, played "secretary", Mommy, doctor, and architect (Mike Brady made it look so easy!). I played for hours! Where did my imagination go?

There's a Youtuber, known as Shameless Maya. She can be found on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and whatever else is out there.  She's put herself 'out there' to free the talented spirit in her, even to the point of shaving her head. While I may have different ideas about a few things she does and says, that effort she's making and her slogan is one I support.  It's "Do You, Boo!".  I thought it was just cute at first but actually makes sense for a younger generation sleep-walking into envying what the latest '20 minutes-of-famer' is doing or being.  It's a way of saying that whatever you do and whoever you are, you are the best of you.  There's no imitation needed, even as a form of flattery.  There is only one You created, ever existing, now and forever.

Therefore, that You....and I, must be treasured and cared for and our resources used to the utmost.  For me, that began, laughably, by starting this blog.  Again, this is not for money in any way.  It is a way to sort thoughts, see where my talents lie, and bring with me anyone else who wants to join me on the journey to finding their own.  It is there. I just know it! For any new idea I now have, the question is, "What if...?".

The Joy of Play is what I seek. And, I won't settle for less. Nor should You.

  

The Silence is Deafening!

I was going to name this post, 'Fun With Insomnia', only it's not fun!

As my husband tells it, I have trouble shutting down my hard-drive at night. 

The house is darkened, it's late, the temperature is good, the bed is comfortable, I'm medicated, and it's quiet.  It's too quiet.   

We're so blessed with this life, then why can't I just go to bed like a normal person?

Here's the process I'm now suckered into acting out before the Sandman does his thing.

I must have the television on.  I know that's a big NO-NO! It has to be tuned to something I have absolutely NO interest in watching, hearing, learning from or paying attention to.  This could be a movie I've seen many times, a television show rerun, or a documentary on a topic I truly can skip.

The second step is letting my brain go through the thoughts that may include any, or all, of the following:


          "Wonder what my daughter's up to right now?"
          "What was that noise?"
          "Did I lock both doors?"
          "So, that's why men have nipples!"
          "There was an error on King of Queens tonight.  The price tag on his shirt disappeared!"
          "Funny how that post office lady guessed the city where I was born, correctly!"
          "I should check that receipt for errors."
          "That sounds like a frog or something!"
          "Why on Earth would anyone want to create 'fake' ground beef??"
          "Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in Gunga Din is called Valentine."
          "Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as Valentine says his last day in the French Legion is February 14th."
          "That's Valentine's Day here....did they do that on purpose?"
          "Why did I just think of that?"
          "No, wait.  He says, May 14th.  That's not Valentine's Day."
          "What should I make for dinner tomorrow?"
          "Another error on King of Queens was that pan of chicken that kept changing places!"
          "I have a lot of veggies to use up.  I'll make soup."
          "I should sleep. If only I was at the beach.  I always sleep well near water."
          "I love waves."
           (Bathroom break)
          "What is that song's name?  la-la-lala dum. Never mind."
          "Can't forget to make that call tomorrow."
          "Was that thunder?  It may rain again tonight."
           (Bathroom break)
          "How does that go again? 1-3-0-1-2-3?"
          "I used to love that jacket I had when I was 12."
          "Oh, yeah...there's the rain.  I hear it on the roof."
           (Bathroom break)
          "Is that a frog I hear?"
          "I should not have had that last bottle of water tonight."
           (Bathroom break)

Lastly, not only is the mind going at a breakneck pace but I rock!  I mean I literally rock myself back and forth in bed.  Our marriage has lasted only because of a memory foam mattress.  As it stands, I can do Pilates, stretches, and even the Electric Slide in bed and not wake my husband (who has no problems sleeping!)  There's my 'shout-out' for Tempurpedic.

My body may not run like it did at 17 but my mind is racing all over the place.  Eventually, exhaustion kicks in, after covering so many miles of data, and I sleep. 

I sleep.

I sleep until 4am when Tommy's alarm rings.  He wakes, he cuddles, he tells me he loves me and to go to sleep.  Really? Waaaaaaah!

I will either resolve to nap later, completely awaken at this time and chat, try to read, do a puzzle, check Facebook, or turn on I Love Lucy reruns and, eventually, sleep.

Thus, people wonder why they don't hear from me, why there are times the phone goes to voicemail in the afternoon or late morning, or why I sound so out of it when they call.

Please see above.

Oh....and it was a frog.



My Swahili is So-So

I'm putting on my "thinking cap" and trying to figure out a way to do more of the amazing and exciting things that I see others doing. I have my limitations so it's a challenge, definitely.

What I'm referring to is learning new things, going to new places, meeting new people, growing, and changing what needs to be changed. I have, and never have had, fear of these actions. No one should with the Gifts we've all been given.  The existing challenges, for me, are that age is catching up with me (excuse??), I have legitimate fears of what might happen with the Multiple Sclerosis (hasn't happened yet...don't worry about it?), and my brand new knee that hasn't quite healed yet (but it will!).

Sounds like I just talked myself out of my own challenges, doesn't it?

I look around and see new careers that didn't exist years ago. People are being creative in new and fascinating ways. Opportunities abound that I didn't recognize when I was operating at full capacity!

There is FUN to be had in this life!

True, there are personal trials, wars, political conflicts, protests, poverty, hunger, anger, frustrations, and sadness in this world that can break your heart and your spirit. But there is good, also. And we know that Good ALWAYS triumphs over the bad. We may lack patience waiting for the Good to happen, but it will always happen....just not always in the time we want.  If we sit and wait for a person to knock on our door telling us it's alright to come out and live our lives, well, that's just not going to happen.

There are activities I know I'll never be able to do, like apply make-up.  I just don't have it in me.  I've tried and it's laughable.  I won't run a marathon. I'll never be a starving artist in a Parisian attic apartment. I won't have 'Doctor' in front of my name. And winning the lottery looks waaaay out of reach. So, here I wait, trying desperately to be patient. I wait for my knee to be 'normal' again to carry me better than it used to. I exercise, I read, I learn, I study, I PRAY, I love, I go out, I travel when we can, and I meet people....everywhere.

I know I cannot live without challenges or I become bored. I always say, that only boring people get bored. With each day, I try to learn something true. I learn even if it's a fact mentioned on a television show.

I know I cannot live well without people in my life, especially new ones! We may not become lifelong friends or even see one another again.  But the time we spend, when we spend it, can be a precious memory.

I have a girlfriend that has an open invitation to any holiday get-together or party at our house.   She has no family here and considers us her family now.  She recently had a party given in honor of a former U.S. Ambassador to Kenya. He and his wife and family were lovely people. Of course, I put the 'bug' in his ear to come home to the Faith in which he was raised. It came out of nowhere but as soon as I knew he'd been away, I just blurted it out. He didn't seem to mind and actually, though surprised, he seemed to be considering it.

While everyone is having a great time, Kenyans, Ugandans, and a few Americans, their little grand-daughter comes to me as I 'chair-danced' and places her tiny hands on my breasts.

         "You have big t..t...t.." struggling and searching for the word.

         "Teetees." The Ambassador's wife helped her with her observation.

I've never been called out by a 3-year old before. I genuinely laughed as she pointed out her grandma's teetees were big, too, but that grandma's belly was bigger than mine! So many mixed reactions at that, my head was spinning. Children always bring me joy with their honesty!

We had the greatest conversation as we sat together, of tragedies, and of triumphs, of personal heartaches, and of joys. Let me remind you, that we'd known each other for 2 hours, by then.

My point is that you never know who you will meet and how they will affect your life or, you, their lives. I felt so close to everyone I'd met that we all hugged and promised to meet again, left with invitations, blessings, and fond farewells. "Grandma" made sure to give me her card and I do plan to stay in touch. She is doing great work in fighting against FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) which is common and still practiced in many countries.

In less than a day, I learned much about a proud culture, yet still know so little about it. My background may not even include Kenya OR Uganda. People think Africa and see only one continent with all the same kind of peoples and culture. I'm guessing there is no other continent with such a mixture of languages, peoples, music, dances, and landscapes. I recently learned that there are 68,000 languages in the world. I'm guessing again that half of those are in Africa, alone!

What did this spark? Now, violin lessons aren't enough for me. I'll be brushing up on my Spanish conversation and any other language that intrigues me. I'm increasing my exercises as I heal. I will narrow my interest in the 5 books I'm trying to read to ONE and finish it! I will continue to learn and change our diet to a healthier, nutrient-rich one that won't only tickle the tastebuds but make us feel better. I'll be with my church ladies knitting and crocheting shawls for the elderly and ill. And, I'm still working on this 'hair project' which doesn't require lots of effort. I love that! Then there's this blog-posting-thingie.  I'm enjoying being able to focus long enough to do this.

Meanwhile, I hope this encourages someone to take up the gauntlet and get out there. Learn. Do. Act. Sing. Dance. Paint. Read. Play. Live. Love. Be. This isn't a dress rehearsal.

Until we meet again here, giving thanks for every day I wake up and hoping all feel that way! Have a greatly blessed rest of the week!

iQuit

Everyone's been there who owns an electronic gadget of some sort. 

Why does everything need repair or reconfiguration, or whatever, all at the same time?

Part of my Reboot is simplfying life, as you may have read elsewhere here.

Farewell, iAnything!

I don't have the patience or the ambition to work with applications and toys that I'm not going to use steadily or need in my life to improve it.  Therefore, I have a simple inexpensive cell phone that texts and calls.  I own a camera.  I have maps. I don't need my phone to speak to me and call me Sexy because I have other people around to do that. Kidding. I don't need to be alerted to do or not do something by a machine.  I have a watch and a slightly malfunctioning but mostly stable brain. I have a stereo so I can share the music with others and enjoy 'it at the same time and not through waxy 'buds'.

I get that people are actually getting good use out of some of the products.  What I don't get is how we are being conditioned to believe that we need them.

Sitting in a waiting room recently, I looked around, as I do.  Never made eye contact.  Do you know why?  Because out of the 5 people there, including me, 4 were mesmerized by their cellphones.  Important health information was being played on the television and not one looked up. 

I was elated when a man came in with a bag and actually pulled out a book to read!  I wanted to hug him!  I didn't.  I like to think I could have.

I once saw a woman, brushing her hair, looking in the mirror, talking on her cellphone (at her ear), and DRIVING.  She belongs in a Circus if she can accomplish that and not run her car up a telephone pole!

I was speaking to a child the other day about the need for security.  He was holding a pillow.  I assured him it was alright to have that to make him feel secure.  I told him about security blankets which led to what I'm seeing now. I see insecure adult hands that NEVER release their phones, not for a nanosecond.  I've seen them in public restrooms!  What call, text, game, or 'memo' is that important? (I mean, besides Candy Crush.)  They are among the group I, respectfully, refer to as ATMS (There's a double meaning to this!).  They are Afraid They'll Miss Something. The irony is they are missing out on the world around them while they stare at a screen.  It's drawing them in and shutting the world out, and saying at the same time, that it's connecting them to the world.

WHAT?

What a waste of our limited time on Earth and money!

Back to my own frustrations with modern technology engineered to make me want to cry...I have a new printer!

The old one, apparently, had a shelf-life.  Who knew? It copies, it faxes, it scans, it prints, it slices, it dices, it breaks up with your boyfriend for you, it attaches to the web and prints app pages for you on a schedule, if you like!  I don't like.  I don't like at all.  In fact, I hate it and I hardly ever use that word.

I want a phone that takes and makes calls.  I want a car to get me from Point A to B.  I want food that I don't have to consult a dictionary to know what's in it.  I want a PRINTER THAT PRINTS! 

And World Peace. (blink-blink)

So far, that's been the only problem.  I figured out the copying, even double-sided.  I know how to replace the ink cartridges, add paper, but this puppy won't print for anything.  Upset?  You bet I am.  For days I've been praying for patience and been tested more than I have in a long while.

Final results?  Verizon says I need a new router.  It's 'skipping'. I'm glad one of us is having fun. I wish I was skipping off some of this tension. 

So, don't look to me for the latest and greatest toy developed by an engineer who is working on the next latest greatest to sell me by Christmas.  I'm already Sprint's biggest nightmare.  I'm a woman without extreme needs or made-up desires on a Reboot.

Grrrrrrrr.

Reboot Challenge? Unplug for a few hours or even a whole day, and enjoy the peace and quiet.

UPDATE:

I am one who will own my errors.  Today, we were lost having forgotten town map and without GPS. That just means I must remember to replace maps in our vehicles.

You still won't make me yours, Sprint! Bwaaahhahahahahahaha!