I have been a very bad blogger of late. It’s been about 7 weeks since my last blog. Frankly, I was a little too immersed in work to even manage my other consulting gig, much less have time to write about my musings. Sadly, there was very little gallivanting in thoughts or deeds these past few weeks. Thankfully I’m two days from finishing up this year’s temporary work gig. It paid less than my last education one, but had far fewer headaches and stresses. Wonder if that’s a fair trade? I think my best friend may be right when he says I need to cultivate the Samuel L. Jackson model of working: that man turns up for any drivel that Hollywood will offer but he certainly makes sure he gets paid. Snake on a Plane, anyone? I may have found my new hero! Because if I have to be compromised for some cash, I should really make sure that it’s more than a mere handful, right?
In keeping with a return to gallivanting, I picked up one of my books to read for work and though the author is a tad too metaphorical for me, I found her writing strangely invigorating. Like me, she suffers from an affliction called intellectualization, instead of going with her heart and experiencing her feelings, she likes to think her way through and out of situations. It has made for a less than scintillating life to date, so sadly she’s had to pull an eat-pray-love. Yup! She’s opted off the success track and high-tailed it into the woods. Rather unexpectedly she does not proclaim to have found the Holy Grail or even to have mastered any of her demons, like so many self-help/experimental living books promise their readers. Instead, our author writes soberly about losing the comforts of her routine, her easy self-definition through work, and her aloneness. Sounds like a miserable read? Not at all; it became a kind of joyful homage to confusion, independence, and curiosity.
In the end, an apt read to pick up and ponder as I venture back on planes, trains, and buses just to watch a fuzzy yellow ball get wacked across a net and sit in the company of friends over food and drink.
I heard so many good things about Eat Pray Love but have yet to read it myself. It’ll probably make me want to jump on an airplane and leave everything at home to chaos. Ah, well one can dream.
I suspect that my rejection of that lovely book is my fear that I will end up in the exact same position, trapped in a life I didn’t want and have to break some hearts to get the hell out of it. Should make a good movie though!