A Recovering Political Junkie’s Advice for Campaign 2012
This may come as a shock to people who thought I was a rational human, but I have a confession to make: I was a political junkie. It’s true. I followed every twist and turn of our democratic system at play. Cuz a properly functioning democracy relies on a well informed electorate. Your granddad used to read the paper front to back every day. There were psa’s in the middle of my sitcoms telling me to “be informed” when I was growing up. What can I say?
For those of you who don’t get the political junkie thing, let me tell you a dirty secret: politics is pretty much just like celebrity watching – only for putatively smart people. Who’s doing what outrageous thing now? What’s the strategy going to be on this next vote? How will the electorate react? What the hell is wrong with Nebraska? And above all, what’s your opinion and why?
But here’s the thing: my opinion doesn’t mean squat. Continue reading “A Recovering Political Junkie’s Advice for Campaign 2012”
Allowing Rest to Restore
I have said for years that if only I were someone who dealt with stress by throwing myself into work, I could be a gazillionaire by now. Unfortunately, just the opposite is true; as stress piles on, I just sloooooooow dooooown. Stress just saps my energy. Over the years this fact as much as anything has propelled my attempts to find healthy ways of dealing with whatever life throws at me. I cannot afford to let things stress me out if they don’t have to; if I did I’d never get anything done!
Of course, sometimes life can overwhelm even our best coping mechanisms and I can feel that familiar lack of energy creeping in. And I fight back the best I can. I see my doctor and take my medicine and exercise and try not to spend too much time in bed and maybe even drink more water and eat less sugar. I push myself to keep moving even when I don’t want to. I make myself talk to people. I try to be kinder to myself and everyone around me.
But every once in a blue moon, the stress gets the upper hand and nothing I do helps Continue reading “Allowing Rest to Restore”
Depressed DJ For Hire
Ok, so don’t ask me how, but some how the only job I have been able to find is working as a wedding dj. I know, right? The irony. It’s actually a cool job – great people watching. And it’s like the opposite of being a cop: you are seeing people on the best day of their life.
The problem is that it’s not a job that leaves a lot of room for error. This is a one-time deal (theoretically) and you have one shot to get it right. Unfortunately, I blew that shot last night. I DJ’ed a beautiful, very high end wedding last night (New Year’s Eve) and just screwed up from start to finish. I won’t go into all of the gory details, but it started with forgetting my cell phone and gas money and ended with me somehow unplugging the entire sound system during the middle of a song. And that wasn’t even the worst of it. I mean, I didn’t ruin the evening – people had a lot of fun and several people came over to thank me. But whenever their wedding reception comes up, they will say, “God, that dj was awful!” Shockingly, I did not receive a tip.
I feel like I should send the couple a note apologizing for all of the glitches. Continue reading “Depressed DJ For Hire”
Thinking Makes It So
“There’s nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” – Shakespeare
I picked up this quote back in my senior year in high school while reading Hamlet for class. When I got to college, I wrote it on a piece of paper and taped it to the wall above my bed. It’s on my facebook page right now.
This quote has always spoken to me about the importance of perspective, responsibility and choice. It says to me that the way I see something – the emotions I associate with it, my analysis of what is going on, the assumptions I make about motivations – is a choice. If one of my kids says something which is unintentionally rude, I can chose to laugh or be offended. Sometimes I might have a good reason to be offended, but if I can, I’m going to laugh. It’s a choice. And that extends from the biggest things to the smallest things. I can choose how to view things rather than just go with random gut reactions. Continue reading “Thinking Makes It So”
A New Year’s Resolution for the Overwhelmed, Forgetful and Easily Distracted
I hate New Year’s resolutions. Hate them. The worst part of New Year’s day for me was always when the qxh (quasi-ex-husband) would pull out a piece of paper and write “Trotter Family Resolutions” across the top. So we could “pull them out at the end of the year and see how we did”. Great, another completely unrealistic standard to feel bad about not meeting. Just what I need!
The other day I read an article which advised that the key to keeping this year’s resolutions was to set up specific targets. Like “I will exercise 3 times a week and lose 25 lbs by April 1.” Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Seriously. That’s what it said. Like the two are related. Continue reading “A New Year’s Resolution for the Overwhelmed, Forgetful and Easily Distracted”
Fear of the Lord
Proverbs famously says that fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. Old time fire and brimstone preachers said this meant we were to live in fear of the coming judgment. Others, pointing to the finished work of Christ said that we need not fear judgment and that this verse was simply saying that we needed to have an attitude of reverence towards God. Or it was fear like a child has of their parents. But the word used is fear, not reverence and using fear to control children is rapidly falling out of favor.
I have come to my own understanding of this verse. I think that fear of God comes from really knowing that God does not respect our limits. This is a God who created a world of predators and prey. This is a God who made a world with mosquitoes and earthquakes. Why would God create a world like this? A lot of people embrace some version of religion which denies that God did create a world like this. Continue reading “Fear of the Lord”
The Theology of Poop
Would it weird you out to know that I do much of my praying on the porcelain throne? In my house, the toilet is one of the few places I can have some hope of being left alone for ten minutes at a time. My daily devotional book and my favorite bible have pretty permanent spots there. It may seem odd, but really, it’s quite apropos. Allow me to explain.
In the bible, the words of scripture, the words of God and Jesus – the word made flesh – are all compared to food. Continue reading “The Theology of Poop”
Be a candle
Loneliness can be a deep, vast sea to those who have no one waiting for them on shore. Open your heart to someone you know is floating in a sea of despair, their head barely above the waterline. Stop in for a visit, jot them an email, or give them a call. The fact that someone cares might be enough to give them the fortitude they need to start paddling. ~ by Sandra Kring
My parents have always kept a subscription to the Chicago Tribune. So from the age of about 11 on, I was an avid daily reader of Dear Abby and Ann Landers. Over the years, I was always a bit amazed that the same complaints appeared over and over again; intrusive questions about fertility, noisy chewers, comments about children with disabilities. Ann and Abby had already answered these questions many times before, people! Weren’t you paying attention? Even my friends at school read Ann and Abby most days. In an argument, Ann or Abby’s opinion was a trump card – they had that kind of authority. Continue reading “Be a candle”
“Shut Up, Mommy,” Saith the toddler
Tonight, I was telling Olivia, my sweet just about 2 year old, to keep her grubby mitts off the food that was waiting to go into the oven. She got frustrated with me, grabbed a piece of paper and pretending to read it, said, “shut up, mommy” and handed it to me with a humph. Oh goodness. I just laughed at her and moved her away … Continue reading “Shut Up, Mommy,” Saith the toddler
Prayers that get answered
Prayer used to confuse me. Or I should say, prayers asking for specific outcomes used to confuse me. Like, “please let my car start” or “please let that guy I have a crush on notice me”. Worthy or not, these are the “please give me what I want” category of prayers. Or sometimes “please let reality not be reality for me just this once”. I used to pray such prayers with great fervency. Jesus said ask and you shall receive. If I just believed enough, it would be granted to me. It was prayer as magic. But magic isn’t real. And it never worked. As a matter of fact, people who spend any time around me will tell you that I have remarkably bad luck. I got 5 flat tires this summer. At least twice a year my mail is returned to the sender for no apparent reason. And those are almost always two pieces of mail with money in them. As a child, I got sick and missed the class field trip 3 years in a row. It was probably the only time I was sick all year. That’s just the way it has always been for me. I don’t know why. Continue reading “Prayers that get answered”
The Upside Down World 