Pfunksfoolosophy

Every day I walk around and communicate with folks and every day I wonder what exactly it is that drives me to do so; I mean, I am not a ‘people’ person.  Sure, I like to help people out when they need directions, but to be frank with you, I do it because I know that eventually they’ll leave me alone.

Well, I HOPE that they’ll leave me alone. Therein lies the challenge for today: Expectations. We carry around a lot of expectations. I wonder why…perhaps we’ve all been groomed to ‘expect’ that someone will say ‘thank you’ when you’ve held the door for them, so when they don’t, we feel absolutley slighted. It’s just ‘common courtesy’ isn’t it? We complain to our friends about it. Someone did something that wasn’t expected. Someone deviated from OUR norm. It’s funny.

Maybe we’re better served by appreciating rather than expecting. To my mind, expecting sets us up for disappointment, but appreciating allows us to experience the positive.  I don’t expect to wake up every morning, but I’m appreciative that I’ve been given a second chance when I do wake up. Sometimes I’m even surprised. That sounds fatalistic to some, but it’s not. Realistically speaking, how can we be sure that we’re gonna wake up?
If you thought today was your last day on earth, would you treat people any differently? Would you cut people more slack or less? Would you speak the truth, not to hurt another but to encourage? How judgmental would you really be if today was your last day on the planet? Would you love your family more or less? Would you mend fences?
What do you want from your fellow man or woman? Do you want understanding?
Or, like me…do you want to be left alone to eat as much ice cream as humanly possible?
Lots of questions only you can answer.

Foolosophy ain’t a science…

Let’s challenge ourselves today. Let’s see if we can discover something special about today.

I’d really be interested to see how grateful you are for what you have and for what you don’t have.

Here’s my list for today:

I’m grateful for the love of my family and friends.

I’m grateful for life.

I’m grateful for choices.

I’m grateful that I am able to see the positive side in most situations.

I’m grateful I can blog today.

I’m grateful for today.

I’m grateful for my job, even if I do crab about it.

I’m grateful that I’m not a victim, but a survivor.

I’m grateful for you, if you’re reading this.
Let’s see how we can promote gratitude today. One step at a time, one moment at a time…

I took the day off yesterday (from writing) and did a bit of thinking about life and what’s important to me and relevant to my personal development. This war is making me nuts, the situation in Darfur saddens me to no end, and we’ve still got many, many Americans living below the poverty line. (I am one of them) What to do?
Well, I’ve adopted a soldier and plan to write to him/her once a week. Yep, I’m going to bore some poor sap to tears. My way of saying thanks for putting yourself in harm’s way. Thank you for participating in a war that makes no sense. Mind you, war as a rule doesn’t make sense, but you catch my drift. Oil. Money. Hmm.

I don’t want my blog to end up being a political rant. Any jerk can point out the problem; it takes a real genius to come up with reasonable answers. Guess what? I’m just any jerk.

My only solution is to attempt to help by adopting a soldier  and divesting. It’s not such a sacrifice. As you can tell, I like to write. I’m usually broke, so boycotting Coca Cola or Fidelity Investments will NOT be a hardship.

I do suggest that you take a look at miafarrow.org if you’re truly interested in helping with regard to Darfur. I’d love to be able to fix everything with my good wishes, but it isn’t enough. What if we could all put our egos aside and not have to be right to make others wrong? What if we could feed every hungry child and shelter every homeless family?
What if all of our talk meant something tangible?
There are plenty of people out there who don’t want to have an actor tell them about Darfur or Hurricane Katrina or politics–look, I’d like to pimp slap Alec Baldwin myself, but I had to really think about it: these actors are US citizens first. They’re allowed to voice their opinions just as much as I am…maybe I should get off their backs and get on the ball.

Hm. NOW I’ve gone and done it…I’ve started thinking, again. Trust me, it won’t last.

As you know, I’ve been freelancing and trying to generate more money as I am ‘underemployed’–that’s just a sweet way of saying ‘broke’.  I received an email from a collaborator friend of mine who runs a studio in the city and he offered me an opportunity. I’m stoked because if all goes well, I’ll be exposed to industry insiders who will be swept away by my charm and talent…Yes, I know…but I can dare to dream.

You never know where your blessing is going to come from, do you? I think it goes back to cultivating friendships, checking in every now and again and really being present in the lives of your loved ones. Keep your fingers crossed.

Like in ‘A Chorus Line’: I hope I get it.