The lost art of spontaneity

A few days ago, I sent a message to 20 or so of my friends and simply asked if anyone would like to get dinner. I got only got 4 responses from people saying they were busy or had prior commitments. This really shouldn't surprise me. We live in a planned out, "know what you're doing for every minute of the next three weeks" kind of world. Don't get me wrong, this is not a blog about how angry I am at those people for having other stuff to do. In fact, I am probably worse at being spontaneous than most people. If it's not in my planner, highlighted with the appropriate color I may not be able to do it. Even if it's not written down I at least need a thought that it might happen in order to plan it into my day accordingly.

This really gets me in to trouble. I get upset with people if they bail on plans we have. Or if someone didn't have the same thought about when we would hang out I mentally freak out a little bit and have a hard time adjusting my schedule. I think this is a really bad habit I have developed. I want to be good and just dropping the not-so-important daily tasks to spend time with people I love or leaving chunks of time open in my day so I can be spontaneous.

This is going to take a lot of conscious effort on my part. In fact, I think I'll make it a New Years resolution of sorts. I'll really have to work hard at it. But if you're reading this - feel free to help me to work on it! Go ahead, call me for coffee.

One Word: Finals

I've officially done everything possible to avoid studying more for finals, which are THIS WEEK. Panic is beginning to set in, but not quickly enough to stop me from writing this blog.

To procrastinate so far I have:
Found a fantastic coffee shop in Tucson that sells clover press coffee, which reminds me of Vancouver, which makes me exceedingly happy.
Watched all 3 Christmas songs on YouTube that Jason Mraz has up. This one is my favorite.
Made pumpkin banana bread - which taught me that more bananas are not always better.
Done laundry: yes I even did that.
Watched SNL on Hulu (I'm now obsessed with The Mellow Show)
Checked my e-mail at least 264 times.

Now, this was the final step so I really should get on to studying now...
Until I return enjoy this picture of my Christmas festivities (setting up the tree with my roommates and homemade eggnog!) thus far:

It's (almost) that time of year again...

Yes. Get excited. My annual e-mail Christmas countdown will start on December 1st. You get a fun little e-mail with the days left until Christmas, some seasonal trivia, and cool links. So if you would like to get these little gems in your inbox for 26 days, comment with your e-mail address!

Drizzle, Fall and Cousins

As I explained in my last post, I went to New Jersey to visit my fantastic cousin who goes to Princeton Theological Seminary. It was a refreshing trip filled with talking, sleeping, walking in the rain, enjoying the leaves, eating and thinking. I'll give you some pictures to explain.

And that is why I had a simply lovely time :)

poetry

I'm sitting across the country from where I usually am, in fact I am in Small World Coffee in Princeton, NJ. Sigh. I love traveling.

My super fantastic cousin gave me a birthday card/present yesterday (he knows me well, even though it's months after my birthday I definitely appreciate a present). In the card he wrote part of the poem The Golden Journey to Smarkland.

Pause for a second - I have to tell you - I don't usually like poetry. I wish I loved poetry, but in all honesty, most of the time I just. don't. get. it. This is really frustrating for me. It's so beautiful and expressing such emotion and I just miss all of that because my brain is not wired to really understand the nuances of writing.

On that note I will now say, I love the poem he wrote in my card. It expresses a how I feel a lot of the time, particularly when I travel. So here it is:

THE GOLDEN JOURNEY TO SAMARKAND

We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go
Always a little further: it may be
Beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow,
Across that angry or that glimmering sea,

White on a throne or guarded in a cave
There lives a prophet who can understand
Why men were born: but surely we are brave,
Who take the Golden Road to Samarkand.

Sweet to ride forth at evening from the wells
When shadows pass gigantic on the sand,
And softly through the silence beat the bells
Along the Golden Road to Samarkand.

We travel not for trafficking alone;
By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned:
For lust of knowing what should not be known
We make the Golden Journey to Samarkand.

-James Elroy Flecker

Seriously, November?

For real. October flew by. I don't even know where it went. Yesterday I was still living the life, starting clinical at 8, thinking Halloween was weeks off. Halloween flew by, without candy for trick-or-treaters and now, Thanksgiving is weeks off and I'm buying Christmas stuff at Target.

I've been working on being present. I have a hard time only focusing on the future, or the past. Most of my thoughts revolve around what I need to do, what I did yesterday, what I should be doing. It's okay and even good for me to think about those things, but I'm also trying to focus on the here and now. So this is my way of doing all of that at 10 p.m. on a Thursday night:

A few things to look back on for October: I passed a really hard test, I dressed up by wearing my snuggie on Halloween, I went to U2 in concert, I visited my parents, and had clinical in the ICU and Emergency Department.

Things to look forward to in November: A psych test, going to Princeton, NJ to visit my cousin and sister, Thanksgiving, and the official start of the Christmas season.

For now, I'm going to embrace the warm weather, freshly cleaned sheets, my pineapple cilantro candle and the fact that I have a roof over my head and food in my belly.

And because I love adding random pictures, one of my roommates and I on Halloween.

The Right to be Ridiculous is One that I Hold Dear

Well, this past week I went to see U2 in concert. It was truly epic. The title of my blog is one of my favorite lines from Crazy Tonight, off their new CD No Line on The Horizon.

Besides playing incredible music and putting on a great show for 2 hours Bono did several other cool things, like recognize and sing for Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese President who has been under house arrest since her election in 1990. He also made a plug for One. I have a theory that one big reason he is still famous is becuase he does something with his fame. He believes he can make a difference and is trying to do so to positively impact our world. That is something I really respect and why I will continue to support U2 by paying for expensive concert tickets and cds.