Earlier this morning when I was cleaning out my purse (aka, The Receipt Graveyard), I discovered a spoon. No officer, I have no idea how long it's been in there but I promise it's one from my own collection. Rest assured, you're not dealing with a klepto wreaking havoc on the flatware supply at local eateries. I might have also found a contact lens case, bottle of nail polish and tweezers. If ever I'm dropped onto the set of a reality survival show with only my purse, I'm confident that I would give the likes of Bear Grylis a run for their money.
After that little exercise in sanity restoration, as I was out running I came to the conclusion that the contents of my purse is actually a pretty accurate illustration of my summer: chaotic, unorganized, but full of some pretty good stuff. I'm thinking the same thing you are - "Is she really drawing parallels between her purse and a season? Where is she going with this?" Yes, I am, and your guess is as good as mine.
Work is always a little bit nutso during the summer. This summer was nutso times infinity. Yes, that measure is totally valid and reliable. In the grand scheme of things, my job is a great one. I'm hoping for no more summers like this one though. On the days I managed to escape for meetings or lunch, upon return I was often greeted in the parking lot by folks with questions. Which is awesome considering how sunny and rain free this summer was. My lunch served a dual-purpose as conditioning for my next career as a competitive eater. I've managed to take a full 20 seconds off of scarfing down a turkey sandwich. Actually I have no idea about that because who has time to time something? There have been many times though when I had to take a Zach Morris time out to keep things in perspective. My work is important and it matters and I cannot lose sight of that for my students, but at the same time, I am not a surgeon with a patient on a table bleeding out in front of me.
Speaking of perspective, I think more often than not, we tend to remember the stressors of life far more than we remember the sweet spots. I mean, for the love of pete, I just rambled on about my first-world problems ranging from the excessive junk in my purse all the way to having to hurry to eat my lunch so that I could get back to work because I have the ability to help folks with something pertaining to their college education.
Regarding the sweet spots, I am thankful that this summer served up many opportunities for times with precious friends and family. It's not the places we went or the meals we ate or the musicians we saw that I will remember most, but it will be the people I was with and the conversations and laughter shared when doing all of those fun things. By nature I'm a bit of a planner and I love my routine and my daily schedule as much as any good Type A, first-born, basically only-child does. As I look back on this summer though, some of the best times were the spontaneous ones. My mama said to me the other day "oh Heather, just roll with it." To which I promptly replied "I did not plan on spontaneity today." [Did I end up following her advice? Yes. What she right all along? Oh, probably.]
As a proponent of less is more, I realize that there's no time like the present to stop yammering on endlessly. Now that I'm at the end the whole thing seems a bit scattered and chaotic. But "you know, Neitzsche says 'out of chaos comes order'". Here's hoping Blazing Saddles (and Neitzsche) is right.
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