A woman I worked with some time ago told me that in order for me to make massive changes in my life, I would have to change myself by about two percent. Surely, she’s mad, I thought. What’s needed here is a full out 180 degree turnaround, a 100% re-imagining of who and what I am. Anything short of that is going to fall short of the mark. Read more…
As I rode on my eleventh subway of the day last week, or perhaps it my third cab, it occurred to me that I had little comprehension of where I’d been or where I was going. My bag was strapped to my back, heavy with books, water, an umbrella, a mini dop kit, a shirt or two, maybe some socks, who knows, and I was going over some lines in my head for a rehearsal, or maybe I was humming a vocal exercise, no, I was making notes for a blog entry, anyway, I was hungry and couldn’t remember if I’d eaten, or how old that power bar in my bag was, or if the Q train stopped at 23rd St. This is typical.
I’m glad to be busy, but there’s a downside to all this activity, namely that you burn out quickly. I have never in my life wanted to do so much, and done so much, and I have never in my life been so tired to the bone. I’m going with the “sleep when you’re dead” philosophy, but it’s dawning on me that I could, in fact, be hastening my demise with too many 21 hour days and seven day weeks.
Two things. One, I spend a lot of time on subways. Two, I believe in “choice of focus.” Anything can be looked at from more than one angle, and we make choices in what we choose to focus on. So as I drifted along one day, deep underground, and I felt frustration set in at being in some dingy metal can for the fifth time in five hours, I put my own belief to the test. What could be good about this? What am I not seeing that’s right in front of me?
Wow.
These are just a few examples. Click for larger views.
