I'm in Industry

Earlier this week, I mentioned how in my effort to clear my home and mind of clutter, I had trashed the notes I'd taken on Karim Rashid's book, Design Yourself.


Last night, they resurfaced; although their discovery confirmed that I'm not as good at clearing spaces as I had previously assumed, this morning, I'm thankful for that.  


So much has happened this week and so much isn't going to happen anytime soon that I feel like a stranger in my own life. 

Friends with cancer, friends now separate instead of together, plans put on hold while boards decide fates - all is a bit much for my ADD self to manage on its own;
I need Karim's advice this morning.


In the past, at times instead of managing my life, I've ignored it instead.  But if life is a verb and I'm inactive, does that mean I'm dying instead of living?  Eek! Help, Karim!


Karim: Yo, Ali, you called? 


Ali: Um, uh, hey Karim.  Sorry to bother you with my figurative cry for help, but thanks for answering.


Karim: Well, I heard it from across the river; you're pretty loud -  it was kind of hard to ignore.  


Ali: (silence).


Karim: Listen, I'll make this quick because I'm in the middle of something: stop lollygagging about.  Like my book says, you need to learn to respond to the present - it's all we have and the more we are surrounded by it, the more alive we are.  Isn't that the whole point of this blog project of yours? Gotta run - TTFN, dollface.




That Karim - he's so right: this is my year of choosing carefully; this is my life as I blog it and although I can't control the universe, I can control how I react to it. 


Wow, this is turning into such a self-help book; I always knew I was the white Oprah.


Anita Shreve wrote these words of wisdom here; I've always agreed with them but today, I'm going to officially add them to my repertoire:

I have found, in my adult life, that the best cure for melancholy is industry.

Designing one's life is hard work but when one considers the alternative, it certainly doesn't feel like work (which is a good thing because Karim says that if it feels like work, it's not worth it).   


You know what feels like work?  What really weighs on water? 


Hopelessness. Helplessness. Frustration. Sadness.

Thank goodness for blogging: the practice of writing, the art of it, the construction of sentences, the consideration of images = industry at its best.

My best.

Ok, I gotta run - I need to get back to work designing my life. 

Thanks for the advice, Karim.