A few weeks ago my nine year old, Tim, declared that he wasn’t going to wear a Halloween costume this year. I didn’t press the issue. He’s at the edge of tweendom, and I know better than to force my desire to keep him a child just a little longer.
Last weekend his dad took him to the costume shop, though, hoping he’d be inspired. Which he was. He came home with a Knight of Narnia outfit, complete with helmet and sword. He had neither read The Chronicles of Narnia nor seen the film The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. He just thought the costume was cool.
I suggested that he read the books (which were already on his bookshelf among the other hand-me-downs from his older brothers) so he could understand the story behind his costume, and he shrugged me off. He’s like that. He enjoys reading once he starts, but he’ll fight the idea of reading, particularly when the suggestion comes from Mom.
This morning I stepped into Tim’s room to find he’d read half of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He excitedly explained his costume to me. Later he came running from his room to tell me he understood the words written on his sword.
When Aslan Shakes His Mane/We Shall Have Spring Again.
When Aslan Bares His Teeth/Winter Meets it’s Death.
“They’re from a poem,” he said. “The spring really did return. And winter never came back.”
There’s nothing more exciting for me, as a mom, than seeing one of my kids in the middle of a discovery. I didn’t hound Tim to read the book. I dropped the suggestion then walked away. A week later, I’m sure if you asked him he’d tell you he thought of reading the book on his own. He won’t even remember that I mentioned it. Which is absolutely fine with me.
October 28, 2007 – 11:47 am
I know this stuff is probably less than interesting to anyone living outside of my own head, but then, maybe it’s not. And even if it seems boring now maybe someday in retrospect it’ll have shown to be useful to someone else.
I do know that the act of writing it all in a such a public way helps me. Maybe I should make this a regularly scheduled update.
Where do things stand right now?
I’ve come to understand some things. One is that I’m not that great at marketing myself. I was asked last week “What kind of work are you looking for?” and I couldn’t answer the question. I need to really narrow and clarify the focus of what I have to offer and who I can and should offer it to. I have an opportunity here to jump into a rapidly emerging field, but I’m not sure how to find the doors that are cracked open, or how to get more than the tip of my toe in if I do find them. I know I need to reach out for help with this but I’m not sure who to reach out to. Finding the answer to that should probably be my next step.
I’m really looking at six to twelve more months of the kind of freedom most people aren’t fortunate enough to ever have once they’ve graduated from college. I need to decide how best to use this freedom to learn and place myself in a position to take advantage of opportunities that hopefully come my way (once I figure out that marketing myself stuff!)
Something else I’ve come to understand- while I love the design work I do for Pixel Currents, and I do want to continue with it at least on a part-time basis, I’m not sure that working on my own, especially to the extent I’d have to in order to bring in a decent income, is what I really want. In fact I’m surprised to realize that I’m pretty cool with the idea of jumping onto someone else’s bandwagon, but bringing along an instrument that they hadn’t considered playing, then making a new type of music together.
But maybe that shouldn’t surprise me. I’ve always been happy to be the implementer or problem solver rather than the decider :). I’m ok with letting someone else have the Big Idea, then helping them find ways to make it really work. In fact to me that sounds like more fun than trying to create my own Big Ideas.
So.
I’ve got some thoughts on where I’d like to end up, but I’m not quite ready to blog about them. I wonder if I’m dragging things out unnecessarily? I don’t know. This is new territory for me. I’m anxious to see where it all leads, but I’m not going to rush through. I’ve already sped through too much of life so I’m taking things slowly and taking it all in this time. Stay tuned, I guess!
October 24, 2007 – 3:27 pm
Some days I just can’t get myself going. This is one of them. I made myself a very short to do list, but none of it had to be done today. My brain kicked into procrastinator mode.
I sat outside to read, having only a small bit left in A Thousand Splendid Suns (excellent, by the way) for my book club tomorrow night, but I was distracted by the warm winds through the leaves and the quick-moving clouds as they progressed from fluffy white to ominous gray. I finally put the book down with only a couple page left, not because I wasn’t enjoying the book (I am!) but my concentration was shot.
Finally I decided to let the rest of the day take me where it takes me. Not going to do anything else just because I should be doing it.
And I changed the date on the to do list to tomorrow.
October 23, 2007 – 3:47 pm
I’ve been following the news of the fires in Southern California for the past few days.
I have family in the Ontario/San Bernardino area, and I’ve sent an email to my cousin (haven’t heard back yet). I’m pretty sure they’re safe, but one of my cousins is in law enforcement so even if his home and family are safe I’m sure he’s in the thick of it.
A new Twitter friend Queen of Spain is practically surrounded by fires but safe at home for now, twittering updates. The LAFD and San Diego PBS station are also on Twitter. They’re using it to broadcast updates for residents. A Twitter member can add these accounts and get the updates via the web or SMS. It’s a fantastic way to keep people who opt in informed.
Wired.com has a story about how some other Twitter users are sending updates.
It looks like communications, especially in the San Diego area, are breaking down, and to me that’s the scariest effect of a disaster, the inability to stay in touch with family and friends. My thoughts are with everyone affected!
(edit- heard from my cousin all are ok.)
October 23, 2007 – 11:33 am
I’ve done much thinking and pondering and researching and soul-searching and, well, here ya go.
Ch-ch-changes…
October 18, 2007 – 11:36 am
