(no subject)
It's been so relaxing to spend a week at home! The weather has been amazing (think 60's to 80's), we got to go to the lake house for a few days, watched the amazing Olympic opening and games, got to work outside tearing off our deck, and visited several friends at 2 different BBQ's. Normally I wouldn't count tearing off a deck as fun & relaxing, but it's been so long since I've done something like that. I caught myself actualy enjoying it. :-P
So tomorrow I head back to Dallas. I'm not quite ready to go yet, but I realize that I have my own life to get back to, and I can't continue this escape for too long. Home has always seemed like this warm, comfortable and unchanging place to me, but the older I get the more I appreciate the environment and quality of life here. I think I have a pretty nice house (I would love to have one like this in the future), and I start to look at it as a challenge: When will I do this well or be able to have a place and atmosphere like this? (although th atmosphere is mostly the family part) How far do I have to go to get here? It feels so safe and comfortable to me now, but I didnt have to work for it. What are the requirements to achieve this? It may be simpler than I think, but I know my parents went through a LOT before they got to this point.
One of today's Google quotes by Bertrand Russell caught my attention.
"The main things which seem to me important on their own account, and not merely as means to other things, are knowledge, art, instinctive happiness, and relations of friendship or affection."
This is a variation of Socrates' spiel on what things are worth knowing for their own sake (just figured I'd throw that reference out there). It caught my attention because in my school and business oriented life, it seems like I dismiss these things as unimportant because they arent really getting me anywhere. This happens subconsciously, and its only afterwards that I tend to realize my mistake. I think one of the things that made college life so fun was the fact that things like knowledge, art, instintive happiness and friendships came more naturally rather than being the occasional novelty. Post-college, there is so much focus on getting ahead, getting out of debt, or outdoing/proving yourself to others, that anything that is not directly contributing to your progress tends to get ignored. I am not happy about this. There's only one life to live here.
I'm lucky to have the friends I do, and I think I used to be a better friend than I have been recently. Sorry guys, my head is in the sand/clouds half the time. :-/