Who knew a scale could be made by a company called Toledo… so that when you’re running a bit higher than your normal weight you could scream, “Holy Toledo?” I’m sure I would not enjoy that product one bit. Anyway, I was walking back from what seemed like a million miles march in the park with Phyllis today and I passed by a tree with a huge growth on the side of the trunk that I later learned is called a burl. It almost looked like a huge fake piece of rounded bark was added to this fairly skinny tree and it got me thinking about unwanted growth(s) and covering up one’s external flaws, which is pretty shallow.
So when my thinking ventured beyond the steps and into the deep end of the thinking pool, I was pondering personal growth– specifically when this growth is forced upon us. Like when we have to learn something new, and we aren’t into the topic or the method of delivery. For instance, a new software package is introduced at work and nobody wants to use it. Or when our bank changes the dashboard, and we can’t find a thing besides our balance, and we really need to just pay a bill, but all the menus are suddenly different.
Everything nowadays has two-factor authentication and passwords that are least eight digits long but no more than twenty and can’t have repeating letters or your name or numbers in order and must have an uppercase letter a lowercase letter, a unique character and a number. Jesus!! If I can’t even get into my own account how the hell is a thief going to crack my code? I have hit “I forgot my password” more times this month than ever before. And every time I use another device (my laptop, desktop, phone or iPad) to log in, that device must know the new password and be authenticated too. Are thieves really that sophisticated? Yeah, yeah, I know they are– but I’m not.
When I first started blogging (back in January of this year) I had to learn how to use this new software platform and I was frustrated because I just wanted to write! But instead I was forced to take the time to learn about navigating copy blocks, where to find pictures and how to best insert them into the posts, how to create and manage a photo library, etc. Now I fly around the pages working on multiple posts at one time without even thinking about the mechanics of creating the story and I’m totally focused on the writing itself. It’s become intuitive to me, just like that annoying software at work that I no longer think about and I just use.
Remember in The Karate Kid when Mr. Miyagi asked Danielson to show him Wax On/Wax Off, Paint The Fence, and Sand The Floor? What a moment! And just like that, Daniel Larusso became the actual karate kid. Oooh I get the goosebumps just thinking about that pivotal moment!
One of my pandemic goals was to become fluent in French. I took seven years of the language but didn’t retain all that much from high school. And Michael is fluent, which should help, so I’ve even asked for a “word of the day” game, but it isn’t working. And as much as I’d love to dive into an unlimited subscription to Babbel, I haven’t. It seems too hard, and my brain is crowded already, and I make too many excuses to not do it, which tells me that I don’t want it badly enough or I’d be practicing verb conjugation and not blogging.
jenslittleblackbook.com 