 |
| Eric Montross at UNC |
Other than that, not much is springing to mind. How many times have I been in this predicament while writing this blog? Too many. I was talking to Marion Youngblood, who is a fellow blogger, last week, and she has trouble getting her posts up, too... not because she is drawing a blank, but because she just doesn’t feel like sitting down to bang it out. She’s a fantastic woman, by the way – a certified life coach who dispenses wisdom to her clients and at marionyoungblood.com/blog/. She’s truly been an inspiration to me in terms following my gut, professionally speaking.
 |
| Marion Youngblood |
When I was working at my last “office job,” she encouraged me in a big way to go freelance, and when I did, the company she worked for was one of my first clients. Having coffee with her last Monday was a bit like a shot of Red Bull! Her exuberance is plain to all who meet her, and our conversation was animated, but not frenzied. We talked about our lives and our work – catching up, but also going deeper, discussing spiritual aspects of our lives.
I don’t know when the occupation “life coach” became a thing, but I can see how it would be helpful to people. I guess some folks see their problems in a more compartmental fashion, like, “I have a problem at work,” or, “I’m having a hard time with a particular relationship,” or, “I have a headache.”
It’s my experience, however, that it’s rarely just one thing. It may start as one thing, but it inevitably shoots out tentacles that wriggle into other parts of our lives. For instance, at the early part of the year, my business fell off a bit, producing strain between my husband and myself, and stress for our whole family... which led to headaches and digestive problems.
 |
| Jonathan Acuff, a prolific blogger |
Often, when I am in the middle of such a spiral, I can’t see the forest for the trees. In these cases, it could be helpful to have someone who can look in from the outside, see all the pieces and how they fit together, and help you get a better view so you can move them around ‘til they fit better. Because sometimes it’s not the pieces, but how you are viewing them that is the problem.
But that’s not actually what I was starting out to write about. I guess I was just writing about blogging. Even for a dynamo like Marion, it’s not always easy to get those posts out there. I don’t know how prolific bloggers like Jon Acuff (left) do it. He is the son of a former pastor from our church, and he has not one but TWO blogs that he updates pretty frequently: jonacuff.com/blog/, and jonacuff.com/stuffchristianslike/.
 |
| Jon's book... well, one of them! |
He has quite the following and comments out the wazoo. He even published a popular book called Stuff Christians Like, with an offshoot page-a-day calendar. How does he come up with topics? Does he ever run out of things to say? If so, what does he do? Does he wait until he gets an idea? Does he try to conjure one? Does he just start typing and hope that something worth reading comes out? Like I’m doing right now? Actually it’s kind of a goocher that I mention both Marion and Jon Acuff in the same post, because they both have things to say about following your dreams / gut in your professional life. Jon’s other book is called, Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job and Your Dream Job.
Anyway... If I’m going to join these two ideas together, I guess I could wonder whether my lack of meaningful blog fodder is not my real problem, but a one of those places where a tentacle branching off from a real problem has wriggled its way in, and is making itself known. But what IS my real problem?
 |
| In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus comes out against worrying. |
Maybe it’s just how I'm looking at things. I mean, I’m sitting here at cub scouts, rolling my eyes, constantly checking my email on my phone, looking at my watch and thinking what a pain in the ass it is... when I could be watching the kids do hilarious things (a very nerdy looking redheaded scout with glasses just gave a short speech, which he ended with a rapper/gang hand signal), and thinking about how scouts is going to help Bill grow up to be a fine young gentleman. I could be thanking my lucky stars for the guys who lead the pack, plan and direct the activities, track the achievements... I could be getting to know the other parents... I bet they all have fascinating stories.
 |
| I took this blurry pic of Eric Montross at cub scouts. I think he might be a giant. |
So... is the problem that I so often fail to live in the moment? Even my attempts to bury my head in my blog show that I am not giving this moment my all. Maybe if I fully embodied each moment, I would have more to say? I don’t know... just speculating. I am not that familiar with Buddhism, but I am thinking that living in the present is a sort of Buddhist thing. But I think Jesus also addressed this issue in Matthew 6 when He told listeners not to worry about the future - what they would eat or drink or wear. “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Part of me argues that if I don’t multitask, some tasks will remain undone. Or maybe if I focus on each task, maybe each task will take less time...? Or maybe some tasks don’t actually NEED to be done...? I guess the trick is to figure out which ones...
All I know is, had I not been paying attention earlier (ie. "living in the moment"), I might have missed seeing Eric Montross, who, according to Wikipedia played basketball at UNC-Chapel Hill and also with various NBA teams. And even if you aren’t into sports, it’s not that often that you get to see a seven-foot-tall man... am I right?
No comments:
Post a Comment