Tom Petty knowledge

Waiting. It often is not easy.

Waiting for the phone alarm to go off -- 

waiting for this boredom to go away -- 

waiting for the money to hit the account

Waiting, on the water in the shower to get warm

Waiting for this cringe self-talk to shut up -- 

waiting for the coffee order -- 

waiting for the meds in the mail

Waiting, for a scattershot heart to finally settle down

Waiting for that app notification -- 

waiting for that friend to figure it out -- 

waiting until my coffee cools before trying a sip

Waiting, on a sunny day

Waiting for the forward pass -- 

waiting to burp until she's walked away -- 

waiting for life to start

Waiting, for life to slow down

Waiting to feel more grown up -- 

waiting for this coffee to kick in -- 

waiting until lunch to eat

Waiting, counting down the weeks and days

Waiting to feel not so lost -- 

waiting on that new album to drop -- 

waiting to hear his laugh again

Waiting, for the pitch

Waiting for the test results -- 

waiting to say the words you've longed to say -- 

waiting for summer

Waiting, with imperfect patience

Waiting to snack because we just ate lunch -- 

waiting for the sunscreen to soak in -- 

waiting to find the perfect meme before replying

Waiting, until the time is finally here

Waiting patiently on the Lord -- 

waiting for the coffee to wear off -- 

waiting to share some good news

Waiting, to take back control of the aux cord

Waiting for justice -- 

waiting for these clouds to move -- 

waiting to fold the laundry 

Waiting, on hope, faith, love--

We're waiting

Cookie Monster, main character vibes, Alex the lion, yes vs no

 -It's been one of those weeks where every day kinda feels like an entire week all by itself. 

-When I was a kid, I broke one of my collarbones. Because I didn't break a limb, they couldn't use a cast. I had to wear this half-nelson sling for a few months. Not comfortable. It taught me for some aches and pains, we have no choice but to heal out in the open.

-It is a grace from God that we as human beings do not have to keep track of everything we need to do. I never have to remind my heart to keep beating. This is good! My eyes remember to blink all by themselves. I have a enough trouble remembering to drink enough water, or to eat a proper amount of vegetables.

-I still harbor disappoint about Cookie Monster going corporate and giving up cookies for vegetables. He sold out.

-The strongest friendships and working relationships I have are those where we've fought, and then have done the careful, intentional work of mending fences.

-On prayer: I'd be way worse off in life if God had said 'yes' to every prayer I've uttered. Praise the Lord for the 'no, I've got a better idea for you' answers.

-I ran out of bread crumbs once when preparing to bake a meal, and substituted flax seed to make up the difference. Bad idea. Quite a bad idea. 

-What in life is worth celebrating? What was worth celebrating last week? Remember. It's calming to think on such awesome stuff, to write them all down, and to recall. 

-Speaking of: gratitude and giving thanks are not synonymous. Gratitude is how we can feel. Giving thanks implies something we do, and verbalize.

-Look for the glory in people, and point it out to them that you see it, and what you see.

-C.S. Lewis: "If you do one good deed, your reward is usually to be set to do another and harder and better one."

-An underrated way to succeed in most of life is to do boring stuff really well.

-One of the counterintuitive lessons I've learned is that I do not have to need to have the same role in other people's lives. Sure, I'm a main character in a few people's stories. 

Way, way more often though, I'm a cameo. A walk-on. Perhaps a recurring character, but usually part of the background. My role differs from person to person. This is also one of the most freeing realities I've realized. 

It's probably the same for you. You and I, we don't need to muster main character energy for everything and for everywhere.

-Yesterday, one of y'all challenged me yesterday to a race through that bouncy obstacle course on the Quad. I felt honored to be challenged. And surprised. Highlight of my day yesterday. I did try to win, but in retrospect, glad I took the L -- winning probably would have brought more challenges, and more times tripping through that bouncy course. Once was plenty good.

-A best friend of mine has long been a fan of old BMW's. Until I heard him talk about them, I never noticed these vehicles on the road. Now, I see them all the time. Don't know about you, but it seems like I have to know something's name before I can truly begin to see it. 

And this doesn't just apply to cars.

-I'm thankful for my father. I know lots of people who felt pressure from their dads to pursue a vocation, to carry on the family name. Not my dad. He never, ever put that on us to follow in his footsteps (even though he had the same job as his dad). He wanted us to work hard with whatever we ended up doing. Aside from that, he didn't express much preference on where we applied ourselves. What a relief. 

Speaking of parents, what are some ways your parents have done well in how they're raising you? You should tell them.

-On considering different viewpoints: I've been persuaded in life more by patience and presence than by arguments and immediate replies.

-A quote I saw recently that rings true: "Your future is hidden in your daily routine." Yep. Something of what you'll end up doing a lot in your future is something you do presently, somewhere in your life. 

-There's a plot hole in Madagascar (the movie) that's always bothered me: the idea that Alex the lion, who normally feasts on copious amounts of steak, could be satiated by some mini bites of sushi. That's ridiculous. Why not just go feast on the fossa?

boredom is a friend we need

 

Boredom kinda seems like that acquaintance/friend you’ve met once or twice, and the conversation kinda lagged. Then you’re both invited to hang with mutual friends, but everyone bails except you two … so you hang out, even though you don’t like spending time with boredom. You're not sure how it's supposed to go, how to keep the conversation going. And the passing of the time downshifts from the speedy hum of wireless ... to that clunkiness of analog.

Boredom kinda seems like that it recognizes that song that points out our aversion to it: “Why are you so petrified of silence … here, can you handle this?!? [SILENCE for a few seconds] Did you think about your bills, your ex, your deadlines, or when you think you’re gonna die / Or did you long for the next distraction?” Many of us seek out that next distraction … attending our eyes from computer screen, to smartphone screen, to computer screen, to tablet screen, to smartphone screen, all the day through. Raise your hand if this is also you (it's not totally your fault ... these devices are purposefully designed to perpetuate this behavior).

There’s this phenomenon where, during the night hours, we can hear AM radio stations much, much farther away from their signal source. It has to do with the refractive layers of the ionosphere being higher from the earth's surface at night than the daytime. I see this as a canopy over the earth, being lifted higher on cue every night ... to open the windows of the sky and let fresh air in, as it were.

I sometimes imagine our inner reality in this way ... when we're hustling to avoid having to hang out with boredom (because we prefer our familiar distractions) there's so much to find to attend to, and accomplish, to peruse. Deadlines. Projects. Catching up. Staying in touch. Watching that show. Deleting old emails {(then reading old emails you were supposed to be deleting). Cleaning your room. Cleaning your car. Responding to those texts. Checking back in with the parents. (Slightly) rearranging the closet. Such mundanities can keep that canopy from being lifted beyond where we prefer.

But when boredom lifts our inner canopy, there's this whole other kind of mulling, discerning, heart pondering that can occur. The questions tend to be less deadline-driven urgent, but just as important.

Is this relationship good for me and what I want, long-term? 

Am I doing what I'm doing because I'm trying to please (or appease) others, or is this what I want to do?

Why do I wear this shirt, even though I don't like it that much? 

Why did that friendship of mine fall away, and what role did I have in that? 

Whoa, where the heck is that smell coming from? 

How can I open myself up more to people, to make new friends? 

How can I relate differently to my family? 

How can I resist fear and anxiety from unduly limiting my life choices?

Seriously, what is causing that smell?? That's kinda nasty.

How do I tell my friend how proud I am of her?

What am I thankful for today?

Boredom allows space for these questions so we can meander about with them -- the canopy lifted so any weightiness isn't so compressed it's knocking us over. 

Boredom doesn't demand immediate answers, or immediate fixes. Boredom can help show us how to be around ourselves. It invites into the places of ourselves we don't often explore. It helps us get used to a more sustainable pace of living (because really, that life pace you're trying to keep up with? You know that won't work long-term). We're created not just to do, but to be. There's more to us than what we've done, where we've failed, where we've succeeded, who our parents are, where we come from.

So here's to boredom as a friend we need, among other friends.

With this, my hope and prayer for you is that when boredom sends that text that it wants to hang out ... you sometimes invite it over to hang out, and then set aside the screen in front of you for awhile. Y'all can kick around some of these important questions that life's deadline urgency always pushes aside. 

And while you're at it, figure out where that smell's coming from.