Keeping score...
Today's newspaper comic strip called "Baby Blues" showed the mom character saying "Motherhood is not a contest - but why do I always feel like somebody's keeping score?" With the usual bedlam in the background...
I feel like that a lot.
Here's a concept I want to write down for myself (under the idea of journal-keeping as if no one but me's gonna ever read this...)
I'm at the Reference Desk, and a book on Hold caught my eye. It's
Never Eat Alone, and other secrets to success, one relationship at a time by Keith Ferrazzi, with Tahl Raz.
Ferrazzi defines the secret to success in any endeavor as being access, as in networking, also known as the old-boy's network. Only you work that by being generous first, and then not being afraid to ask for favors at some distant point in the future. I'm making all this sound a lot more self-serving than he does!
Some points-
Don't keep score. Let the other guy win, but don't be a doormat. (he refers to kharma...)
The Duke Wayne rugged individualist model doesn't work, especially in a corporate situation. I love this quote - "Contribute. It's like Miracle-Gro for networks."
Success comes from goal-setting.
Step One: Find your passion. Look inside, make a list of dreams and goals, no matter how preposterous. Then, in another column, write down things that bring you joy. Then, find how those things intersect. Look outside, ask people what they think your greatest strengths are.
Step Two: put goals to paper. Ferrazzi uses a Network Action Plan- develop the goals that will help you fulfill your mission, connect those goals to the people and things needed, then determine the best way to reach out for the right help.
OK, so I feel like I need to be a better conversationalist. Where do I find a book on that? hmm.
Postscript: I read the first couple of chapters, and realized that it sounded pretty shallow. This man has had more jobs than most people have friends!
He talked about Joseph Campbell, whose passion was Greek mythology. Campbell, before he became the world-renowned expert on myths, was so engrossed by mythology that he holed up in a mountain cabin and read from morning to night, for five years straight. This is where I started doubting... unless you're independently wealthy, how do you support yourself if all you're doing is reading?
Progress
I have to laugh at myself... two nights ago, I tossed out an offer for the first taker for 8 ounces of handspun, the last of the Tempest fleece from Whitefish Bay Farm. And either I was totally incoherent, or the hit counter is lying and I don't have any readers after all. Ahh, well... to thine own self be true. (translation: I yam what I yam, sez Popeye.)
hmmm.... maybe the sinus meds haven't worn off totally yet.
But the offer of yarn still stands! tee hee...
And I'm knitting on the Rocket Gansey again. Got both the front and back ripped down to the moss stitch area, and I'll knit an inch and a half more. Then I'll baste together one more time and go from there.
Socks are progressing... I didn't spend as much time in the doctor's waiting for the sonogram. Go figure, radiologists don't keep people waiting.
I'll leave you with this shot, from the Roman Room of the North Vancouver Holiday Inn Express, taken June 22. Should this be my submission for Best Vacation Picture for Summer of Socks?
Sinus-induced blathering
I've been told that I'm highly entertaining when I'm under the influence of sinus medicine, so here goes...
There's not much progress on the socks, but I've been flicking the grey fleece I got from Robin Snyder in San Diego County. It's a very very nice fleece, from a sheep named Little Stuff (nickname Stuffy). Stuffy has a bit of fine VM, and really benefits from flicking before running through the drum carder. And... I think that's what's causing the sinus problems. Will I ever learn? That supposes I have a brain.
Anyhoo, I should get quite a bit more done on the socks this coming week - I have a couple of medical tests scheduled. Both are sonograms, I think I mentioned Monday's boobage one and the one on Friday is a pelvic. TMI? I won't tell you how I get to study for it then.
The other news is that I finally started ripping on the Rocket Gansey. I took myself to Phebie's Needlearts, surrounded myself with all the comforting vibes of .... mmm... yarn... and I ripped out the last rocket motif. I think what I'll do is knit that moss stitch another couple inches. There's just no way that the armscye should be 8 inches. Even if it could be.
And I succumbed to a cute knitting bag! Pictures tomorrow...
I need to go to bed now. Oh, I oughta do a thank-you giveaway of some yarn, because y'all were so supportive in my ditherings. Tell you what- let me know if you want the last 8 ounces of the Tempest yarn, and it's yours! If I get 97 gazillion people wanting it (snork, like that'll happen), I'll have to JFG a random number generator.
Ruth
Contemplations on why I dither
I had an epiphany on why I dither last night... Now, if I could just remember the thought process!
It went something like this. I get to a place where I need to make a decision, and can't quite decide. So, I dither, and ask everyone who will stand still to listen. And I usually still can't make a decision.
What's really going on? If I solve that, will I be able to "unstick" myself? It can be annoying to people to ask questions, and then not follow up. What if I get the reputation of never following through? (uh oh, shades of the childhood "What would the neighbors think??")
So. Am I dealing with the fear of "doing it wrong"? A bit. Plus a bit of not being able to think it all through logically, being overwhelmed by the choice. Oh, the psychic bell just went off, that ding ding ding clarion of truth-sounding. Yeah, I have a family history of Alzheimer's, both sides of the family, but I should still be able to work this out without annoying people, don't you think?
I know that I went through a lot of dithering, about a lot of stuff, when Chrystal died. After a couple of bouts, I recognized that it had to do with distracting myself from bad feelings, stress, and/or guilt. Whether or not all those feelings were justified.
Omphaloskepsis (om-fe-lo-skep’sis) is a synonym for navel-gazing. Which, in this context, seems like another dither strategy, doesn't it.
