I’ll be 39 this year. It’s no big deal, really. Get over turning 30, Dan, ya pup. This age affords two key advantages: I can still learn, and I’m willing to admit when I’m wrong.
For instance:
It was only today, in Loblaws, that I realized that mincemeat has no meat in it. All those years at Grammie’s Boxing Day Christmas party I thought ground beef was going bad on the table all day while my uncles picked at guitars and mandolins. The music wasn’t great, but I should have noticed: Nobody died.
I used to really hate that annual Christmas party. This year I really missed it.
Quitting’s great. This time last year, I was working for a local communications agency. I thought I was set. But when they asked me to choose between the job and Project Porchlight, I surprised even myself and quit my job. It was the best decision of 2006. There’s an indirect relationship between safety and success. I should have known this before.
Failing’s great too. Two days after quitting the job, the Porchlight campaign fell apart and I was unemployed for the first time in 15 years. But it was an awesome experience. I’ve now experienced a spectacular career collapse. Porchlight was resurrected a few months later and it was better than ever.
Price does not guarantee quality. My $80 fraser fir Christmas tree’s a fossil in my livingroom. Should have gone to IKEA.
Perspective is everything. A few weeks ago I was in the basement. A scream came from two floors up. It was Suzy. I ran to the foot of the stairs and called to her. She came down and told me that she’d discovered an incandescent bulb installed in the linen closet. It was dispatched like Saddam. Scandalous!
Beauty’s in little things. Thoreau would love my iPod, and my brand spanking new portable iFusion docking station. Yeah. Thanks, Santa. My 1983 Harman Kardon receiver is used less and less these days, bullet proof as it is. It cost me $300 back then. I was 15, making $3/hour pumping gas in rural PEI. That was 7 weeks of work for tunes. I’m not that dedicated these days.
It’s who you know. I had a good chat with Premier McGuinty about Porchlight last night. We may be giving our bulbs across the province this year. Mind boggling.
Despair’s relative. If you’re like me and your tree is still up because you are lazy and can’t face the piles of needles, just keep in mind that the Earth picks up 40,000 tonnes of dust every year as it sweeps through space. It’s not all your fault.
This year, maybe I’ll learn how to relax. Or, maybe not.
