I know I’ve said that I never write with a plan. That’s mostly true. I also never have a clue as to what things are going to encourage people to read a given post. Things I’d think would be well read. Meh. Mental throw up crammed into 9 mins. We love it! Yesterday’s post about lent is a prime example.
I wasn’t criticizing Catholics or diminishing/defining what lent is supposed to be about. I was simply observing what it’s become. The things I noticed.
There’s a joke amongst my friends that I’m a noticer. I actually put forth the idea on a road trip one time and it stuck. We were on the way to Galveston, TX and I made a broad declaration that the stretch of highway from I-10 through Baytown, all the way to Galveston had more donut shops than anywhere in the world. Ludicrous, I know. I then went on to count 47 of them and made sure I alerted the whole car every time we passed one for the whole weekend. I declared proudly, “I notice things. It’s what I do.”
Unfortunately for the world, I’m not “noticing a cure for cancer.” More often it’s the ridiculous. Pointing out something that once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
That’s part of what I want my writing to be about. To make a simple analogy that suddenly simplified the world in a way so that it makes sense to you (me). Sometimes it’s a big ticket item “we’ve just made it (lent) another New Years resolution to make up for the ones we didn’t keep 2 months ago, and added some guilt for good measure.” And sometimes it’s pointing out that once you enter Tuscaloosa, the number of maroon (they hate when you call crimson, maroon) vehicles increases by a factor of 20. You get both. You’re welcome.
I think noticing is innate but it of course can be worked on. Just open your eyes to what’s going on around you and maybe you’ll figure out that there’s a lot of donut shops in Galveston. Or maybe you’ll notice a friend who needs something. Or that your tire is about to go flat before it happens. Or that you didn’t smile this morning yet. Or that things aren’t as bad as you think they are. Or that there’s a lot of trash on the side of the road. Or that that homeless guy could use your shoes. Or that you haven’t noticed much other than work. Or that your kids miss you.
Maybe you’ll notice some of that.
#hugsandhi5s
