Saturday, April 9, 2016

The importance of the inane

I usually keep things pretty light on here, but I'm about to get a little serious. Stick with me.

I love writing. Always have. This blog gives me a place to write about silly, stupid stuff. Stuff that I've been doing. Stuff that I've been thinking about. Stuff that has no real value in everyday life. Sometimes, I even view it as a kind of challenge. Can I make something stupid, silly and inane into something somewhat interesting or entertaining?

One time, in college, I was assigned to write a story for the Kansan (KU's student newspaper) about this scientist at KU who had published a paper linking modern-day birds to dinosaurs. (Yes, this is how long ago I was in college. This was considered a new discovery back then. Please stop staring at my gray hairs.) Anyway, I interviewed this scientist and proceeded to listen while he showed me drawers and drawers and drawers of dead birds in the top floor of the KU Natural History Museum. For like 2 hours. Two hours of staring at dead birds and examining their bones. Two hours. Two freaking hours, people!

I couldn't figure out a polite way to get out of that cramped attic/bird mausoleum. (Looking back, this is when I should've figured out I was never going to be the next Edna Payne. I am simply too concerned with being polite to make it as a reporter.) After all the hours of courteous "hmmm"s and "how interesting"s, it became my job to turn the interview and all other pertinent information into something a college student would read and perhaps find interesting. I don't know if I actually accomplished that, but it is still, to this day, one of the articles of which I'm most proud. Simply because of how hard I worked to turn it into something someone might want to read.

So, that's what I do a lot on here. I take something miniscule and see if I can make it into something entertaining. Hell, I once wrote an entire post about Little Debbie Snack Cakes. Yes, an entire blog post about the deliciousness of a child's processed dessert snack. I don't know that I always succeed in creating entertaining entries, but it's the effort and the work that I enjoy. It's using the part of my brain that I fear has gone dormant from years of child-rearing and non-use.

It's no secret that Charlotte is almost finished with kindergarten. We've got just over a month until the end of school. And, next year, it's full day 1st grade. Both my girls will be in school from 8:20-3:40. That's more than seven hours of time in the day where they won't be with me. When Molly was born, I left my job as a proofreader because I wanted to be at home with her, and later, Charlotte. And, I loved it. I still do. And, I'm incredibly grateful to have been able to do it. But, I'm not going to lie and say that next year is not bringing up some issues for me. And, this is when I sound like a cliched stereotype. I'm kind of lost. What's next? Where do I go from here? I've spent the these past almost nine years of my adult life raising two lovely children, but now what?

And, I know I'm nowhere close to being finished raising my girls. I mean, they are 8 and 6. I'm not ready to brush my hands together and say, "Well, that's that. Off into the world with you. Godspeed." But, there will be a large chunk of my day where I won't be needed. And, that's scary. It's like I'm going through a mid-life crisis at the ripe old age of 35. (Apparently, I'll only be living to 70. Good to know in advance and be prepared. You can start preparing my headstone now for 2050.)

So, I'm trying to figure this new place out. I've started working on some things. I'm doing some marketing work (creating flyers, emails, etc.) for my good friend's awesome business, Pintervention. (Side note: you should really check it out, because it is amazing and super fun!) I'm starting to work on designing a web page for a family member's new business. I'm planning on taking a couple classes at the local community college, so I have some more skills to bring to the table. (What table that is, I'm still in the dark about.) I've got a meeting this week about volunteering with Heart to Heart in some capacity.

I'm trying. Trying to figure out where I am. Who I am. Where I go. How I can contribute to the world. How I can be someone my girls can be proud of.

And, in the meantime, I'm going to write. Write about inane things. Write about ridiculous things. Write about things that interest me. Write about things that annoy me. Maybe I'll even do an entire post about my love for all things Peeps.

I don't know if I'll always succeed in creating something entertaining, but for me, the effort is worth it. So, thanks for reading. Thanks for everything.

First day of school this year. Who knows what next year will bring?


Ok, I'm done being serious now. Back to the inane :)

No comments:

Post a Comment