The Starfish

I love this. I think it is perfect. Although I have heard/read it a million trillion times, it is perfect.

The Starfish Story
by Loren Eiseley (1907 - 1977)

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

Making the mundane less so.

Let's be honest for a minute. Daily life is usually a collection of mundane tasks strung together in a routine that probably repeats day after day. For most people, although minor details may change, their jobs are basically the same thing over and over again.

Would you believe me if I said it doesn't need to be so? Is it possible to find excitement and joy in mundane tasks? I would like to think so. It is something I am working on myself.

I have to come clean with something here. I have, probably, the most boring, mundane, repetitive job in the world. The upside is that I get paid very well, the hours are fantastic, and there are some definite perks to the job. That being said, I need to find ways every day to make it interesting.

If you take a minute to think about your repetitious tasks, you just might be able to find a way to change them up and enjoy them.

Go in with a positive attitude and the little things will suck a little less which will make the big picture seem that much better.

Give it a try.

Flashbacks

The world of fast food is an exciting place. I absolutely loved the years I spent working fast food.
One of the most (and by most I mean least) entertaining parts of getting a job in fast food was the training videos.
I wonder if they still do them...

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAirzhGeSc8

The words

Step One

Taking time to love.

It is no secret that I love Maxine and our wonderful children. That is not the point of this post. At least not directly.

Love is critical to happiness and happiness is critical to love. You cannot have one without the other. While self-love is important, you really need someone else to love in order to experience it fully. Once you find those people, make sure you express it. So many times people become emotionally walled off and don't express love for those that need it most.

You should never assume that someone you love knows it. Take time every day to express that love. Words are not enough.

Think about the feeling you get when you do something for someone, without agenda, and their face lights up. Just thinking about it makes you smile, doesn't it. It is a win-win situation. Now, think about everyone you love in your life. Spouses, children, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc. If you did one nice thing for HALF of those people each day, think about how much time you would spend smiling.

I spent the first seventeen years of life not knowing what love felt like. Once I found it, it was the most powerful drug imaginable. There is nothing in the universe that compares.

Your homework assignment is to focus your energy tomorrow on making those around you feel loved.

Are you up to the task?

Coming Soon...ME!

Alrighty then. I had an idea. Yes, it hurt.

I've been sorting through some bullshit baggage for the last few months. Maxine is a rockstar for helping me through it.
I haven't felt like myself and I don't think I have acted very much like myself. I have been full of a lot of anger and rage and that is NEVER how I wanted to see myself or how I want others to see me.

But I have a plan now. And I think the blog has it's part to play in it.

I have set some goals for myself, the primary being to focus on living each day, and I am going to use the blog to chronicle at least some of it.
While it may be mundane things, I hope to better myself a little each day and find ways to make the world a better place. Even in minor ways. Every little thing helps.

I may not post every day. Many of the posts may be dull as shit. Look at the name of the blog. Inane Dribble. I hope that some of what I post will mean something to someone somewhere and that at least a little of it will give you ideas and inspire people to try little things to make life better for themselves and those around them.
Most people claim to have that as a goal. I, myself, have always said it. Now, it is time to actively do it.

To (somewhat)plagiarize a good movie:
"Don't worry...don't worry. I'm not gonna do... what you all think i'm gonna do, which is just FLIP OUT!! But let me just say, that there is such a thing... as manners. A way of treating people. These fish have manners. These fish have manners. In fact, they're coming with me. You can call me sentimental, but the fish are coming with me.

Now. If you come with me, this will be the moment of something new, and fun, and inspiring in this world. And we will do it together. So... who's coming with me? who's coming with me and flipper, here? Huh? Who's coming with me? WHO'S COMING WITH ME?

This is embarrassing."

In addition to these things, I will also be posting some things I find interesting or humorous, as I have done in the past. Things that bring me joy. That was the original purpose of this blog. A space for me to empty my head and share a bit of myself with the world. It is kind of a self-serving ideology but it is what it is. Either people will be interested and read it, or not. Either way it is therapeutic as hell and I am doing it.

Death of a blog

So as you all probably know, the blog has pretty much been on life support for some time now. As it stands, I have zero inspiration/motivation to write anything of substance.
Any family related updates are posted to Facebook.
For these reasons, you might consider the blog officially dead.

Me being me, it may turn out that I get inspired at some point and decide to start blogging again. You never can tell. Maxine might still post now and again as well. Just don't expect much for a while.

End of School

School is out yeah! Yesterday was Jeff's 9th grade lagoon day and the day before was the 9th grade prom. After school and before the dance Jeff decided he wanted his hair cut. He has been growing out his hair for months, so he looks very different.

Regin's last day was also yesterday, so we didn't make Drew go to his last day today.
I am excited for summer. We have been working really hard to finish the updates we have wanted to do on our house. It will hopefully be done around the end of the month. It has been hard work. We worked on flooring and decluttring and the yard has had a ton of work. Thanks to Jesse we have lovely baseboards and our upstairs bathroom is everything I hoped it would be. We will see in a month or so if everything manages to get done.