Category Archives: On My Mind

On My Mind

Indecisive?

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Just grab a handy notepad!

My sister lives in Toronto she was home visiting for a couple days. She’s way cooler than me and called last night to see if she could stop by. Of course, I said yes. To my surprise, she brought me a gift! Bri knows that I can occasionally be bad at making decisions, which is why this made me laugh.

The notepad, waiting to be filled with dilemmas
The notepad, waiting to be filled with dilemmas

I tried it out with a rather minor dilemma:

P1030891
To have coffee or not have coffee? That is the question….

Unfortunately, this MAKE A DECISION notepad is based on the concept of having gut feelings. As evinced, I did not:

I don't know. That's why I'm using this notepad.
I don’t know. That’s why I’m using this notepad.

But making a pro-con list was helpful:

Pros and cons of coffee
Pros and cons of coffee

Even though the rational conclusion was to have coffee (or, I think it was . . . I’m not sure . . .) there was still a problem: My stomach hurt. I documented a plan for that, too.

The Plan
The Plan

Even though I now have this nifty decision-making notepad, I still like old simple standbys. For example:

Sometimes the old ways are the best ways

Whether or not it works, this notepad will probably be enjoyable. Thanks, Bri!

On My Mind

Phone Call

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Yesterday I got a text from my sister asking if I were free to chat. We played phone tag a couple weeks ago and the game faded before we actually connected. I called my sister immediately after receiving her message and she picked up the phone, laughing. “You didn’t need to call right away,” she said.

Actually, I did. I love my sister to death, but she doesn’t know that because her communication with our family has been so erratic since she started college, we have an unspoken policy of dropping everything to talk to her when she decides it’s a good time. My mother, who normally goes to bed by 11:30, has been on the phone with my sister well past midnight if that’s when my sister calls. My father, who normally rushes around from meeting to meeting, will postpone everything related to work to call her back. So even though I’d just walked into the house and was halfway upstairs to say hi to my roommate who was working from home, I paused my hello, went back down the stairs, and called my sister.

We had a long, lovely chat and I was glad that we did. It was good to catch up with her, and to learn that she’ll be home for a week at the beginning of June. She’s preparing to spend a year in Spain and I’m preparing to spend two in Malaysia, so we commiserated about the difficulties of getting paperwork in order and applying for visas. Now that she’s done with college, we also talked about her studying for the GREs, summer research with a professor, and her first date with someone outside her peer group. Life really does start to happen in a totally different way after college, and it was refreshing to talk about that with my sister. I do enjoy living vicariously through her tales of concerts, parties, and get-togethers (she is a much cooler, bolder, more exciting person that I ever was) but interacting with her as an adult is a nice change. We’re both getting ready for adventures abroad and I’m glad to share that experience with her.

As they say, “I smile because you’re my sister and I laugh because there’s nothing you can do about it.”

On My Mind

Soapbox

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There’s a great deal of value in doing what is right simply for that – because it’s right. I’m lucky enough to teach at a school in which my students, for the most part, do the right thing. Maybe that’s because it’s a single-sex environment, maybe that’s because it’s a parochial environment, or maybe that’s because most people, when push comes to shove, understand the difference between right and wrong. I have to believe that most people, when faced with something bad, will try to do good.

However, I also know that that’s not always the case. I understand that doing the right thing sometimes means putting oneself or one’s family in danger, and I don’t advocate for that. For example, during the Holocaust, the people who rescued the most Jews (hid them, made fake passports, smuggled them across borders, etc.) were young, single men. Why? No families. No dependents. Fewer worries.

I do not blame those who don’t speak out for fear of very well repercussions. I do blame those who actively try to make others miserable in any situation.

But again, I have to hope that there’s more good in this world than bad. There’s an excellent BuzzFeed article (linked below) from January 2012 that I read, cried over, laughed at, and bookmarked. I look at it every now and then. I cry. I laugh. In a world filled with conflict, hate, poverty, and fear, it’s nice to remember that there’s also hope and love and compassion.