Friday, July 14, 2006

cardboarditis

cardboarditis: (n.) general name for any chronic illness involving cardboard.

random!

The EU Science Social was good and contained at least three of the things I'm quite fond of - food, soccer and great people. Yay for socials!

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

cardboard lives on

Long time no blog, hey!

Just wanted to share something with the world...

I've had quite a revelation over the last few days. I actually have a fear of the mundane, everyday things that make up most of life. It's played out in discontentedness, in acquaintances who could be friends, in the constant search for entertainment, in constantly wanting to be on the road, and in not feeling settled when things go well. It negatively affects the way I feel about most of life, and it's totally unjustified.

There is nothing wrong with the mundane. The fact that life is full of the mundane is no mistake - they are the building blocks of sociality and community. Being discontent with them only causes a relentless search for excitement that is rarely sated - sure it's fun when excitement comes, but what about when the buzz wears off? When will the next buzz come? Can I have it now? I'm not feeling it... I need it... nothing is good without it... What kind of life is that? One that will never be satisfied. Being content with the mundane allows you to be content without excitement, and lets you just be excited when something exciting comes along. It allows you to be content with where you're at, and I guess that allows you to put your energy into things outside of yourself, rather than into feeding your addiction to entertainment. It allows you to find life rewarding rather than tiresome, peaceful rather than dreary, pleasant rather than unsettling.

I was a little disturbed to discover this fear, but I'm glad I have, because it's letting me counter it. After all, if a (relatively ordinary) human life is good enough for Jesus to take on, it's sure good enough for me. I'm already discovering in small but rewarding ways how much easier life is if you're not concerned about the buzz.