Some Say I'm a Dreamer

Well, the inevitable has happened: I've become swamped in late-night duties and have abandoned my new life as a blogger. This is too bad since I felt that I was off to such a promising start. Ah, things are often this way for me, especially since I've moved into the demanding realm of parenthood. But who am I fooling? I was this way before children, too.

My partner is always astounded by the way I will start something and not finish it. A good example is letter-writing. I not infrequently find myself penning missives to friends, going as far as to seal them in an addressed envelope, but fail to make the final, critical step of mailing the damned things. He cannot understand this phenomenon and finds it depressing. In his world view, one should have an idea, follow it through to completion, then crisply brush one's hands together in a grand jesture that says "another job well-done."

He's got a point there. I'm generally a fan of the "finish-what-you-start-eat-everything-on-your-plate" philosophy. On the rare occasion when I have taken the time to make a to-do list, I've enjoyed the feeling of satisfaction that comes from ticking items off. (Retrospective to-do lists are great for that, by the way.) But in defense of myself, I tell him that I've probably finished more creative endeavours in my time than most folks have had ideas for projects. For me, creative plans outnumber the hairs on my head, and I'm not bald. I also tell him that I enjoy the process of making something so much that the final step isn't always that critical to me. And I always believe that as long as I'm alive, a project has the potential of being finished at some point.

I was speaking with one of the other moms at our parent potluck tonight about this phenomenon of being a dreamer, and we were sharing quotes we use to rebutt nay-sayers.

Mine: Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. From the Desiderata

Hers: Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. Henry David Thoreau

"Researchers" have discovered that January 21 is apparently the most depressing day of the calendar year. The voices in the radio explained that people are suffering the post-x-mas blahs and are getting down on themselves for failing to live up to their new year's resolutions. I look outside and declare it a lovely, if not cold, day to pull one's self up by the bootstraps and keep on slogging... er blogging.