8.28.2006

Truly Remarkable

I admit, I'm a bit behind in my writing. I've been in a bit of a funk again, plus last week was a bit busy for work. I think I spent the bulk of my non-working computer time doing mindless stuff like playing Big Money or just reading.

A message board that I frequent is currently running a blog challenge with weekly topics designed to get us thinking, writing, and blogging. I'm of course participating because I can't turn down a good challenge. My prior entry on how much I dig the color red was one of those weekly topics. I admit that I'm behind a week too. I just couldn't come up with something remarkable to write about. I'm glad I waited though. I think I finally have my thoughts together enough to come up with something.

Most people don't find anything about themselves to be remarkable or extraordinary. You have to really step outside yourself to see it I think. I must say I do believe that I lead a remarkable existance. No matter what others think. It took a bit to see it though.

No one will, of course, admit to thinking they're remarkable - well, unless you're somebody like *me* with an enormous ego. ;o) But seriously. Most of us just kind of live our lives. We get up, go about our business, some of us head off to a job, some of us have little ones to tend to. Some of us volunteer. Some of us just kind of hang out and exist. But the bottom line is each one of those people is unique and remarkable in their own way.

Blog-lifting from my cyberbuddy, Cowtown Stacy, I too have a friend who couldn't get past her "unremarkable block" to scrapbook. I enjoy scrapbooking and find it something I like to share with my friends. This friend is quite talented and crafty, but she's never felt comfortable diving in. For years she'd lament that she had nothing to scrap about, just her "boring life." Oh the contrary! She's married to a very talented man who is gonna be famous someday (I just know it!), she has two lovely little boys, and she is a lover of animals great and small (unless it's little mice pooping in her basement) who has volunteered with a few different animal and wildlife organizations, not to mention her menagerie of assorted pets. She's from a quaint little town in Virginia, and has some fabulous tales to tell of life growing up there, in high school, and her adventures at UVA - not to mention the adventures she and I went on when we were younger!

Slowly I've sucked her in. Going through her photos and stopping upon holiday photos with her family, or simply ordinary daily photos. Photos of the birds of prey she's worked with, photos of lovely flowers or past trips she's went on. Every photo has a story, and whether you choose to tell that story with colors, words, or found objects is completely up to you! I think just looking at the mundane things I make pages of has shown that anyone can do this - you don't have to be insanely interesting in order to enjoy the art of scrapbooking!

I never thought I was remarkable, or my life anything but ordinary. I thought the only thing I had tales to tell of were my various vacations and hiking trips. I felt silly showcasing an afternoon spent taking photos of the cool shadows playing on my living room wall in the late afternoon sun; I thought it was absurd to take a photo of my shoes and tell the tale of how I got the shoes and the adventures they've accompanied me on. That, my friend is remarkable because most people wouldn't think to tell the tale of their shoes - either that or I'm just incredibly strange!

There are days when my life simply feels ordinary. I get up, shower, get my son ready for preschool, check my email, see what kinds of crises my clients may have going on, check my production schedules to make sure I'm not missing a deadline, work some, clean house some, chat with friends, eat lunch, work some more, maybe run an errand or two, pick up my son, start dinner, hang with my son and hubby, go to bed. Lather, rinse, repeat. But if you read between the lines, there's things in there that aren't so ordinary, bordering on the remarkable in my eyes, and maybe other's too.

I get up with the sun. The sun is my alarm clock.

My son who I love dearly is one smart little kid who sees the most remarkable things and makes such interesting obervations - even with his limited toddler vocabulary. To see the world through his eyes is truly remarkable to me and puts things in perspective.

I don't work an ordinary job right now. I'm a freelance marketing consultant (someone once told me not to call myself "freelance" because it sounds entry-level, but I don't think *anything* about being a freelancer is entry-level to say the least!). I work from home. Sometimes I visit client sites and meet or work there. But I'm the captain of my own destiny and feel truly blessed to have hooked up a talented network of freelancers to work with on many projects. My desk sits beside a window and I'm free to stare out the window and watch the world go by if I so desire.

My hubby and I have an awesome relationship. We're best buds and we can just hang. None of that silly pretense or anything like that. Nothing has changed since we got married or since before we got married - the only difference is the piece of paper that makes it legal and the killer party we threw to celebrate. You never *really* realize how good you have it until someone else is going through turmoil. A good friend is having a bad go of things and her marriage may very well be heading down the path of closure. The things she tells me about make me feel very lucky I married who I did and have the kind of relationship I do.

Happiness is what you make of it. Life is what you make of it. If you want to be ordinary, be ordinary, but never sell yourself short. Never lose sight of who you are. Never miss the opportunity to be remarkable, even if it's just in your own eyes.

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