Some Ramblings (not so pleasant) About ReInvention
Rambling #1 -- Vday
Well, it's the day after Valentine's Day ... and I survived. Why do I say that? Well, I would love to see Valentine's Day (an invented holiday) either removed from the list or ReInvented to include just LOVE for all mankind. By making VDay (as I like to call it) about romance, it causes more pain than glory. Let me explain.
First, there shouldn't be only one day expressly set for people to honor their one and only love. I think that might best be done daily. And, what about spontaneously? When I was married, I loved it when my husband brought me flowers for no reason at all (although some of my friends assumed the worst .. that he maybe was guilty for something.)
Second, by suggesting that Vday is all about romance and love and sex ... it hurts many people who are dealing with 1) an unhappy relationship with a significant other and the hypocrisy of being honored that one day when many other days are lousy. 2) the loneliness of not having a significant other and feeling totally sad about that and not wanting it in your face. 3) the sadness of having lost their love, as in being widowed, divorced, etc.
If, on the other hand, we make Vday a day to love everyone ... then it's about acceptance, appreciation for our co-workers, our children, our friends. Yes, I know, there are cards for that and a slight inclination ... but truly, it's all about diamonds and flowers and dinner for two.
Let's reinvent that.
Rambling #2 -- Holidays
Let's also consider reinventing our relationship to honoring holidays in another way. In this day and age, a holiday is merely an excuse to 1) Not go to work (think of all the people that hate their jobs and actually WANT a day off to not work). 2) An opportunity for shopping and commercialism -- everyone is home today, let's sucker them for all they can or cannot afford to spend on their credit cards.
You see, many holidays could be seen as sacred and significant. Think of today .. we are celebrating and honoring Presidents Lincoln and Washington ... exactly HOW does that relate to shopping and spending money?
Here's where I date myself. When I was a kid... stores were actually ALL closed on Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, Fourth of July, etc. The people who worked in retail actually got that day off and the reasons for the holidays were ever-present ... there were events to celebrate the value of the day, to be with loved ones. Now, probably only Christmas and Thanksgiving honor that.. maybe Easter.
I bet if you were to ask the typical woman/man on the street what today means and why it's a holiday, they couldn't tell you. That's sad.
Let's reinvent this.
Rambling #3 -- Reinvention is NOT to be feared.
Some people hear the word ReInvention and totally freak out. I actually have people say "I can't come to your reinvention workshop .. I'm way to scared." I wonder what they are scared about. I'm not going to suggest they prance naked through the streets. I'm just suggesting that each and everyone of us take a day (or whatever amount of time) to look at our lives and inquire into where we might "tweak it" .. where it's working, where it's not and how we might remedy that. Beyond that, I might suggest each one of us start becoming the person we are meant to be. One of my favorite sayings (yes, mine) is: Stop ripping off the world and be who you are meant to be.
ReInventing is about little steps .. it's not about doing everything completely different between this moment and the next. It's incremental. When we die, don't we want to feel like we reeealllly lived? I don't know about you .. but I'm not willing to settle for how it's always been (the status quo). I don't think you want to either.
Let's reinvent our relationship with ReInvention.
So. thanks for letting me ramble on this President's Day holiday. It's 11:30 in the morning, I'm still in my pajamas. Of course, I work at home, so I'm often in my pajamas half way through the day. I'm lucky -- don't have to get up and go to work each morning. If that annoys you .. then, hey, you too can have it if you're willing to give up the daily grind, take a risk, leap and reinvent.
Happy Holiday Monday
Well, it's the day after Valentine's Day ... and I survived. Why do I say that? Well, I would love to see Valentine's Day (an invented holiday) either removed from the list or ReInvented to include just LOVE for all mankind. By making VDay (as I like to call it) about romance, it causes more pain than glory. Let me explain.
First, there shouldn't be only one day expressly set for people to honor their one and only love. I think that might best be done daily. And, what about spontaneously? When I was married, I loved it when my husband brought me flowers for no reason at all (although some of my friends assumed the worst .. that he maybe was guilty for something.)
Second, by suggesting that Vday is all about romance and love and sex ... it hurts many people who are dealing with 1) an unhappy relationship with a significant other and the hypocrisy of being honored that one day when many other days are lousy. 2) the loneliness of not having a significant other and feeling totally sad about that and not wanting it in your face. 3) the sadness of having lost their love, as in being widowed, divorced, etc.
If, on the other hand, we make Vday a day to love everyone ... then it's about acceptance, appreciation for our co-workers, our children, our friends. Yes, I know, there are cards for that and a slight inclination ... but truly, it's all about diamonds and flowers and dinner for two.
Let's reinvent that.
Rambling #2 -- Holidays
Let's also consider reinventing our relationship to honoring holidays in another way. In this day and age, a holiday is merely an excuse to 1) Not go to work (think of all the people that hate their jobs and actually WANT a day off to not work). 2) An opportunity for shopping and commercialism -- everyone is home today, let's sucker them for all they can or cannot afford to spend on their credit cards.
You see, many holidays could be seen as sacred and significant. Think of today .. we are celebrating and honoring Presidents Lincoln and Washington ... exactly HOW does that relate to shopping and spending money?
Here's where I date myself. When I was a kid... stores were actually ALL closed on Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, Fourth of July, etc. The people who worked in retail actually got that day off and the reasons for the holidays were ever-present ... there were events to celebrate the value of the day, to be with loved ones. Now, probably only Christmas and Thanksgiving honor that.. maybe Easter.
I bet if you were to ask the typical woman/man on the street what today means and why it's a holiday, they couldn't tell you. That's sad.
Let's reinvent this.
Rambling #3 -- Reinvention is NOT to be feared.
Some people hear the word ReInvention and totally freak out. I actually have people say "I can't come to your reinvention workshop .. I'm way to scared." I wonder what they are scared about. I'm not going to suggest they prance naked through the streets. I'm just suggesting that each and everyone of us take a day (or whatever amount of time) to look at our lives and inquire into where we might "tweak it" .. where it's working, where it's not and how we might remedy that. Beyond that, I might suggest each one of us start becoming the person we are meant to be. One of my favorite sayings (yes, mine) is: Stop ripping off the world and be who you are meant to be.
ReInventing is about little steps .. it's not about doing everything completely different between this moment and the next. It's incremental. When we die, don't we want to feel like we reeealllly lived? I don't know about you .. but I'm not willing to settle for how it's always been (the status quo). I don't think you want to either.
Let's reinvent our relationship with ReInvention.
So. thanks for letting me ramble on this President's Day holiday. It's 11:30 in the morning, I'm still in my pajamas. Of course, I work at home, so I'm often in my pajamas half way through the day. I'm lucky -- don't have to get up and go to work each morning. If that annoys you .. then, hey, you too can have it if you're willing to give up the daily grind, take a risk, leap and reinvent.
Happy Holiday Monday
Labels: celebrate holidays, Reinvention, Take a leap, take a risk
posted by Ann Fry, The ReInvention HOTSHOT! at
10:51 AM
2 Comments
