so what if i did?

apparently somewhere along the way, i signed up for a contest with something disney. i do not remember this moment in my internetting. no recollection.

no wait…

i remember a short spell when i may have let some info slide on one of those discount goods sites. an invitation from my young nefew who may have received some recompence for my visit. i really don’t remember giving whoever it is my phone number but apparently i must have. stupid, i know. must have been a momentary clouding of my usual crystal clear online protocol. things you do for family!

so maybe i did sign myself up?

you see, whoever it is on the other end of whatever it is i inadvertently signed up for, has been calling my home telling me i have won some sort of trip that involves a cruise or disneyland or some combination of both. you’d think winning a trip would be grand, but i know from experience that there’s usually a catch to most trips i “win”. why can’t they give me the tv or the car or even a free donut for  boston creaming out loud!

so, assuming a hidden agenda, my good wife has deftly dealt with several calls from less than forthcoming agents. i was in the room once and the agent tried to pass herself off as a friend. oh, hey. it’s kathy. can i speak to garry please. shan didn’t take the bait but it took several more questions and evasive answers to get the purpose of the call. i declined to talk and the agent was kindly asked to take us off whatever list our number is on.

well, today was the first time i was around to pick up. didn’t get the guy’s name, don’t even know what company it is that wants to hook me with a freebie, but as soon he said disney something happened deep inside me. could have been digestive issues. i got my back up real fast. this is the third call and three strikes and your out. these people seem adamant to prove to me that i gave them my information. i realize i have been denying this up until now. funny thing, if i did give my phone number, i still fudged my birthday – 1993 baby!

still, the dude made me mad. i don’t care if i signed up or not, please stop calling me and take me off your list. my voice climbing in pitch as i realize the guy is talking over me the whole time. let me tell about your trip, he says, you are going to have such a fun time. really? you are aware of my recreational preferences, disney trip guy? i don’t want the trip, i say. i don’t like disney. i am sorry i ever signed up. please, for the love of all that is good and pure, stop talking! the previous may not be verbatim but i did end by yelling don’t you ever call me again! agent still droning on about something else that i didn’t care about. if i had a rotary phone i would have slammed it down but had to settle for fiercely poking the end button instead.

it was at this point i to see both kids looking at me with these looks on their faces – something between bewilderment and awe. hmm. these people keep calling me, i say, i tried to tell them to stop but they just keep calling. is shouldn’t have yelled, should i?

we all go back to what we were. moments later the doubt rolls in. what if it’s actually a free trip, all expenses paid?

moments after that: whatever. disney doesn’t have a soul.

that and i can’t afford airfare.

 

brass tacks and the written word

Writing is one of the few areas of my life in which I have never lacked confidence. It is something I feel I am good at, and given the time, something I enjoy. That said, I have written very little over the last few years. My great skill (in my humble opinion) has lain dormant; hibernating through a blustery stretch of life in which creative opportunity felt all but squeezed out. Good reader, let me tell you why.

Time management, forward thinking, planning for the future are a constellation of practices that have alluded me most my life. So, although my heart’s desire has always focused on creating, my inability to schedule appropriately has consistently left me with little time and energy to do so. I have barely been able to produce the minimum requirements of my role – sermons, emails, outlines for future series. Sure I cranked them out, but often at the last minute and less than my best. Flying by the seat of one’s pants is definitely a valuable skill, but after a while take offs and landings get rather choppy, painful even. My habits have been hard on me.

Something changed for me this fall. I began to practice the discipline of looking ahead with more intention and resolve. And, low and behold, I discovered that simple exercises, like keeping a solid agenda, are  liberating. Creative energy begins to flow.

Here are some very practical disciplines I am engaging in 2012 to allow for more creativity – in my work, my writing and within my relationships with family and friends:

1. Protect my mornings for study, thinking, dreaming, writing
2. Boundary email and internet surfing.
3. Everything makes it to a calendar and a to do list – all events, meetings, tasks, responsibilities – personal and professional.
4. Allot time for these things and respect the times (+/- 5-10mins)

That’s some of what I have been doing and resolve to continue in this New Year. I already feel the potential packed in a day, a week, a year. This is how I hope to make my first blog post ever (about creativity, no less) a reality in 2012.

I’ll let you know if and when I develop concrete goals for getting some writing done… but this little piece is a start.

thanks for reading.