So, today marks my fourth day back in the office.
My fourth day of getting up at the rather ungodly hour of 5:30 am, and trying to be in bed early enough at night to make that time of the morning slightly less painful. My fourth day of hoping and praying that my body adapts to this crazy new schedule sometime soon.
As jobs go, this one is just okay.
It has me thinking a lot about atmosphere in offices again. About people, and how the people in a place shape and contribute to the atmosphere in a place.
This isn't the happiest place.
But, for now, it pays well. It provides some security and certainty for the next several months as I wait to hear the latest news on school.
And I'm thankful for that.
So, I get up at ungodly hours, and live contrary to my nature by going to bed nice and early, and I choose to be thankful.
And I happily anticipate Saturday morning, on which I don't plan to emerge from bed until at least 11:00 am!
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Daily 5 - Year 3, Day 15
Today's Daily 5:
- chocolate
- a kiwi with my lunch
- a more peaceful work day
- really good roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes for supper
- crawling into a warm bed, on a very cold rainy day.
Whimsical Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Today's Whimsical Wednesday is heavy on images of beauty (and maybe a little bit of laughter), something I find myself craving more and more.
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Which image grabs you the most this week?
Which image grabs you the most this week?
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Daily 5 - Year 3, Day 14
Today's Daily 5:
- Thankful that though it rained most of the day, I made my commute to and from work in the brief periods where it wasn't raining
- chocolate
- a hot shower after a very long day
- that when I got stuck on a delayed train (again! this is why I definitely prefer the bus), I wasn't in a big hurry to be anywhere
- having a refrigerator in my bedroom, giving me some options for healthier food that I didn't have previously.
You Ask, I Answer, Take 20
Today's You Ask, I Answer question is the second last of the ones left on my list, and is once again from Johanna in Germany. (Side note: Send more questions my way if you like! I'm still having fun with them, though I do have a plan if I don't get any more from all of you!)
Johanna asked:
It took me a little while to come up with an answer for this one!
I would actually say that I think one of the biggest challenges that we face is figuring out how to live in a world that has become so much larger. I was reading a historical novel just recently and was struck by the reality that only a century or so ago, a 80 mile distance was immense, and meant that you might only see friends or family living at that distance once or twice a year! Long distance relationships were conducted by writing letters, and receiving a letter once a week or so was hugely frequent! Now, my closest friends live in different countries and on different continents from me, and while I don't always see them in person on a regular basis, I hear from them multiple times a week via email, phone calls, and skype.
I'm also struck by how, as we've developed these communication tools to make the world both larger and smaller simultaneously, our concerns have grown. We are aware of the effects of famine in Somalia, and war in Libya, and earthquakes in Japan and Haiti and elsewhere. We know instantly about the death of Osama bin Laden, and we speculate about when Will and Kate will produce an heir to the throne.
I think this growth/shrinking of the world is both a blessing and something that presents an immense challenge. I feel like we've lost the sense of family and community that came with a smaller world, and that a huge challenge for our generation is to figure out how to live with a sense of family, and community and grace on a more global scale. We have to make choices about how our lifestyle, our finances, our travel, and so many other things affect not only those close to us, but those on the other side of the planet. We need to consider the ramifications of the fact that we might talk daily with someone on another continent and not know who lives in the apartment next door. With a larger world comes a sense of responsibility - do my choices about transportation, about the environment and the food I consume have an affect on someone living in sub-saharan Africa? Does the fact that I have more than enough even though I'm on the lower end of the North American income scale make me responsible for the family existing in extreme poverty in Haiti or Cambodia?
As I write, I think about people asking Jesus who their neighbor really is, and I think that question they asked two thousand or so years ago takes on a new significance in an age where in many ways the whole world can be considered our neighbors.
So, that's my answer - I think figuring out how to live out a Christian ethic of loving your neighbor, in the midst of a world that has expanded/shrunk is a huge challenge for our generation, and one that will very much define the mark that we will leave on history.
Johanna asked:
What do you think is the biggest/one of the most important challenges for our society/for our generation right now/in the coming years?
It took me a little while to come up with an answer for this one!
I would actually say that I think one of the biggest challenges that we face is figuring out how to live in a world that has become so much larger. I was reading a historical novel just recently and was struck by the reality that only a century or so ago, a 80 mile distance was immense, and meant that you might only see friends or family living at that distance once or twice a year! Long distance relationships were conducted by writing letters, and receiving a letter once a week or so was hugely frequent! Now, my closest friends live in different countries and on different continents from me, and while I don't always see them in person on a regular basis, I hear from them multiple times a week via email, phone calls, and skype.
I'm also struck by how, as we've developed these communication tools to make the world both larger and smaller simultaneously, our concerns have grown. We are aware of the effects of famine in Somalia, and war in Libya, and earthquakes in Japan and Haiti and elsewhere. We know instantly about the death of Osama bin Laden, and we speculate about when Will and Kate will produce an heir to the throne.
I think this growth/shrinking of the world is both a blessing and something that presents an immense challenge. I feel like we've lost the sense of family and community that came with a smaller world, and that a huge challenge for our generation is to figure out how to live with a sense of family, and community and grace on a more global scale. We have to make choices about how our lifestyle, our finances, our travel, and so many other things affect not only those close to us, but those on the other side of the planet. We need to consider the ramifications of the fact that we might talk daily with someone on another continent and not know who lives in the apartment next door. With a larger world comes a sense of responsibility - do my choices about transportation, about the environment and the food I consume have an affect on someone living in sub-saharan Africa? Does the fact that I have more than enough even though I'm on the lower end of the North American income scale make me responsible for the family existing in extreme poverty in Haiti or Cambodia?
As I write, I think about people asking Jesus who their neighbor really is, and I think that question they asked two thousand or so years ago takes on a new significance in an age where in many ways the whole world can be considered our neighbors.
So, that's my answer - I think figuring out how to live out a Christian ethic of loving your neighbor, in the midst of a world that has expanded/shrunk is a huge challenge for our generation, and one that will very much define the mark that we will leave on history.
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