Take a Break. Just Once In a While.

Yesterday I spent two whole hours uploading pictures to my Facebook account. Two whole hours! And I could have kept going for many more! What is the fascination? I'm pretty sure that there are about three people on the planet who have seen my Facebook page and even fewer who have seen this blog (me and my wife make two). So why is it that I find so much gratification in adding pictures to my Facebook page, tagging everyone in the picture, captioning each picture and arranging the albums if almost no one is going to see it but me? I don't have an answer. Perhaps it is akin to the pleasure that scrapbookers get from their work, but without the expense and hassle of buying and cutting out paper shapes and gluing buttons on each page (nothing against scrapbookers - I recognize that it takes more patience and creativity than I have).

All of this leads me to wonder, however, if technology has made it so that we no longer need to exercise our creativity? I know that in many ways the advent of computers and the Internet have introduced new mediums for expressing creativity, but have they also all but eliminated other forms? When was the last time you tried doing something the old fashioned way, not out of necessity, but for the simple sake of doing it the old-fashioned way? Next time you have a speech to prepare, try writing it by hand instead of typing it up (just once in a while). Try driving to the supermarket with your windows down and without the air conditioning blowing (just once in a while). Try writing a letter to a friend and sending it via postal service instead of shooting off an e-mail (just once in a while). Can't bring yourself to do it without e-mail? Well, then at least try capitalizing appropriate words in your e-mail and using the spell-check (this one should be all the time, not just once in a while). While you're at it, use the old-fashioned spell-check: your brain.

I'm not saying to throw yourself back into the nineteenth century. I realize and acknowledge that technology is a God-given gift (one which can be used wisely or with mankind's unfortunate trademark stupidity) and I am grateful for it, so that's why I say to just try it once in a while. And yes, I see the hypocrisy in posting this blog on the Internet about trying the old-fashioned way. Again, I'm not saying that we should shun technology, but maybe we should take a five minute break once in a while. Helps us appreciate where we've come from and how far we've come. Who knows? Maybe you'll find out that we enjoy a few things more the old-fashioned way. Think about it. Just once in a while....

Irony at Work.

A work project that I was working on was taken away from me this week. No, not because of incompetence on my part. At least not that I'm aware of. I've worked on this project both last year and the year before and we were particularly successful last year, gaining a lot of prestige and recognition for my company both on the state and even national level. For reasons of privacy and diplomacy in regards to my company, I won't go into detail about the project, the people involved, or things of that nature.

This year, I asked one of my coworkers who also has experience with this event to help out so that I wouldn't get overworked on it like I have in the past and also because I will be on vacation for the first event in the series of events. I thought that I had been clear with this coworker that she was there to help with the project and run the first event that I would be gone for, but apparently she didn't see it like that because a few days ago I was told by my supervisor to let my coworker take care of the project and that if she needed any help or advise she could come to me. Okay.... What happened here?

Although it's a little frustrating, I can see the irony in the role reversals. It's a bit funny just how totally flipped around it is. The one who was supposed to lend me a hand has instead taken matters into her own hands and now I'm the one who is there simply for consultation. Well, I can let it go. I don't get paid extra for heading up the project (no matter how successful it is), so this is simply an opportunity to decrease my stress level at work.

It's interesting to me to step back for a moment and objectively look at the interactivity within a work environment, how people work (or don't work) with each other. I sometimes wonder what some people's thought processes are and how they arrive at a particular conclusion or justify a certain decision. In this case, it would be interesting to me to trace the route that this process of losing the supervision of this project took. What happened and who said what to whom to get from the point where I was in charge to where I have effectively been told to hand it over to someone else? What goes through people's heads?

Why?

Why is indeed the question to ask. I don't really know what compelled me to create a blog. I don't think that anyone will read it and if they do, I seriously doubt that they will find much of value in my convoluted ramblings. But a small piece of my brain says that maybe someday something that I say will touch someone in a positive way. Those are high hopes, I know. But isn't that what so much of life is about? Delusions of grandeur to varying degrees? Think about it....