The good, the bad and the ugly- March 2011

The Good:

Graffiti/street art, call it what you like… people either love it or hate it.. I have a soft spot for some forms of public expression (at this point I am sure people are thinking- I am sure you do…except when it’s on your house etc.. and that’s probably true)..anyway… I was walking the neighborhood and came across this piece of ‘public expression’ (as I’ll refer to it) and it made me stop and think.

“Don’t be afraid of the sadness that will set you free”.

Brilliant stuff!

Next up is an older one that has since been painted over:

 

“If you look hard enough…the buildings could almost be trees”.

To my humble self, what makes good ‘public expression’ 'good', is that it makes you think or consider its message.

 

The Bad:

Not listening to that little voice in our head.

You know that voice in your head that speaks the truth, no… not the voice that keeps telling us to do bad things, but the other one. The one that says ‘STOP! If you continue, then ‘this’ will happen. And then you are shown. The future is mapped out in front of you.. and then you ignore it, thinking.. ‘nah!’, it’ll be alright.. and it isn’t. Here are two recent experiences of that voice and I.

The Garden:

Recently I was doing some gardening and while trying to pull some well-established weeds out of the garden, my voice warned me. It said ‘STOP! Your right next to a dead tree, with a million dead branches and twigs sticking out, you’re wearing a short sleeve shirt, and you are weight is not distributed evenly… the weed will break in your hands and you will easily topple over…. I paused and then it was all shown to me, like a movie inside my head…. And I went wow!!! Thanks.. but .. Nah!! I’ll be ok….. and guess what happened next.

A weed I was struggling to pull out, snapped and sent me tumbling backwards, onto a million branches of varying size and sharpness. They ripped across one of my muscle-less child-like upper arms. My poor gun-less guns that are as delicate and soft as a baby’s bottom, lily white and as fragile as fine porcelain.. now one of them has a huge bleeding and painful gash, which scars their untouched beauty (well untouched by a gym that is…).

The Sneeze:

You know when a big sneeze is coming, I'm not talking about those 'why bother' sneezes, no, I'm talking about those BIG ones.. and when they are coming you prepare yourself for the temporary blindness (I was once told that the reason we automatically close our eyes when we sneeze is to stop our eyeballs from being blown out!!), once your eyes close, your head is violently being thrown about, you sneeze and your body goes into a wracking spasm.

Recently I was using a toilet not my own (yes, very brave of me… it’s part of my immersion therapy), and whilst in mid pee (we men generally stand to pee).. I felt a strong sneeze coming on. That voice in my head said, ‘STOP PEEING !!!!!’.. and showed me what might be…. And I went ‘nah! Thanks but I’ll be ok…’

I have no idea what would have possibly made me think I could still aim correctly, whilst having my eyes closed, my head being violently thrown about and going through a bodily convulsion!  Fortunately, at least this time, my delicate muscle-less baby-like upper arms escaped unscathed.   

I hope that these recent experiences teach me to listen to that voice in head… having said that.. This isn't the first time I have hoped that next time I listen to that voice.

The Ugly:

Facebook. 

I am not on facebook and have no desire to go on it, despite the regular requests and ‘Spanish inquisition’ like grilling I get by friends and colleagues. You see, I am always coming across reasons why people shouldn’t be on facebook. Recently whilst out having coffee with friends, one of them shared a horrifying story. After which I made yet another a mental note of yet another reason for me not to have a facebook page.

The story, in a nutshell (and yes I have their permission to share), was that this lady's friend posted something on her wall (I think that is what the kids call it). Apparently it was all posted innocently, but still. The comment went a little like this:

 “You know how you’re always getting cold sores, what’s the name of those tablets you take?”

 Well after this very public sharing of a very personal and embarrassing nature, the person was apparently blocked from being able to post any more comments. But this didn’t stop them from doing something as stupid and alarming. My friend, who lives alone, had organised to go and visit this person late one night, late being 10.30pm on a Sunday. Apparently an update was posted on the other persons facebook page that went a little bit like this- ‘waiting for (my friends FULL NAME) to come over and visit me, due at 10.30pm Sunday’. 

Yes..we (‘we’ meaning the visiting party) would want everyone to know what we are doing and where we are doing it. This person might want to think about posting an end time for the visit as well, just to make it that little bit easier for burglars. Why not?, I know that I  greatly appreciate it in my line of work when someone makes my job that little bit easier, I am sure that burglars aren't any different.