08Mar14
It’s a bit of a gloomy day, but rain is good and makes things green.
When I’m emailing with friends, many of them ask me things like, “What else is going on that’s not included on your blog?” So here’s some behind-the-scenes commentary.
On the non-gloomy side, we had a fun dinner last night with our hosts, Harry and Ivana — and their cute and energetic 2-year-old. Harry invited us to watch a presentation of his photography from around the world, which was really fantastic. I encourage you to check it out as well as read about their bike trip across the Americas. They’re really lovely people with interesting stories to share.
We’re using today’s rain as an excuse to curl up on the couch, work on our projects and do some reading. Holly is excited because Chris’s mom is bringing her some goodies when she comes to visit us in Buenos Aires. We haven’t been able to find the bones Holly likes since we were in Mexico City.
Switching gears so some heavier stuff, the other reason today is a bit gloomy (for me) is because sometimes I feel like I haven’t grown at all on our journey. Take yesterday’s blog post, for example. I still think the insights are true and reflect our overall experience over the past five months. But I hate that I’m even thinking about those things — both the good and the not-so-good. Constantly evaluating and sizing-up instead of experiencing and appreciating.
It makes me think about this commercial we saw online about Cadillac’s electric cars. If you haven’t seen it, give it a quick watch:
The reason this is marketing genius is because it taps into Americans’ deeply ingrained, subconscious value system. We can debate the many pros and cons of that value system, but I want to focus on one in particular: there’s no such thing as enough. While in small doses it can spur innovation and life-improving advances, in large doses it is soul-crushing and creates a total inability to recognize what one should appreciate and be grateful for. And I’ve realized that more often than not, I’m taking in the world and seeing where it’s lacking, rather than focusing first on what to appreciate.
If anyone has any tips on how to practice gratitude, I’m all ears. I guess the first thing is to be grateful for is I’ve recognized this about myself and want to change it. So maybe I’m growing after all.
Don’t beat yourself up sweetheart. You come from a culture that’s very competitive. Take the business that I built as an example, built it and stablished the brand for the past five years but now they want more by adding another person hat they thing well help me double our revenue…(sighs) but I guess I should be grateful that I have a job. Right?
How to practice gratitude: first thing you do as soon as you wake up in the morning is to thank your higher power for having another day. And at bedtime, say a little thank you for having the experience of that day good or bad as each moment/day we experience is a lesson learned.
So glad that Susan is coming to visit you. I’m envious!!! Give that little H a big hug for me. Love you!
I meant to say “established the business for the past five years and now they want more by adding another person that they think will help me double our revenue…”
Thanks, Mommy. Love you lots. xo, T