Working in the 21st Century

I was made acutely aware today of the fact that we are well and truly into the 21st century and the shift has affected everything including how we communicate with our co-workers and even supervisors.

I was told by my boss a few days ago to text him if I am sick. He is a Chinese-American who reads English better than he understands it so it works better for him to do so. Still, "Text-in sick?" It was certainly a strange revelation.

Then this morning I was made even more aware of the ways technology is changing the workplace: I was fired by text message! By now we'e all heard of people being broken up with by text and we can imagine how incredibly humiliating that feels. My boss took that concept to the next level. Texting me my termination notice with nothing more of an explanation than "an integrity issue."

It made it abundantly clear that the ways we communicate as a society are changing, and not for the better.

Sunday is...

Sunday is my favorite day. A day of rest and sleep surrounded by days of action and energy. My Sundays are often spent sleeping late then curling up with a book or cracking out on computer games. Sometimes I find some energy to do a few things around the house, but there are no obligations on my Sundays so I feel no guilt if I do nothing productive.

Sundays are habit-breakers. Nothing like getting up at 8am Monday through Saturday to have the whole system thrown off because I get up at 2pm on Sunday. All of my good habit-building behavior usually takes a break on Sunday, which sometimes can be enough break to undo the work I have done toward that habit throughout the entire week. The obvious answer to this is to simply continue acting toward the habits on Sunday too. However this conflicts with my desire to have an obligation free Sunday. Sunday can be a dilemma day.

Sunday is Funday! A regular ritual for me on Sundays is often to go visit my mom after she gets home from church. Usually I kidnap her and take her around town for adventurous shopping and dining, but sometimes we’ll stay in. This time is important to me because it gives me a chance to talk about anything with no concern of the consequences of my words. There is no one in the world with whom I feel more comfortable. My mom is my confidant. She always has a ready ear for any meaningless whatevers I need to go on about on any given day. I always enjoy a Sunday Funday.

Sunday is not religious to me. Many people go to church on Sundays because the bible says to. I can appreciate creating religious habits and rituals in ones life, but I do not agree with obligatory worship on a specific day because everyone else does or because God says so. If I feel inspired to attend church, I will, but it is not something I typically associate with my Sundays. See the whole no-obligation Sunday idea above.

Sunday is my favorite day. Sunday can be dilemma day. Sunday is Funday.

Sunday is ME day!

Things I have difficulty motivating toward...

This is a list of things I want to do, but which I resist and can’t or won’t motivate toward for some reason or another. These are a combination of habits and behaviors (is there a difference?) which I am trying (and often failing) to implement in my life.
1. Journaling (Blogging?)
2. Balance
3. Self-analysis
4. Julia-centeredness
5. Routines
6. Magick
7. Spirituality
8. Study
9. Toughness
10. Saving Money
11. Finishing what I start
12. Contentment
13. Wellness behavior
14. Productivity
15. Creating and maintaining boundaries

All of the habits I listed here fall somewhere under this list. Now, if only there were some secret to harnessing motivation, energy and willpower which I could apply to these areas of my life.

My Happiness Jar

When I was in therapy (one of several times) my therapist gave me some glass markers and a large mason jar. She told me to make a happiness jar. A jar which I would fill with thoughts and sayings which I could pull out and read when I was feeling depressed and unhappy. I picked up a little jar filled with multi-colored stars at a garage sale and some time or other I put the stars into the happiness jar. Then later on, my brother and his girlfriend sent me a little box filled with the same kind of multicolored stars, which I added to the happiness jar. When stumbling around on etsy, I discovered that this type of star was called a lucky star and was made by folding strips of paper over and over and shaping it into a star. What a cool thing! Origami stars! So I decided to learn how to make my own lucky stars and work on filling my Happiness Jar FULL of little lucky stars.

Habits

Habit building is so annoyingly difficult. Especially when said habit building is also involving breaking some opposite habit. Yet I persevere. Here are some habits I intend to build:

1. Daily Blogging.
2. Waking at the same time daily.
3. Drinking H2O.
4. Daily Study.

I’m not really sure why I find all of this so difficult, but I do. It is merely a matter of Will.

This is the blog I have chosen to maintain, but I may end up resurrecting all of them. My other personal blog is something of a catch-all blog that is less self-discovery and more self-expression. I may retool my t-shirt blog into a “things I like” blog. However, one step at a time.

Part of the inspiration for reattempting to blog here is that many people in my immediate and extended social circles have begun blogging. I think it’s a sign for me to get back into blogging.

Every Journey Begins With A Single Step

I was reading a book I recently bought when I discovered a word I had never seen before. A word I didn't know! This word was quiddity. Now, though it is a rare occasion which I find a word I do not know, but rare as they are, these occasions usually pass unnoticed and unmarked. However, the book had previously implored that when reading that book, it would be best experienced as Nabokov said, 'with a dictionary and a pencil.' so I got a pencil to write in the margins and sat at my computer which of course has dictionary.com readily available. As such, when I came across the word quiddity, I was intrigued and immediately looked it up.

Dictonary.com defines quiddity as: The quality that makes a thing what it is; the essential nature of a thing. The author used quiddity to describe her young daughter asking, "Mama? What makes you you?" Saying that she usually requires at least one cup of coffee and a scone before starting a conversation about quiddity.

After looking that word up, it struck me in a way which no other word has EVER struck me before. I felt lost; I do not know my own quiddity! That is what I've been trying to discover for my entire 22 years so far. I feel so incomplete or insubstantial without knowing about my own quiddity. I immediately realized that what I have is a quiddity quandary: a state of perplexity or uncertainty about my own essential nature! I need to solve this quandary. This is the forum by which I shall attempt to do so.

So welcome to this compendium of combat and conquest over my own stubborn unknowingness.