Today was really good, but not especially memorable. No major emotional things. Just good. that probably doesn't sound terribly exciting, but some days are just there. I'm trying to make this blog a daily occurrence. Something that records the happenings of every day. Well, some of those days aren't going to be that interesting by the time it reaches midnight. During the day, sure, interesting. At the end of the day, a little less so. Let's see what happened:
A) Woke up. That's a good thing in itself. Too many people have died over the last six years. So, that's definitely a good thing.
B) Read the Book of Mormon after getting up. This is part of my normal routine. I read the first thing after getting up. If I don't do anything else during the day, even when I'm sick, I do this. today's reading was in Mormon, and I'm seeing his perspective. He was in his late teens to early twenties, and older than his age. In today's society, growing up fast is becoming the norm. Not that it's strayed too far outside of the cult of youth during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and a few other time periods, but honestly, these days you have to be firm and steadfast in your belief system. Not that you can't think for yourself, or anything like that. You have to be able to think for yourself to be firm and steadfast. I used to say that "Obedience is the ultimate rebellion." That meant obedience to value systems and actually following what was right. I'm not a fan of being wishy-washy in one's values. I'm not a jihadist, and out to kill people or harm people who think differently than I do. I'm a fan of being what you believe. It may be painful sometimes, especially when it comes to relationships and friendships with others who definitely don't value the same things, but my priorities are solid. I have a lode star, and it doesn't budge. So yeah, there was a part where the people were swearing by anything and everything that Mormon held sacred. Swearing in such a vain manner and the way they were doing it- making fun or light of things that are sacred is just plain wrong. So, he stopped leading their armies. He couldn't go there, so to speak. The more I read of Mormon, the more I can relate to him.
C) Re-read the last chapter of How to Win Friends and Influence People. It's a great book, and incredibly well-recommended. I have actually tried to do a lot of changing because of it. The more that I've read it (read every chapter at least twice), the more that I see where I've screwed up and want to do better. Most of the time, I'm not entirely out to win friends or influence people, but I think that if a person has a chance to make a positive difference with anyone, why not try it? Doing good is a good thing. Tomorrow I start reading Preach My Gospel. It came out the month that I got home from my mission in LA, and although I've read bits of it in the past, never a concrete effort to get through it before. I think that it's time, and I want to get through as much as possible before Chicago. My new branch out there seems to have a strong missionary emphasis, and since Preach My Gospel is the current manual for such undertakings, I would like to be more-prepared than I feel at the moment.
D) Checked email and FB. This one can either make or break a day for me. Either I get trapped into FB because people are doing interesting things, or else I make myself get away from it because I do have work to do. I feel sometimes like a lot of people spend incredible amounts of time on it, and for me, I haven't necessarily done a ton of blogging in the past. Although I can write mountains in a short amount of time, I don't actually talk to that many people during the day. There are plenty of people around at the Library, and I'm grateful for the current scanning project to get my client's resources all scanned before I leave for Chicago so that I can actually work when I get out there, but otherwise most of the time I can do my work from my room. My room is a private room, and it just has little old me. I have one roommate for the apartment right now, but that doesn't mean that I see her all the time. Right now, we exercise at the track during the evenings, and that's definitely good. But otherwise, FB is an outlet for the people that otherwise don't see people daily. If I was in a regular job with coworkers and such, definitely would be on it rarely. At the present, I try to just check on what people say at the beginning and end of the day, but it's hard not to be on here or there in the middle.
E) Plans: -Get showered, go to bank, get gas, get visit taught, do some scanning, go to temple, unknown.
F) What actually happened (next few letters): Got showered. Already had minor breakfast while doing email/FB. I was waiting for an email from a client, and it didn't show up until later in the day. There was also less information for a collateral line ancestor for a different client, and while I wasn't particularly happy about that, there was enough information that the client could do temple work if they wanted, and that was the important thing. I have decided that showers are my thinking time. I never realized it until the mission, but the shower is where I do most of my processing. Although this may be TMI for some people, ...honestly? eh. Americans shower or bathe usually at least once a day. It's a good thing. I just end up thinking about my relationships with other people then because for once there isn't a screen in front of my face pulling my attention elsewhere. Some people meditate during yoga or creative spa times. I meditate daily, while making sure that I come out cleaner than I came in. Not too shabby.
G) My brain wanted to work linearly today, and the day eventually moved in the linear course of human events, but not at all how I planned it to be. I kept thinking of my mother's phrase "My day is shot to heck!" and I just kind of grinned thinking that I have become my mother, minus being married by 25. I grinned more, though, thinking that although it wasn't going how my brain wanted it to go, being flexible was getting more done in the same amount of time and with more help and a better overall result than I could have gotten with my own little plan.
H) So my friend, TH, came by and by this time I was showered, and about as ready as I like to get (clothes, check; a new moisturizer cream thingy that actually works, check; product in hair enough to keep down fly-aways, check; hair pulled back enough to keep it out of my face and help the top dry flatter, check; decided that I should change to make sure that I was properly dressed for dealing with cleaning out my trunk space, check; brought out all of the collapsed boxes from underneath my bed from moving in three years ago, check; I had put on minor makeup- why am I including this? Because I don't honestly see a reason to wear make up all the time, and usually I want a reason for doing things. In this case, I was going to the temple later. I always wear make up when I am flying (airports) since they treat you better, or maybe on Sundays because of Church, but otherwise? Okay, if a cute guy is going to be around, maybe. But not even all the time then. Well, dates, definitely, but I like keeping the whole thing simple. I can do amazing makeup, but I spend more time living and less time worrying about that. Besides, I have decent features and I prefer to be myself without war paint when I can help it. *shrugs*) and the plan after my visiting teachers arrived was to have them help me clean out the car trunk- yeah, they did the vast majority of it (fabulous, wonderful thank-you ladies!) I was saying what to do with things they were going through, and then TH built boxes with the packing tape that they brought by. TH got an account on Pandora, and had a good ol'time of building while listening to contemporary Christian rock. *smiles*
That was my main progress today. Other people helping me out. But I am seriously grateful for it.
I) The Get-Me-Started-in-Packing Party was over, and the lovely ladies all hugged and left for their respective next parts of their days. My living room has become sectioned a la cardboard, and my car, following stops at the bank, and a gas station, went through a happy car wash and is better than previously. When you go to the temple, they just ask that you are clean. They don't care about makeup, or about whether or not your socks match. All that is expected is that you do your best to be neat and comely in appearance. For those not familiar with older expressions in English, comely typically means that you look your best, although you're not dressing for the Prom or such. Sunday best, the stuff of 1950's musicals and places of worship where rock and roll may not be the normal Sunday music. But that's probably stereotyping, and so I will cut off further references in that respect.
Think suits and ties for guys, ladies wearing dresses or skirts that are respectable lengths. I once had an English teacher who described a paper's length like a lady's skirt- long enough to cover the subject, short enough to make it interesting. While that comment actually did get him into trouble- I thought it was hilarious, myself, so it was sad to hear that got him into trouble, it obviously stuck. However, for the temple, long enough to cover the subject, and we prefer that it hits your knees or lower. Honestly, I am grateful for this. I see no reason to wear mini skirts or such things. A person who values you wants you to value yourself. That means that you wear things that identify that you're worth divinity, if it was offered. Preferably no spandex, or similar body-hugging Saran wrap style items, either. A person who likes him or herself doesn't need to grab attention in ways that contort mental images into something where they really shouldn't be going for someone with values and morals.
Sure, I'm incredibly conservative, and I like that. It keeps me out of trouble. I have the dignity and self-confidence to not worry about looking like a whore. And not doing anything to give myself that label, either. While I'm not here to sound preachy, I'm not backing down. This is something that people within the culture seem to fight all the time. Moral issues that start when people are looking for attention in unfortunate ways. Being a good person and being happy is the best way to grab positive attention. Looking to uplift other's souls and to love each other in helping one another- THAT helps people. Best way to be a friend? Look for the good in others, and tell them about it!
J) Okay, stepping off the soap box for 10 seconds, ...9,8, okay. Enough. So I went to the temple. I wanted my car clean in addition to me being clean. After cleaning out my car trunk, changed before running the errands and went straight there after the errands. I am normally a temple worker, meaning that I help out with things at the temple during my shift on Saturday nights. It's crazy to think that in two weeks, my service there will be over. I've been working there since November 2007. Since it's now June, that's... 3.5 years. Wow. That's my longest calling to date! *grins* Excepting being a visiting teacher, and that's a life-long thing. *bigger grin* Today I was a patron, and things were really good. My plan was to do one thing and then leave, and it turned into doing a few things, and by the end of it, I felt refreshed and happy. And I got a whole lot done. And there were really nice people who helped out.
While I may be just a little vague here, my best description of the temple is a place where you can be who you really want to be. Not some vain, obtuse fantasy of an unfortunate sort, but a place where people are nice and you don't have to be the tough, driven, perpetually-busy business person that you might feel like you have to be outside of it. It helps me allow myself to hope, to have faith, to allow myself to be happy, and for some reason I usually get incredibly hyper in the temple. Most people around me get really reverent, but I just feel like a little kid, and I get bubbly and smiley cause I know that what I'm doing is good and pure and I feel like a princess there. It's the one place where I can finally be myself and let down my guard, and just come out okay. I am my best self in the temple. Not best as in a "showroom" self, but best as in who I truly am and want to be. I'm not fake by nature, but I can let the "me" come out who is my core. The raw, good, dynamic me who doesn't know everything, doesn't have to be all business, doesn't have to save face, and is happy being laid back and feels connected to the Divine all at the same time. It's the me that I wish that I could be more often, like how people often say that they want to be the better person that they are at Christmas time all year. For me, that's how the temple feels. And no, it's definitely not all about me at all.
K) When done with the temple, I saw the most beautiful sunset and looked up and just said, "Thank you." God does a wonderful job with His vistas, doesn't He? I like how in everything He does, He always wants it to be good. That makes me happy.
L) So, the original plan was to get out and head off for the gym with afore-mentioned roommate at 8:30. Considering that I didn't get out until maybe 8:45-9, I texted my roommate to see whether she had already left, got ready, and joined her down there. My IPod Shuffle was battery-dead, and so I did the normal 30 minute walk minus tunes,and then stretched out. Because we were being goofy and could, we got ice cream afterwards. This is a rare thing, but it was just plain old fun! Did we blow our hard-earned workouts? Probably. Did we have a blast at it? Oh yeah. It's not illegal, not immoral, and was soul-fulfilling. To quote Judi Dench's character Armande from Chocolat, "Live a little." Perfect end to a decent day.
M) Came home, watched the Office with said roommate (I'm starting to get it. How crazy is that? After watching various different seasons with her, and her explaining it, since I haven't watched it that much before, I'm starting to understand it. *grins*) I think I may be a Pam. But I'm not sure. *shrugs*
N) Written this blog. It was not intended to be this long. I started thinking that my day wasn't that big of a deal. And I guess it wasn't, but it was fun writing. Maybe that's what I need or have missed more. I write because I live. The two go together for me. Perhaps I'm a natural writer? Unknown.
All my best,
The Genealogy Doctor
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