The Most Worthless Bug




Worthless Bug--photo courtesy of Caryn Hjelmstad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I come from a long line of Cicada-haters.  That’s probably why I can safely say that I’m not eating one even if it’s dipped in chocolate—no matter what The Food Network suggests!

Just in case you haven’t a clue about the 13-year invasion of these bugs in the south, cicadas are the most worthless bugs on the planet.  Their only redeeming quality is when they decompose.  Some bug nerd at Penn State calls them “spectacular insects,” but I’m questioning his sanity.  How do you become a bug nerd, anyway?  Buggy parents?

He also calls them “gregarious.”  Is that because you can’t go outdoors right now without one adhering to your face?  I call that extremely annoying.

Brood XIX (what the current population is called) has pushed me to my limits.  I can’t sit outside on my porch due to the extremely high frequency noise they make.  The bug nerds say it is a mating call, but to me it sounds like they are planning  a frickin’ orgy.  What kind of bugs lay 400 to 600 eggs at a time, anyway?  Bugs that are red-eyed ugly, loud, frightening, nasty and worthless—that’s what kind!

They cause damage to trees and if your dogs eat too many exoskeletons they require emergency vet care.  Only crows can safely eat cicadas (if you don’t count the crazies at The Food Network), and who needs more crows?



Worthless Bugs on Tree--photo courtesy of Caryn Hjelmstad



June 5^th cannot come soon enough.  That’s when the current crop should go back underground for thirteen more years.  I’m proclaiming June 5^th “Ding Dong The Cicadas Are Dead Day,” or DDTCADD for short.  The Food Network has a cicada cocktail, but I’m sticking to box wine, or perhaps several margaritas.  Or, I’ll buy you a few beers.  But I’m not eating anything since all the cicada recipes have definitely tanked my appetite.

Did I mention that another Brood (Brood XXIII) is coming in 2015?  I briefly considered moving north, but they have 17 year cicadas, and with my luck there might be some overlap.  If you don’t see me, I’ll be out after June 5^th.  Meanwhile, be careful out there!



Worthless Bugs Lounging--photo courtesy of Caryn Hjelmstad



And if you’d like to chime in with some cicada hate, I’d love to hear it!  Please feel free to leave a nasty comment.

Marianne Smith
Writer At The Ranch
Making You Look Brilliant One Word At A Time
http://writerattheranch.com
wordsmith@writerattheranch.com





Just Weaned

Disclaimer:  If you loathe self-help articles, stop here.  My retired psychotherapist self seems to need a turn with my blog.

I have a picture on my desk of a lady giving a baby donkey a drink out of a cup.  The caption reads, “Just weaned.”  It serves as a reminder to me that we are remaking ourselves each and every day—at least if we are paying attention.

Like the young donkey, we have to be nourished and ready to meet the world before we can make our world larger.  Then as you learn more about yourself the more interesting you become, and the more interests you have.

This is different than fresh out of college weaned.  I’m talking about finally knowing yourself well enough to draw what you want into your life.  And to ignore what you don’t want.

When you are self-editing this way  you become your truest self, which makes for that sought after state called happiness.  Does that mean you’re not open to trying new things?  Definitely not!  But editing for that “I’d like to explore that further!” (or not) feeling is important.

Photo by Marianne Smith

When you know yourself this way there is a connect-the-dots thing that happens.  I like rocks, for example, perhaps because I have a distinct need to be grounded.  I was not aware of this when studying rock art symbolism many moons ago.  But it hit me square in the face recently while gardening with rocks.

Being over 50 is a fascinating thing because I am always fine-tuning who I am and what I’m about.  Until you have laid the groundwork, it’s not possible to fine-tune anything.

What have you learned about yourself lately that has surprised you?  Any “just weaned” moments?  If you’re willing to share, please feel free to leave a comment.  I would love to hear about your experiences.

Marianne Smith
Writer At The Ranch
Making You Look Brilliant One Word At A Time
http://writerattheranch.com
wordsmith@writerattheranch.com

Suspending Your Disbelief

Jaded:  Is that what we’ve all become?  I had an opportunity this week to make a choice that required me to suspend my disbelief.  I’m not able to go into too much detail yet about the circumstances, but I will tell you that I was exploring a new direction for my business and career.

We have so many ingrained beliefs that interfere with suspending our disbelief.  We’ve heard these adages our whole life:

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
First impressions matter.
Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
If everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

And then I added a few of my own:

There are few true opportunities in this economy.
Rural living does not offer easy access to cultural experiences.
And, in this SME-oriented era, diversity of experience is not appreciated.

I’m still not sure why I decided “What the heck!” and opted to explore this new opportunity.  All the bells were ringing, and I usually pay close attention to the bells.  But a smaller, quieter voice was saying:  “Suspend your disbelief and go check it out.”

I could not have been more amazed at the results.  A staggeringly beautiful opportunity was presented, and I had almost NOT gone to check it out because of pre-set beliefs and a handful of empty slogans that were bouncing around in my head.

Am I suggesting that you throw caution to the wind and jump on some pyramid scheme bandwagon?  Should you ignore gut feelings AND reason just to be considered open-minded?  Hardly.

But do consider suspending your disbelief around something for a day, a week, or even a month.  What have you got to lose?  I wonder how much we miss because we judge situations or events before they even unfold. 

And yes, it’s important to put on our critic’s hat to evaluate most everything.  But do give yourself a chance to evaluate.  Dismiss things, people, or events before you’ve had a chance to evaluate, and you may just miss out on some really cool experiences.

While it’s certainly important to know who you are, and it’s time-saving to BING (bing.com), I think that search overload and the pace of modern life has led us to routinely make instant decisions.  Instant decisions usually involve not having all the facts and not having developed a big-picture perspective.

Because of my incredible experience this week, I will be much less likely to dismiss things outright.  I will, at the very least, consider what kind of filters/overlay I am attaching when making a quick decision.

My first wish for you is that you will suspend your disbelief while making one decision this week.  My second wish is that you will be surprised or even stunned by what you almost turned away.

I would love to hear about how this works out (or doesn’t) for you.  Please feel free to leave a comment.

Marianne Smith
Writer At The Ranch
Making You Look Brilliant One Word At A Time
http://writerattheranch.com
wordsmith@writerattheranch.com

The Lost Art of Wasting Time

I’m late!  I’m late, for a very important date!
No time to say  hello goodbye, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!
--The White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland

Or, if you prefer, we can go with a more contemporary version:

I’m in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life’s no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I’m in a hurry and don’t know why
--Alabama (I’m in a Hurry)

Perhaps the raw speed of modern life is our best excuse, but it seems that we’ve lost the sense of how to truly waste time.  As I write this, I can almost hear some of you shrieking:  “What?  There is no time to waste!  Have you seen my schedule?  Are you nuts?”

It may be just because of our overloaded schedules that we need, more than ever, to waste some time.  Life was not meant to be a goal-driven, overachieving, race to the finish.  Take the word “journey.”  Webster defines it as:

1.  an act or instance of traveling from one place to another : trip

2.   chiefly dialect : a day's travel

   3.   something suggesting travel or passage from one place to another <the journey from youth to maturity> <a journey through time>

 

Part of “passage” means taking your time (and not time taking you).  If we never stop to waste time, to just BE, how can we possibly think that we are enjoying the journey of a life well- lived?

As one who is guilty of making “to-do” lists while at the beach on vacation, I have definitely NOT mastered this skill.  But I am finally learning how to waste time, and it is changing my life for the better.  I’m not talking about designated meditation time or even my nightly porch-stitting, but truly aimless don’t–know-what-I’m-going-to-do-next wandering (or sitting for that matter, if you’re not the wandering type).

You don’t set out to waste time.  You merely quit worrying about what is next for a few minutes, and you quit DOING.  Give it a try; I think you will be very surprised by the results.  And the space you create may actually contribute to your goal-driven tasks in an unexpected way.  If you still feel bad about wasted time, consider what Bertrand Russell said:  “The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”

Do you have favorite ways to waste time that you’d like to share?  I’d love to hear them.  Please feel free to leave a comment.  Meanwhile, I have some time to kill.

Marianne Smith

Writer At The Ranch

Making You Look Brilliant One Word At A Time

http://writerattheranch.com

wordsmith@writerattheranch.com