“Attack life. When you drink a beer, drink the hell out of it,” UltraBob suggested the other day. And that got me thinking.
How do you approach life? Do you go slowly, savoring all the details? Do you rush through activities to get to the next thing? Do you hang back from participating, preferring to critique everyone else? Do you jump in with gusto and enthusiasm? Glide through with style and grace? What other ways are there to live?
I think that most of us vary our approach depending on the situation. But what if you tried to live your life all one way? How would things turn out? Let’s take an evening at home and run it through a few different ways:
Savor - You stash away your bag and coat and run a hand across the empty hangers to hear them jangle together. You stroke the dog gently, noting the silkiness of her ears and the rough patch of hair at the base of the tail. At the table, you contemplate every bite, compare flavors and pair wines to courses. Dinner lasts three hours.
Rush - You drop your bag and coat on the floor and put something in the microwave to cook. Dinner is on the table ten minutes after you arrive home. There is no way to shovel the food in fast enough and it’s all swallowed without chewing. Then the TV is on and you’re comatose.
Critique - After noticing that the closet needs to be rearranged you stand in the kitchen and offer advice while someone else cooks. The dog whines at the back door, eager to go for a walk and you complain that someone should have walked him earlier, but you don’t take him out yourself. When dinner is served, you eat little more than a small taste, then suggest improvements.
Play - You wad your coat into a ball and toss it into the closet for two points. You race the dog around the house and tickle everyone you meet along the way. During dinner, your prawns dive into your water glass, you sculpt with fruit and fold your napkin into a hat.
Attack - You drop your bags and coat on the floor and embrace everyone in the house. You play with the dog until the stick you’ve been wailing across the yard breaks a neighbor’s window. At dinner, table manners are cast aside so that food can be eaten with the utmost enthusiasm. “Hand to mouth” takes a new meaning. You drink the hell out of your beer.
Posted by kuri at May 21, 2004 09:18 AMUh oh. Is that the way UltraBob behaves when he comes to your house? Goodness!
I have a new one:
Procrastinator:
Come home and head straight to the computer, hoping someone commented on your new post.They didn’t, and too tired to move, you play Spider Solitaire for the next half hour. Peruse the mail and phone messages. Try to remember to nag UltraDad to return his calls. If you don’t, he won’t. Dinner depends on if UDad is home or not: if not, eat whatever comes to hand. Suddenly its about 10 pm and I remember all those things I just GOTTA get done tonight. Posting may or may not be one of them, depending on the mood and urgency of other stuff. Stay up til after midnight and drop into bed exhausted.
I’m more the ‘Savor’ type, which may be a reason why I rarely complete tasks in time.
What about you?
How about Multiple Personality type (kinda like me) where you switch between all of these at random. I never know what type of mood I am going to be in.
Posted by: Tracey on May 21, 2004 11:35 AMI can’t decide if I’m a playful savorer or a savory player.
Posted by: Laga on May 21, 2004 05:24 PM