Re:solution 2011

On my 4 hour drive back to Chicago from Wisconsin yesterday morning, I thought quite a bit about happiness and what it is. What is happiness? I know it's not a goal to strive for, because you'll never attain that state of "happiness." For me, I think happiness comes more in moments that are either created or just by taking the time to recognize the little things that ARE happiness. That is why for 2011, rather than resolve to do things that will make my life more happy (because isn't that the only reason we make resolutions anyway -- to make our lives better?), I'm simply going to list the things that make me happy and try to recognize them as they are happening more often, or to create those moments more often.

Here are my top 10 Happies, not in any particular order:

1. Bubble baths

2. Good food - especially oatmeal with berries, seared ahi tuna nicoise salads, fajitas, homemade pizza

3. reading a good book by the fire (less TV)

4. kissing & snuggling (I guess this depends on whether I have someone to kiss & snuggle with, but dating means there are always options! ha!)

5. Meditation/yoga

6. Journaling/writing (ok, 1 resolution - buy a screenwriting program and write the script I've had in my head for months)

7. dancing in my room and singing into my hairspray can microphone :)

8. Being present in the moment -- i.e. stopping for a moment to recognize the beauty of simple things like the snow, having "me" time that many people don't have, the softness of Fabi rabbit's hair, the sky, even the neon Vegas sign behind my condo. Someone must have thought it was beautiful to make it a pharmacy sign.

9. Running to stupid pop songs, doing sprints to feel fast, lifting heavy weights and feeling strong.

10. Girls' night out.

The grass isn't greener on the other side ... it's greener where you water it. I'm going to try my best to focus on watering the grass where I stand by making more of these little happy moments.

To watering the green pasture you've got,

Jaime

Re:wind (long i)

Hello my 11 blog followers you! You make my day! ha! I realize no one reads this, and that's cool. It's my catharctic little journal and sometimes I write things that I don't really want anyone to read anyway. On the chance that someone does read it, I'm ok with that too because it's the only way to know if I really am a good writer and maybe someday will make a living off of what I love doing.

For the last 3 nights I've been waking up at 2:30 am and then falling back asleep sometime around 5 am, so I'm starting to use this as an opportunity to start the screenplay I've had in my mind for months. I've never written a screenplay before, and don't really have any formal training on that style of writing, but I'm hoping my undergrad days as a Creative Writing major will kick in and get me going. Plus there are so many online resources out there that I can refer to for assistance. I can't get into what it's about, since ideas are not copyrightable and I don't want my thousands (I mean, 11) followers to start stealing my ideas! Let's just say, it involves my crazy family (somewhat fictionalized) and a cruiseship.

Now that I've been out of the practice of law for a year, the writing has been flowing out of me. A lot of it is crap, but the great thing about scripts is that it's all dialogue, which is my strong suit. I've never been very good at the descriptive part of writing - the fluff, as I call it. I never even like reading it. I'm an impatient reader. I like to get to the action of the story and then see how it ends. Perhaps that's why Stephen King is one of my favorites, as is Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and others like them. No fluff. All action and dialogue. And when it's boring, well, I often toss books aside too quickly when they could have been wonderful. Hmm...I'm kind of like that in relationships - cut to the chase - maybe I need to slow down and savor the beginning a little rather than trying to rush into things. It's hard when it's good! It's like a great book - you want to hurry up and see what happens! Or toss it aside too quickly because the start was so slow you couldn't get into it.

So back to this script I'm writing. I'm confident my ideas are solid, now I just have to execute. And then find an agent, and then a huge movie studio to buy the script and make the movie. No problem!!!! ha ha! I'm sure one of you 11 faithful followers of my blog have connections and I'll be commissioned to write my next script for the Cohen brothers.

Reminding myself to rewind myself and remember who I truly am. A writer. And a firework! (thank you Katy Perry - ha!)

Jaime, Writer Extroadinaire.

Life as a House

I've been terrible on my blogging (and my running) lately, but here is a little thought since I'm awake at 3:30 in the morning. You all know I've been trying out online dating and have had hits/misses, ups/downs, and am still looking (although not online anymore - 6 months was enough for me!) There are definitely some potentials in the mix, but the jury is still out, and I'm not settling for anything less than the best because if there is one thing I've learned over the years, it's that I am deserving of someone who sees my inner beauty and doesn't take it for granted.

Recently a friend of mine told me that dating was like house shopping. Everyone goes through numerous walk throughs to try to find the perfect one. They check out the bathrooms, the flooring, the fixtures, woodwork, closets, parking, outdoor space, etc. until they find the right match for them. Often we make an offer that gets rejected and it hurts because we got excited about the house and slightly attached even though we never lived in it. Sometimes a buyer makes an offer on a house when the seller is still taking walk throughs and wasn't ready to sell. Sometimes we make offers and settle in only to realize that the house wasn't what we thought, and that it had a lot more problems that were too much to fix or that needed someone with a special touch to fix.

I like this idea a lot, because it helps put perspective on the hard times I've had with dating over the years. I'm going to add to that and say that not only is dating like house shopping, but people are like houses. They start out all brand new and shiny with everything working perfectly, but over the years, start to get banged up a bit and need some maintenance. Sometimes the people who move into the houses abuse them or mistreat them, or sometimes they just neglect them and so the house needs some TLC to fix them up. Other houses get taken care of properly for a long time and take for granted when someone really special wants to move in and overlooks them because there are so many other houses out there. Sometimes the houses actually get better with time, and maybe just need a little dusting off and cosmetic improvements -- like an old Victorian. Some may see the house as intimidating and think maybe they are afraid to invest the time in the house because they've done that before only to realize it wasn't the right house. However, under all the dust could be a beautiful patina that has developed over time which could easily be missed by one if they don't take the time to look.

So, to all you houses on the market out there, try to take care of yourself and find someone who sees your patina and dusts it off! And remember, not all offers are final until the closing so keep on shopping but don't get so caught up in the hunt that you miss the one that might not be all shiny and perfect, but is just right for you.

Happy House Hunting!