Category Archives: Random musings

Dare to Defy the Impossible

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about possibilities and if anything is really impossible. A quote by Nelson Mandela has been stuck in my head for most of this week:

It always seems impossible until it’s done.

This lead me on a quest to find other quotes which speak of defying seemingly insurmountable odds and spitting in the face of the naysayers. Here are a few of my favourites:

‘Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be’. ―Shel Silverstein

‘Never say that you can’t do something, or that something seems impossible, or that something can’t be done, no matter how discouraging or harrowing it may be; human beings are limited only by what we allow ourselves to be limited by: our own minds. We are each the masters of our own reality; when we become self-aware to this: absolutely anything in the world is possible.

Master yourself, and become king of the world around you. Let no odds, chastisement, exile, doubt, fear, or ANY mental virii prevent you from accomplishing your dreams. Never be a victim of life; be it’s conqueror.’ ― Mike Norton

‘If nature has taught us anything it is that the impossible is probable’. ― Ilyas Kassam

‘Many things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.’ ― Louis Dembitz Brandeis

‘My dear, just because something seems implausible doesn’t make it impossible. Think about how long people believed the world was flat.’ ― Angela Henry, The Paris Secret

‘Start by doing what is necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.’ ― Francis of Assisi

That last by Francis of Assisi particularly speaks to me. There are so many moments when just starting out and doing the tiniest of tasks resulted in possibilities which then accomplished what had at one point seemed impossible. It’s a nice a reminder to us all, and can serve as a gentle reminder to simply break any larger task which seems impossible into the various necessary components. Before long, we’ll be achieving the impossible. Nice!

And, then there’s this gem, from Dejan Stojanovic, which is simply perfect:

‘Possible impossibility emerges
From an impossible possibility,
Or possibly, impossible possibility
Blooms from the impossibly possible impossibility’.

However you define ‘impossible’ and regardless of what obstacles you think stand in your way, just get on with it. Dare to dream and dare to defy the odds. Then, everything is possible. And, the possibilities are endless.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?

by in Everyday Life, Random musings | 2 Comments

I like to be busy. Not to the point of feeling the need to spend very long days chained to my desk without breaks and not so busy that I feel like I can’t just be for a few moments. But, being busy keeps boredom at bay and makes me feel like I’m doing ‘something’, for lack of a better descriptive. Idleness and the devil’s hands and all that. Being consistently occupied keeps me out of trouble and on ‘track’, whatever that track may be at a particular time.

Recently, however, I took an inventory of the many various little ‘things’ on my to-do mañana list. This list ranges from closets to sort through which have become too cluttered, the recycling mess, sewing curtains for our office, cleaning out my desk (which is daunting), and all the various admin tasks that I just put off because I don’t want to do them. When a friend posted an article about productivity, I started thinking more about my inability to stop procrastinating and resistance to start doing.

Once I get started on something, I am more likely to finish it and do so efficiently. It’s the process of starting that it is hardest for me. From cleaning out the refrigerator to writing a manuscript, I always find the first step (that is, beginning) the most challenging and the easiest to put off.

I’ve been experimenting lately with my time and trying out ways to just get going.

Routines help. Carving out a specific time and devoting that time slot to one task is working well for me. I tend to schedule my runs through our neighbourhood sometime between 13.00 and 15.00. Between 12.00 and 13.00, I’ll tend to plants on the balcony, read that paper that needs reviewing or spend a little time reading for me if I have the free-time available. Mornings with coffee are for responding to and filing emails. Afternoons and early evenings are reserved for administration and random tidying up around the office / home.

Not every day is the same, and certainly depending upon scheduling demands, etc., plans are likely to change to accommodate others. But, finding a routine and carving out times for specific tasks is helping me to not procrastinate quite as much. And, it allows me to get started if I know there is a start and end time to a particular task.

Mañana is great. But I’m rather tired of putting off for tomorrow what I could be doing today. And, I’m thoroughly enjoying the elimination of some stress and anxiety associated with that old bad-habit friend procrastination.

Besides, who knows when we won’t have any tomorrows left?

Is everything inherently political?

by in Everyday Life, Random musings | 3 Comments

Recently, whilst discussing a future yarn bomb with some fellow crafters, the issue of combining politics with knit graffiti was raised. Without intending any flippancy, I made the off-hand comment that everything I do tends to be steeped in politics. I’ve been thinking about that a lot in the last few days, and I wonder if everything I do does have a political element.

That is, is everything inherently political to those more politically inclined?

Obviously, the things I do at home and outside my ‘day job’ are not necessarily political. Or not intentionally so. If that were the case, not only would I drive my husband and cat absolutely mad, I’d do my own head in (more so than I already have)!

Certainly though, because of my career choices, much of what I do for work tends towards the political sphere and can’t help but carry controversy amongst some. And, given how I work as well as where my ‘home office’ is, it’s difficult at best to separate work from everything else. But, did I choose my career because of my political interests? Or am I interested politically because of my own career choices? Does it really matter?

I don’t have any answer, and I’m not sure that it really matters. What I have noticed as I’ve bumbled along that merry-go-round called life is that I recognise the political in the mundane more often then not. Certainly, engaging in policy debates and discussions, working out how to make my own little corner of this gigantic world better and the outcomes of my own work all carry consequences, most often political.

But, perhaps more meaningful are the the products I consume, the small businesses I support, the news items and outlets I read and share, and the organisations and agencies with whom I work all of which speak more about my own ‘community’ and tend to reflect the sort of world I hope we can all eventually live in. If an agency has questionable ethics or a product was produced through less-than-admirable conditions, is it worth it? Not really, at least not to me. There is a human cost which has nothing to do with money in any currency, and recognising those costs is one aspect of the choices we make each day.

Perhaps that is political. Mostly, though, it’s more about hoping that each of my actions and those of my own small family have a positive impact on the world around us, and, in particular, support policies which are just and humane and place value on each individual rather than a particular class or ethnicity or gender. Or even place more value on one individual over another. We may not have all been given the same opportunities in life or born into similar circumstances, but we are all worthy and deserving.

If that makes everything I do inherently political, I’m okay with that.

On empathy…

by in Action, Everyday Life, Random musings and tagged | 2 Comments

My husband and I were talking yesterday about why two US Supreme Court decisions which have very little impact upon our lives meant so much to us both on a deeply personal level. He, being the incredibly poetic man that he is, quipped—‘you cry tears of joy because you have empathy’.

I don’t know if it is that, or simply that I am delighted for those individuals whom I adore who finally may marry whom they love and wish to spend their lives. That isn’t the case for every same-sex couple I know — in the US or elsewhere. But, it is slowly becoming a reality as we chip away at archaic notions of what’s right and what’s wrong. I’m not sure if my own beliefs surrounding the rights of LGBTQI stem from a sense of empathy or that there is simply nothing wrong with loving who you love. And, at the end of the day, as long as there is no lasting emotional or physical harm to either individual, it’s really no one else’s business.

But, what of empathy? What if we all worked harder to be a little more empathetic towards those with whom we only share differences?

Most likely, we’d find that we aren’t really that different and we share more than one characteristic. More than one ambition or hope overlaps even the most disparate pair. Or, perhaps, we simply talk about our differences using a language (or vernacular) which neither understands.

In my ‘day job’, an endless capacity for empathy pervades those who take up the difficult task of working with some of society’s ‘least desirable’ (as defined by some elite class). Typically, these are drug users, prisoners, sex workers, homeless, etc. Poverty, disease and an enduring suffering combined with a sense of hopelessness and self-loathing on unimaginable scales for most mortals greet many. Yet, in all of it, there is hope. There is acceptance. And, yes, there is love. We envision a world where we all are accepted and our rights as humans are acknowledged and upheld regardless of our individual circumstance. Human rights are human rights and they should be granted and accessible to all. That is, I don’t think anyone takes up this work without the understanding that, at the end of the day, we are all equal individuals entitled to the same opportunities and chances to fulfill our dreams. It doesn’t matter what label you attach to us; we’re all just people. We are all worthy.

Personally, I’d like to think that my own capacity for empathy helps shape all of my actions, both as an individual and in what I do for a ‘living’. I know that this isn’t the case for everyone nor is it a reality in my little utopian existence. Likewise, there is some debate about how much empathy may aide us in making the world that little bit better.

Whether its naivete, idealism or simply a pipe dream, there are moments when I am less empathetic to others, and that is something which I’ll strive to change. It may help. It may not. But, it certainly doesn’t hurt anyone to try it out.