If one more exciting thing happens to me in 2008 I’m just going to throw up.  Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been all bad this year.  In fact, some very wonderful things happened in 2008.  But enough is enough, and I don’t want any more excitement.  I’m tired and I want a rest.  I want to stop worrying about the economy.  I want to stop hearing about bail outs and financial collapses.  I want the “Foreclosure” signs to stop popping up around my neighborhood and across the country.  And I do not want to hear one more word about what sort of dog Obama is going to bring home to the White House.

There is a Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.”  Well, lately I’ve felt like I have been living a life that is much too interesting.  So in 2009, I’m recombobulating my life.

I love this word and I didn’t even know it existed until I went through security at Milwaukee’s airport.  As is typical of anyone going through airport security nowadays, I was standing in my socks at the end of the conveyor belt waiting for all my bits and pieces to go through the X-ray machine.  It’s a dangerous exercise, with plastic bins bashing against each other and men with guns standing around just waiting for you to try and go through the security machine without your boarding pass.   There’s always a business man right behind me, impatiently watching while I gather my plastic bag of toiletries, my shoes, my purse, my backpack, my laptop, my belt, my scarf, my coat, my sweater, and all sorts of other sundry items I’ve had to dump out.  There’s an intimacy to all this collecting of stuff that makes me uncomfortable.

Thankfully, Milwaukee has helpfully created a small oasis of space right off the security area — a little island of tables where you are welcome to recombobulate yourself.  So I can gather all my bits and pieces together and take my time reassembling myself.  And isn’t that what we need in 2009?  A little oasis of time to let us digest all the events of 2008.  An area where we can just breath and take our time reconciling ourselves to a new way of living our lives.  A life that in some ways, has a little less than before.  Which may not be a bad thing, just different.  And getting used to something different takes a little time.  In 2009 I’m going to have to get used to a lot of new things and for the most part I’m eager to step up to the challenge.  But there’s a part of me that feels like I’ve got bits and pieces of my life still scattered around from all the excitement and change in 2008.  And I just want a little time first before I jump into a new year.

Categories: Goals