Skip to main content

imperatives

is it really?
Have you noticed how many advertisements, Facebook posts and magazine articles start out with all of the “musts” that we need to be happier, well fed and read, dressed or up-to-date?  As I was reading through some headlines last week, I noticed all of the imperatives; things that if I didn’t know about and implement into my ordinary life, well I’d be missing the proverbial boat.

Imperatives are known as bossy verbs, which is appropriate since they give us commands.  Commands and to-do’s are not bad in and of themselves.  In fact they are important and even necessary.  The ones I’m speaking to are the ones that purport themselves as urgent and unavoidable for our ultimate well-being as designed by someone else – the “they say” factor.

Do these sound familiar?

this is a must read!  gotta have this…
not to be missed!

Well what happens if I don’t read, get or...oops, miss?  I’m not blaming anyone.  I’ve used these phrases, so I’m as guilty as the next person of being bossy and trying to influence you with my obligatory desires for your life.  Wow!  Can you say control freak?

Peeps, here’s my dealio:  I have a brain that functions relatively well.  It thinks and reasons.  My brain figures things out, reads and learns.  It is capable, at least for the most part.  Consequently, shouldn’t I be able to decide for myself what is crucial and inescapable? 

Many imperatives put before us are not really that life changing or urgent.  It’s merely someone else’s opinion (they say factor) of what I must do, which stimulates a sense of dissatisfaction with my present state.  Suddenly there is an undercurrent of unrest.  I’m stirred into some frenzied action without knowing why.

Step off of the rat race wheel; take a look at a different angle on what’s spinning.  Is that bossy verb spouted by they-sayers really worth my time?  Often what we view as urgent blurs out what is actually important.  Urgent screams for attention, while important sits quietly, waiting to be noticed.

How do we know which is which?  I don’t have that answer.  It’s a question that I sift through all the time in my everydayness.  Sometimes I get it right, others not so much.  I do know that I’m working at trusting my instincts; listening less to they says.

Missy


If you have been mildly amused, challenged or inspired by what you have read, please pass on my blog to a friend, colleague, family member or even random acquaintance



Comments

  1. Wildlife Art by SylJune 11, 2015 at 6:27 PM

    Well said..theysayers can most certainly detrack and unrail our minds keeping us from staying focused.

    ReplyDelete
  2. sewsavyJune 15, 2015 at 6:47 PM

    I liked this. Those imperatives are truly spoilers of my favorite word, "contentment". That's the only imperative in my life. That I live it with contentment. If new and wonderful things bubble up and feel right, I'll be content with them too. Or without them. Something to look at. :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

urban girl in the country

green in concrete For the last lot-of-years I’ve lived in urban areas.  I’ve become a city girl with hints of a flower child mixed with hipster nuances…translated I like to wear skinny jeans.  This is the total opposite of how I grew up, which was on a farm.  My paternal grandparents grew, raised, caught and hunted for everything they ate – radical organic, free-range stuff.  On my Mom’s side of the fam tree, there were green grocers and orchard growers.  Heck, I was in 4-H raising feeder calves and a small flock of wooly sheep.  Gardens, canning, freezing and preserving everything was the ordinary. I carried on the gardening-preserving, saving the spoils piece, until I found myself in fresh veggie-at-a-farmer’s-market heaven!  The foreign city I found myself in had a temperate climate where fruit and vegetables could be grown year ‘round, and … it was sold at a giant open air market every week.  Yippee!  I no longer needed to ...
8 comments
Read more

In full abandon, straining on tiptoes

A scrap of paper tucked in my journal is full of scribbled notes and words, people’s names – really it would appear to be miscellany.  One phrase is “in full abandon.”  The expression had a reference, but now reading it almost daily, it takes on new significance and worth. a.ban.don:  to leave and never return (Merriam-Webster) The word “abandon” conjures negative thinking; abandoned lot, abandoned project, abandoned people. Places and things are left for trash or individuals that have been discarded and tossed aside.  This definition certainly leaves one feeling rather desolate and, well … abandoned. On the sunny side of the street, abandon is also yielding without restraint, to give up control.  It’s bursting with exuberance. Picture being in full abandon:  there’s a child running down a hillside, arms flailing and legs barely able to keep them upright.  He is on the verge of tumbling head over heels, but somehow if that happen...
6 comments
Read more

road tripping: french glen and steens mountain

we took a stinkin' lot of dirt roads, but i wouldn't have it any other way The drive wasn’t long by west coast standards, a mere few of hours; which meant there was plenty of leisure (interpreted coffee time) before leaving on another road trip escapade.  I can’t begin to tell you how much fun it is to pack a bag, gas up the car and set out to see what can be seen. An interesting thing I’ve discovered on these exploits, is that having lived in Oregon for the majority of my life, I’ve missed “seeing” a lot of things. You know, I think we all get into the habit of going to the same places, which is a good thing, but we forget about the “other” places that are right in our own backyards. Case in point, yesterday afternoon, when my darling man and I went to Tumalo Falls. I’ve been to Skyliner Snow Park, but never gone the few more dirt road miles to see the falls. Holy cow! Is that lame, or what? a sweet little place, no frills, but plenty of yesteryear ...
8 comments
Read more