"We’re all pros now at hailing a cab/pushing a grocery cart/operating a forklift with a to-go cup in hand. We’re skittering about like hyperactive gerbils, high not just on caffeine but on caffeine’s luscious by-product, productivity. Ah, the joy of doing, accomplishing, crossing off." ~Encyclopedia of an Ordinary life (Amy Krouse Rosenthal)
I just really like how she describes our culture. Having lived in Italy, I can see clearly how different we are from Italians. The things that drive us definitely do not drive them.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Annalisa
I know I have promised time and again to write about Annalisa, my Neapolitan friend that I have affectionately dubbed "Italian little sister." I have started the story over and over but I find it to be an impossibility for me to capture her essence in words. She is so complex and multi-tiered I cannot find words to describe her! Today I received an e-mail from her and normally I would not share but this e-mail says in a small paragraph everything that I couldn't say in a volume! Read on and enjoy her humor, her playful side, her lack of discipline, if you will.
“Reading throgh the lines, it seems to me that working-out is not a pleasure to you but rather a work ( OF course, it's called WORKING_OUT! What else could it be?) So, my conclusion is: if it's a work for you that adds up to the daily ordeal....why do you do it? Or better say, You know I am not a disciplined person, that' s why I don't like rules and even though I am locked in them I always try to elbow out in order to push the fences a little bit further. That is due to the volume I occupy that makes me need more and more space and my mental desire for "openess". At the same time I need these rules as point of reference in order not to lose my precarious balance. Still if doing gymnastic is a huge effort , well I am indulgent to myself and I don't do it.
The only thing I try to do well is working, but only because it gives me an income and possibly provides dignity to my self. But if I don't want to work out I don't work out. Or, due to the above mentioned volume, I do it every now and then, just to give myself a little mental leg-pull and pretend I have lost five pounds in five minutes, while It really takes 7 hours to lose 5 grams!”
I read this note and couldn’t help but chuckle, a lot. Because I know her personally I can see her hand movements and the way she moves her head. It is such a pleasure to be in her company!
“Reading throgh the lines, it seems to me that working-out is not a pleasure to you but rather a work ( OF course, it's called WORKING_OUT! What else could it be?) So, my conclusion is: if it's a work for you that adds up to the daily ordeal....why do you do it? Or better say, You know I am not a disciplined person, that' s why I don't like rules and even though I am locked in them I always try to elbow out in order to push the fences a little bit further. That is due to the volume I occupy that makes me need more and more space and my mental desire for "openess". At the same time I need these rules as point of reference in order not to lose my precarious balance. Still if doing gymnastic is a huge effort , well I am indulgent to myself and I don't do it.
The only thing I try to do well is working, but only because it gives me an income and possibly provides dignity to my self. But if I don't want to work out I don't work out. Or, due to the above mentioned volume, I do it every now and then, just to give myself a little mental leg-pull and pretend I have lost five pounds in five minutes, while It really takes 7 hours to lose 5 grams!”
I read this note and couldn’t help but chuckle, a lot. Because I know her personally I can see her hand movements and the way she moves her head. It is such a pleasure to be in her company!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Why the Written Letter Is Better
To be honest, I am the e-mailinist fool you will ever meet. Do you like that word, emailinist? I made it up just now. I love to e-mail short notes, hellos, a juicy morsel of gossip, recipes, pictures, anything really, and I love to do it every day. If there were a job out there for such a person I would be the perfect fit, and if you know of such a job, please refer me to the employer. HA HA! No really.
As the e-mailinist person around, I can attest that there is truth in the idea that written correspondence is much better. An e-mail seems so ordinary, so flat on the page and, well, cold. A handwritten letter received in the mail really brightens my day. And to write a note, or a letter, well, anyone who receives a written letter from me should know how really special they are because it took a lot of effort to put pen to paper, to keep my hand from cramping, to put my ideas together coherently on the page. It is an effort and a great act of love on my part.
FACTS:
*175% more text messages are sent each month compared to phone calls.
* 73% of cell phone users say that the cell phone is the most important device in their social life.
* 66% of U.S. Internet users said email was their preferred channel for written communications between friends.
*Every week, the average person receives 1.5 personal letters. (I am severly below this average by the way.)
*Feeling appreciated is one of the strongest human desires. (Alas, tis true!)
*There is warmth in a handwritten note—it instantly makes the message more personal, creates a more intimate feeling, and makes the recipient feel more valued.
*With e-mail, text messaging and instant messaging, a handwritten note is getting rarer and therefore more special.
*A handwritten note costs less than a dollar to write and mail, and the relational value is priceless.
*The recipient can keep and reread it forever.
(Oprah.com, Write a Note of Gratitude)
So, what are you waiting for? Grab your pen and any ol’ paper and make someone’s day by writing them a note!
As the e-mailinist person around, I can attest that there is truth in the idea that written correspondence is much better. An e-mail seems so ordinary, so flat on the page and, well, cold. A handwritten letter received in the mail really brightens my day. And to write a note, or a letter, well, anyone who receives a written letter from me should know how really special they are because it took a lot of effort to put pen to paper, to keep my hand from cramping, to put my ideas together coherently on the page. It is an effort and a great act of love on my part.
FACTS:
*175% more text messages are sent each month compared to phone calls.
* 73% of cell phone users say that the cell phone is the most important device in their social life.
* 66% of U.S. Internet users said email was their preferred channel for written communications between friends.
*Every week, the average person receives 1.5 personal letters. (I am severly below this average by the way.)
*Feeling appreciated is one of the strongest human desires. (Alas, tis true!)
*There is warmth in a handwritten note—it instantly makes the message more personal, creates a more intimate feeling, and makes the recipient feel more valued.
*With e-mail, text messaging and instant messaging, a handwritten note is getting rarer and therefore more special.
*A handwritten note costs less than a dollar to write and mail, and the relational value is priceless.
*The recipient can keep and reread it forever.
(Oprah.com, Write a Note of Gratitude)
So, what are you waiting for? Grab your pen and any ol’ paper and make someone’s day by writing them a note!
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