(To the Pulitzer People: I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job, but if you do have a short list, I think my recent column deserves consideration. And if you have a shorter list - for names that have sat on the short list for a few months - maybe you could skip the formalities and move me right to that one. ‘Nough said).
[“And I like how it fits the bottom of my budgie cage”]
For starters, my column has a snappy title - How would you define the ‘new’ North American Dream?
And what’s more important than that now that’s it’s clear we’ve been chasing the wrong horse for scores of years?
Next, I give people a timely assignment, i.e. to redefine the good life.
Most writers just want people to read their stuff, send a pithy comment (e.g. “You’re column was brilliant. It changed my life. And I like how it fits the bottom of my budgie cage”) and move on.
Not me.
I actually said, “Got a pencil and paper? We should get busy.”
As well, I let people know that if they ramp down their expectations related to basic needs then they’ll likely have more time for higher needs. And I name a few, just in case readers have forgotten what life is really all about. (Hey, it could happen).
I’d like to say more but the mailman is due any minute.
***
"Ramp down their expectations."
People will love that, eh?
.
4 comments:
I definitely think the Pulitzer is on the way Gordie.
Now, you may find it odd that I, as an American, agree with your colleagues. My car, for example, is 15 years old but in excellent mechanical condition and just topped 100,000 miles. I have no intention of buying another until this one dies. Cosmetically, it could use some work, but I can count on it to get me to and from wherever I'd like to go, including long road trips.
This is one example of how I place less value on material things than perhaps my neighbors, but that's me.
Following the great depression, I think it was normal for parents to want their children to have more. But we've 'had more' for many, many generations now and it's time to start teaching our children that 'more' isn't always better.
I'm very proud of my grandchildren's mother for making her two save their allowance if they want a new gadget. At the ages of 11 and 6, they're learning valuable lessons that, hopefully, they will teach their children.
It dismays me to see a distinct lack of ethics in the work place and I think this is partly due to lack of teaching at home and lack of teaching at school, allowing the young people of today to believe that the world owes them something without putting in the effort.
I'm hearing more and more talk show hosts featuring ways to redefine the good life, which is a good thing because Americans think most of what they hear on TV is fact, especially when it comes from Oprah!
Of course, most of this is due to the fear factor that has been created from the economic crisis we're all feeling. I say, whatever it takes, get the job done. So I hope your column and your post will truly make some sit down at the kitchen table and make a list.
Hope this doesn't end up at the bottom of your budgie cage, but even if it does, you've allowed me to have my little 'say' first.
Jane
Hi Jane!
Wow. Your comment is so good, over the top in my opinion. Many of us are learning lessons as we go, sharing them with friends and family and hoping, hoping, we'll live within our means and keep our planet healthy.
We have it in us to be truly happy, often with so little, but have raced down the wrong path for many years.
I had a small paragraph written, but due to word count, cut it from my column; re living like kings and queens.
"There are many times when you'll find me standing in my little workshop - sipping coffee, tapping nails into a birdhouse for a neighbour, local store or my own yard, and thinking - thinking that I live like a king in a domain of my own making."
I will work for some rights and freedoms (e.g. equality for all), but they come part and parcel with constant responsibilities to all others around me and my surroundings.
Your thoughts are much like mine, and if they are different - that's OK too. Definitely not for the budgie cage!!
Cheers,
Gord
PS You wrote 'Gordie.' Instant smile.
I think we're reading from the same page, but like you said, if we're different, that's okay. Glad you didn't mind me calling you Gordie!
Jane,
I answer to a lot of things.
Gordie is one of my long time favourites, though I didn't like it when I was very young. I argued with my mother to change my name. I'm glad she won that round.
GAH
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