No Non-Sense

(click to enlarge)

The above is a digital painting/collage I made in PS. The backdrop has approximately 12 layers that I painted, and then I collaged the photo of the woman, like she is looking out the window. She is relaxed, yet there also seems to be a no-nonsense attitude about her.

I like that.

No nonsense.

My recent work with myself using Soul Coaching, and to a smaller extent 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, has opened a new window in my life. I sit at it and gaze at the world from a different vantage point. Some things that used to get to me, make me smile now, because I observe them, removed from their impact. This is huge.

Some examples?

I walked into work yesterday, and I overheard a discussion between one of the Vice Principals and the Office Manager, and the gist of their conversation was very insulting and condescending towards teachers. In the past, that would have enraged me. I hate it when people demean each other. But this time, I was amused at them.

People who think they know it all are probably among the most naive. Nobody can know it all. We can't even know if what we know is even right. We perceive things as we know them, but are we perceiving correctly? Yes, that's right. I became philosophical instead of being embroiled. When I went upstairs to our office, I shared my amusement with others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had a meeting after school with the Administrators and the Heads of the Departments. Those meetings usually swing from tediousness to utter frustration. One of the Vice Principals announced that by June all the marks will be uploaded electronically, using a program called Mark Book. I asked if they are requiring that everyone use Mark Book to calculate their marks.

It was a simple yes or no question.

Of course, I didn't get such a simple answer. We got a lecture on why this program is God's gift to teachers; and sure we can just use it to upload but why take on that extra "layer" of work when this program is so spectacular; and then we got a long-winded analogy about knee problems that made no sense, and whose message was pretty much" some teachers are so dumb, they don't know a computer from a juicer". When they were done, I calmly asked, "So the answer to my question is...?"

Well that floored them. The Principal finally said. "Yes, the program can be used only to upload marks." There. That wasn't so difficult, was it?

Again I was really amused at their agendas. I personally am pretty savvy with computers and computer programs; and this program does not save time; nor does it calculate marks in the way I need them to, and am required to by the Ministry.

People's agendas are like pieces of toilet paper trailing behind them on their shoe. They are embarrassed when it is pointed out, because they hate others to know they have bodily functions. Or that they are full of shit. Whichever. It's funny. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My third and final example of the clarity that I have gained relates to people with "good intentions". You know those people. They dole out unsolicited advice like they have no issues in their lives, and they know all the nuances of what makes you. Kind of like they made you. So they diagnose you, and dissect you, and analyze you like they are the reincarnation of Freud.

They would really get under my skin. I hate being talked to like I am five years old. I don't even talk to five year olds that way. It would piss me off. I would reply in my head with, "Bitch please. Freud is dead and he has been debunked. Mind your own yard."

I still think that. I haven't become the Dalai Lama or some incarnation of a Saint. I have a potty mouth and mind. And my attitude is still in tact, thank you very much. The difference is, I don't get angry. I sort of smile and nod, and not listen to a word they are saying. Why waste my mental acuity on nonsense?

And there we have it.

Nonsense. The world is full of it. It gets expectorated through people's mouths, their agendas, the media. We are swimming in it. We can fight the current, and point out each and every incident like it's of dire consequence; or we can just sit on the shore under an umbrella and point and laugh.

I will point and laugh.