It's my first blog ever, so I might as well start at the top. I have discovered the meaning of life. People may say that from time to time, but this is for real. Ready? The meaning of life is ...... chores. That's right, boys and girls. After reading a zillion books, spending lots and lots of hours in church and in prayer, it came to me as plain as enlightenment ... the answer is .... chores.
And the thing is I can't find a shred of evidence to contradict this. Mother Teresa? A saint without doubt. But what did her day to day life consist of? chores.
There is also another way to say this that I've seen on some T-shirts lately .... Do Your Job. This is probably better than "chores" but I didn't conceive it that way.
The chores idea holds up at work for sure .... after all, work is getting paid to do chores. Then you come home .... feed the cats, change the litter, fix a meal, clean it up, cut the grass, clean the gutters, vacuum, dust, scrub the tub. Make sure the bills get paid, remember important birthdays, go to church, run errands. The list goes on and on. It is also true for being in a band, or sports, or rebuilding cars or any other hobby.
Now, there are certainly activities that are not chores. Watching TV, playing video games, sex, talking on the phone, shooting pool, but these are not the meaning of life .... athough they COULD be the focus of a meaningless life.
Now, here's the thing. The crux of the matter, you might say. If you do your chores, and you do them with the best attitude you can muster, and you are conscientious about it, and if your motive is (as often as possible) love, then you get to have these incredible moments. The best example I can give is being in a band. You spend literally years and years and countless hours developing your vocabulary (technique), and you go through a number of bands with people coming and going and never really feeling much satisfaction, and never getting much money or recognition - but getting loads of negative shit. But then, one day (usually a night, actually) it all comes together, you lock up with these other people, and the music takes you somewhere ELSE. There is nothing like it on earth. And you realize that it was worth the wait ... it was worth all the effort. And you happily spend significant time working to get to that spot again. Occassionally, the audience gets there at the same time you do. Nothing better.
Another version of the crux .... the exact same thing happens in relationships. It is vital that you do your chores and do them with love and almost ALL of your time has to be spent doing that. But then you get to have those moments with your wife and kids and pets .... even your yard for God's sake.
I'm 54 years old and I spent a really long time feeling shat upon because it seemed like all I ever did was chores. I spent all my wishes wishing for time to do nothing. I was a boob. Now that I know what I know, I still don't always like it .... but man, I do it. Chores are me. I are chores. You'll have to excuse me now. The meaning of life is calling me to go love it.
And the thing is I can't find a shred of evidence to contradict this. Mother Teresa? A saint without doubt. But what did her day to day life consist of? chores.
There is also another way to say this that I've seen on some T-shirts lately .... Do Your Job. This is probably better than "chores" but I didn't conceive it that way.
The chores idea holds up at work for sure .... after all, work is getting paid to do chores. Then you come home .... feed the cats, change the litter, fix a meal, clean it up, cut the grass, clean the gutters, vacuum, dust, scrub the tub. Make sure the bills get paid, remember important birthdays, go to church, run errands. The list goes on and on. It is also true for being in a band, or sports, or rebuilding cars or any other hobby.
Now, there are certainly activities that are not chores. Watching TV, playing video games, sex, talking on the phone, shooting pool, but these are not the meaning of life .... athough they COULD be the focus of a meaningless life.
Now, here's the thing. The crux of the matter, you might say. If you do your chores, and you do them with the best attitude you can muster, and you are conscientious about it, and if your motive is (as often as possible) love, then you get to have these incredible moments. The best example I can give is being in a band. You spend literally years and years and countless hours developing your vocabulary (technique), and you go through a number of bands with people coming and going and never really feeling much satisfaction, and never getting much money or recognition - but getting loads of negative shit. But then, one day (usually a night, actually) it all comes together, you lock up with these other people, and the music takes you somewhere ELSE. There is nothing like it on earth. And you realize that it was worth the wait ... it was worth all the effort. And you happily spend significant time working to get to that spot again. Occassionally, the audience gets there at the same time you do. Nothing better.
Another version of the crux .... the exact same thing happens in relationships. It is vital that you do your chores and do them with love and almost ALL of your time has to be spent doing that. But then you get to have those moments with your wife and kids and pets .... even your yard for God's sake.
I'm 54 years old and I spent a really long time feeling shat upon because it seemed like all I ever did was chores. I spent all my wishes wishing for time to do nothing. I was a boob. Now that I know what I know, I still don't always like it .... but man, I do it. Chores are me. I are chores. You'll have to excuse me now. The meaning of life is calling me to go love it.
posted by goostermon at 7:52 AM
9 Comments:
Good stuff pop, You will start getting visitors to this page. If you want me to show you how to keep track of how many people are coming, let me know. It will be a chore, but I would happily do it for ya.
i really liked that blog. I think you are right about everything you said, although I can't tell for sure on the music thing...
I hope i can get a more postive attitute about chores. I will try.
and as far as blogging goes, you did yourself a great diservice by starting out with such a good blog. now you have to make each one after this just as good, or it is all downhill. I am currently in this position and it hurts my soul.
The goostermaon was simply being at a loss for a name. Gooster is a name I call one of my cats - but it was already taken. adding ...mon on the end was just a lame way to have it over with.
I am so happy you guys posted comments ... never dreamed you would be interested in my musings ... thanks!
There is a famous German proverb that goes:
"Arbeit macht das Leben süß."
Translation:
"Work makes life sweet."
Welcome to the blogosphere.
-K.
Hi D***! (Are you trying to be anonymous?) Welcome to blogging. I hope our band has a moment like that someday. It didn't quite happen on Thanksgiving, even though we tried. Have you ever heard my mom sing? Oh, boy.
I don't know how to do some stuff ... if I want to reply to Tara do I just post a comment here, or go to her blog? (tara, I don't care about being anonymous - thanks for asking).
Who is k.?
Very very happy to hear from all!
K. is my husband, Kevin. And you can reply here, or go to my blog and leave a comment there (just click on the underlined blue word "tara" next to my comment).
and then click on the "lazy russian horses show."
goostermon....very insightful. I always though of you as someone who gave a lot of thought to his words and action. and I agree with fooiemcgoo about blogging such a good first blog. i just started a few months ago. being interesting an dcreative is hard - expecailly if you are murely analytical like me (then again, you've got the music/creative thing going for you).
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