My job has offered a training course to employees, The 7 Habits (I always want to spell that with two B’s) of Highly Effective People. I’m really trying to get the most out of it that I can; I’m usually too immature to take things like this seriously and wind up making inappropriate jokes to keep the masses entertained.

One of our “jobs” is to begin writing a personal mission statement….not just for our careers, but for our lives. What do we want to accomplish? What do we want our friends and families to say about us when we’re gone? It’s a very long process. A mission statement won’t be written in one training session. Or in one week. Or a month. Some of our warm up exercises included describing the people who impacted our lives the most, and what admirable traits those individuals had. It was thinking about what we’d do with our lives if we had unlimited funds, and about what’s holding us back from doing those things anyway (other than money).

I really enjoyed this part of the class. I’m still enjoying it, actually, a week later. I like taking the time to think about the “purpose” of my life. Not just my life now, as I live it, but my life in the future, as someone may look back on it generations from now.

So, keeping in mind that this is just a draft that was free-written in about 7 minutes, I thought I’d share my mission statement.

To fight the darkness with hope.

To insight passion, and inspire compassion.

To leave the world better. One life. One tree. One smile.

To live a life of art.

To revel in creativity.

In the power of words.

Images.

To make one person’s life better. Their burden lighter.

To give meaning.

To grasp for deeper meanings.

To strive for understanding.

To reach out, unfettered.

To fight for justice and peace.

To feed someone who’s hungry.

To forgive.

To laugh often.

To tell the truth.

To leave a legacy of love.

Cheesy? Absolutely. But, still, it’s sincere. When I think about the world I leave, I think about art, and meaning, and love, and how I want to be an active part of those things. It’s a double edged sword. I’m excited and hopeful about the difference I can make, but I’m also frustrated when it feels like I’m not doing enough. There’s so much need, I know, that 1 person won’t change the world….but I still want to believe that I can.

We’re encouraged to revise our statement as the course continues, and in the months that follow (and, I suppose, for as long as we need to). One of the phrases used to describe the revision process is “make more concise.” If anything, as I look over my statement, I want to make it less concise. I don’t want to live a life that fits on a bumper sticker, or that could serve as the catch phrase of country song (and I love me my country songs). I want there to be complex relationships between work and art and family. I want there to be intricacies too deep to describe in a motto. I want to be more than a year book singing under my half-inch head shot. Stay sweet. KIT. Don’t ever change.

I want my statement, my life, to be bigger than anything I could ever write.

Technorati Tags: Life

Hey! Remember when California was on fire, almost exactly a year ago? That was SO fun, why not DO IT AGAIN. Oh my hell.

Any-hoodle. Let’s think about something else, shall we? How about my lovely illnesses. Yes, plural. So, for the past few weeks, off and on, I’ve been complaining about a scratchy throat, or congestion, itchy ears, or extra boogers (hey, it happens). Never all at the same time, just here and there. I figured, meh, it’s allergies. Or Santa Annas. Or God punishing me for voting democrat. I popped some Sudafed, used my sinus rinse, and went on with life.

Last Thursday, though, I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I woke up feeling like half of my face was being squeezed between the stomachs of two sumo wrestlers. My sinuses were so congested that my teeth hurt. My nose was bleeding. It hurt to blink. So, I went to the doctor, figuring I had a sinus infection. (Here’s where God laughs a little.) Turns out, I had a pretty massive sinus infection, an ear infection in EACH ear, and strep throat. My doctor normally hates prescribing antibiotics, which I usually appreciate, but this time she was writing the prescription before she had removed the scope from my left nostril.

Am I the only one who tends to feel better with a diagnosis? Not just because it means there’s something to fix, and I know I’ll be feeling better soon. More because it means that there really WAS something wrong, and I wasn’t just being a big ol’ pansy. I guess it vindicates me against the imaginary people who are calling me a faker.

So, this weekend I spent a lot of time sleeping, reading banned books (belatedly, but still), and watching TV. (So, Heroes….um, not selling me this season. It’s getting incredibly icky, right?) To do so, I had to cancel the maintenance men who were fixing the kitchen area. (Did I mention this? For the past month or so, we’ve been having some slightly major work done, thanks to a leaky fridge. It’s been….a huge pain in the ass, even though everyone from the workers to the landlord has been incredibly nice about it).

I spent Friday convalescing in this mess:

(This is my kitchen. That gaping whole is where the fridge goes.)

(For now, though, the fridge is hanging out in the living room, behind the couch that normally goes in the corner there.)

I did manage to make some cookies on Saturday. They were good.

There were so many that I left some on the doorstep for our neighbors. I barely know them, but they seem nice. I know. I’m a huge dork.

JS and I also went to church again on Sunday. I really do like it there, a lot. The people are nice - friendly and….real, I guess, is the best way to describe it. The pastor is relevant and kind, and he obviously believes in what he’s talking about (also, he referred to God as “she” at one point this week…which I totally loved) (OH, and also, at one point during the Children’s Moment [where the kids go up on stage and get a mini sermon] the dude was showing them a globe, paused, and said “Hey, whuddya know, you CAN see Russia from Alaska.” Inappropriate? Yes. Hilarious? Very much.) The only real bummer is, other than the service being at 9AM on a Sunday, 30 minutes from our house, is that the music sorta sucks. Like, a lot. The music was always my favorite part of church. I lead songs in the youth group of every church I belonged to. I sang at “big church” as a kid. I loved music. And now….I sorta just wait for it to be over. BUT, if that’s the ONLY thing that’s “wrong” with the church, than oh well. I’ll buy some Caedman’s Call CD’s and call it a draw.

And that’s it. I’m back at work now, even though I was ready to go back to bed by 2:00 today. I guess my body still needs the rest. Tomorrow I start a weekly training seminar, The 7 Habbits of Highly Effective People. I’m normally the person who makes fun of these things, but I’ve heard wonderful things about it, so I’m determined to go in with a positive attitude and get the most out of it that I can.

And for my Glad List? Remember, that thing I said I’d do every week and then promptly forgot and/or got too lazy to keep up with? Well, Friday John and I are going to DisneyLand(!!!!!!!!!!!), and next weekend my BFF OMG, Jen, is visiting me from Colorado. October is gonna RAWK.

Oh, and also I need to write that pesky thesis. Damn.

This isn’t a real post, just a post to let you know that I’m still alive. I have a few entries rattling around the ol’ noggin and I’ll post one of them after work.

This weekend was a lot of resting. If you didn’t see my Twitter updates, on Thursday I went to the doctor and found out I had 2 ear infections, a sinus infection, and strep throat. Needless to say, I did not feel well. Antibiotics worked their magic over the weekend, but I still found that being awake all day was too hard. So was thinking. I watched a lot of TV and read books for readers Grade 5 and Up. 

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! I’ll be back soon, I promise!