Happy New Year!
It's officially 2011. An old year is over. The first decade of the 21st century is now officially over. "Out with the old and in with the new" applies in a multitude of ways on this day, and among them is this blog.
I started "Life With the Lid Down" back in 2008. Admittedly, it ended up being a half-hearted attempt, as I will be the first to raise my hand and say I really never threw myself into it with any focus. Oh, I THOUGHT I would find that dedication, but I learned you can't simply find it; you have to make the effort. As I write that, it occurs to me that lesson would apply in many aspects of life. More on that later, but right now, I need to credit the person who is primarily responsible for me taking another stab at this.
I worked in radio with Dave Bell many years ago, and I always considered him to be somebody who was a great mentor to me. Dave's been retired for a few years now, lives over on the coast in Wheeler and has his very own steamboat (is that cool or what? Well, actually the steam is hot, but you know what I mean.) Many of you probably know Dave without even realizing it. He's been, as he calls it, "The Audio Guy" for the Portland Trailblazers radio broadcasts since the very beginning back in 1971 and I promise you, if you watch the games on T.V. at some point in time, you saw the camera on the guy wearing the big headphones by the Blazers' announcers. That's Dave (and that's what I always say when I see him on the T.V.: "Hey, that's Dave!" Never fails.)
He gave me a surprise visit at my office a few months back (we still need to have that lunch, Dave) and he said, "I love reading what you write about your dogs." Dave was referring to the blog being linked to Facebook, or sometimes I just wrote a note on Facebook about something going on.
My response was, "Really? You like them?" Dave said, "Yes, I do and you really need to write more often. You have a way with words." I gave my usual excuse about lack of time, etc., but went on to wistfully say, "Wouldn't it be great to just be able to get up each day with nothing to do but write and have somebody pay you for it?" Dave laughed and replied, "Yes, all of us who like to write would love that. It generally doesn't happen for us….but then again, you'll never know WHAT could happen IF YOU DON'T WRITE!" Playing the mentor role again, Dave closed with, "You need to do it. I'll read it."
Great! One built-in reader! Seriously, though, Dave's words kept ringing in my head, week after week. Now granted, week after week I didn't write, but week after week I kept thinking about his encouraging words.
Finally, as I was giving some thought to other things I wanted to change in my life, I decided I would give it a serious shot, and what better place to begin than at the very start of the year.
I debated about saving the blogs I had written before, but the more I thought about it, I wanted a fresh start, and so much has changed since I last wrote in February and even more so since I started the blog back in 2008. There's a whole new cast of characters and it all warranted a new start.
So there's a whole new look to the blog, but I did keep the name. A lot of thought went into coming up with "Life With the Lid Down." For those of you who don't know how it happened, I was advised that if I was going to blog and rise above the multitudes out there, I would have to find my style and my focus, figuring out what my purpose is with my writing. As one starts to ponder that, in my situation it immediately becomes clear one theme will obviously override much of my writing, and that's the fact that I live with 4 dogs and I show dogs. No matter what I may be sharing in relation to what's going on in my life, the dogs will undoubtedly come up frequently. Consequently, all of that had to somehow be reflected in the name of my blog.
Suggestions included "No Bones About It," "A New Leash on Life," "My Life As A Wag Queen" (still like that one,) but nothing quite hit the mark. I started thinking about what my life is like with the dogs, and how it all comes into play when I juggle them with my career, spending time with family and friends, etc. No matter what I'm doing and where my brain is focused, the dogs are always an undercurrent. They always come into consideration. I recently commented to somebody about all of the things that go with living with 4 dogs, and how I don't even give those things a second thought, it's just part of the routine. For example, you never leave food on the counters. It's advisable to keep the bedroom doors shut (or somebody will decide to rumble around on the bed.) You always keep the toilet lid down to prevent it from being used as a water bowl.
Wait. That was it!
"Life With the Lid Down."
The hard cold fact is: No matter WHAT is going on that I have to deal with, no matter how busy I am, how happy, sad, you name it, I always have to remember every day to put the lid down. That applies literally and sometimes figuratively.
There are instances in life when the best option is to put the lid down and move on.
I generally don't get too swept up into the whole New Year's resolution business, at least not anymore. In most cases I've found it sputters-out after a week or so. However, I can honestly say I feel different moving into this year. I think it's because it struck me the other day that one decade of this century has now passed.
What? How can that be?
When I take a long hard look back at things from the last 10 years, and look at things now, something struck me, and I heard this voice (Yes, THAT voice. Doesn't everybody hear that voice, or is it just me?) Anyway, the voice asked: "Lisa, what in the hell happened to you? Somewhere along the line, you lost your drive. You've lost your focus. You let your edge get away from you. You've lowered your expectations. Face it girl, you're dangerously close to losing your mojo altogether and you should be ashamed of yourself!"
It's an interesting twist because I did accomplish the goal of getting in better shape by my 45th birthday, but it was the goings-on in my head that got high-centered on some sort of speed bump. It's like I gained one thing but lost the other.
Well, not anymore. Things will be back in sync for 2011. I have no doubt in my mind about it. I already recognize the old familiar, calm focus. It's happening.
Be afraid…. Be very afraid.
Okay, I'm just kidding about the fear part. But it sounded good, didn't it? I bought these great tall black boots today and I just had a moment here where I envisioned wearing them, with a long black cape swirling at my ankles, forcefully stomping along with Darth Vader's "Imperial March" playing in the background ("Dum-dum-dum…dum-de-dum…dum-de-dum.")
"Alright, Lisa, do what your blog says, and put a lid on it!"
(There's that voice again.)
So, in honor of Dave Bell, there's the first blog for 2011, with more to come. There will be talk about the dogs, of course, the crazy goings-on at dog shows, and "The Things I Know For Sure about Puppies." Then there's how I can't eat gluten anymore and how it's resulted in me hearing the phrase "Can you eat THIS?" more times than I ever figured I would in my life. I'm sure my hatred of laundry will come up, and how I don't like to mow, but I LOVE the leaf blower.
Yes, there's an endless supply of topics
You doubt me? You shouldn't do that.
You don't want me to get out the black cape and the boots!
No comments:
Post a Comment