The Next Thing

"Hey Carson, how is it going?"
"Good! Just getting everything done!"
"I know! Gosh, I have so much to do this weekend."
"Seriously, between work, school, and my show I'm not sure how it's all going to get done."
"Sheesh. I know. I'm going to be at school today until 10 o' clock tonight. I got here at 8:00 in the morning."
"I hate those days. Well, I gotta run, I'm late for class!"
"Oh man, me too! Maybe I'll see you!"

This is a conversation that I have nearly every day. Perhaps this conversation sounds similar to one you've had. I think it's a pretty common one--especially for students and theatre folk. Sometimes it seems like our success is dependent upon how much we are getting done; we aren't doing it right unless we're doing it ALL the time.

I came across this talk given by President Uchtdorf at General Conference in October 2012.

"Isn’t it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life. 

Is it?" 

I think I've worn this badge my whole life. I'm always moving on to "the next thing": I finish this paper and I start my reading, I finish my reading and I go to rehearsal, I finish rehearsal and I send e-mails. I find myself parroting my favorite fictional President:

What's next?  On to the next meeting, the next paper, the next obligation. It's the way many of us, myself included, live our lives and to tell the truth, I'm exhausted. I'm drained. President Uchtdorf continues:

"I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished. 

I can’t see it."

I can't see it either.

President Uchtdorf goes on to make an important point that I've been thinking about a lot:

Do we listen to beautiful music waiting for the final note to fade before we allow ourselves to truly enjoy it? No. We listen and connect to the variations of melody, rhythm, and harmony throughout the composition. 

We should be enjoying what we are doing, as we are doing it. We should appreciate the beauty of this life and, I think, simplify it to make the most of it. Otherwise, we get stuck in a rut of constant complaint. I know I get there all too often, and I am quick to explain to whoever might ask how busy I actually am. I

To avoid some of the deepest regrets of life, it would be wise to make some resolutions today. Therefore, let us:

• Resolve to spend more time with those we love.

• Resolve to strive more earnestly to become the person God wants us to be.

• Resolve to find happiness, regardless of our circumstances.

I think there is much to be enjoyed in life. I think we are not as busy as we seem. I think we can find time each day to appreciate our circumstances AND, dare I say, relax a little. This is something I'll be thinking about as I continue into student teaching next fall, and ultimately throughout my life as I seek balance between the many facets of my life.

What do you think?

11 Things You May Know About Me

1. I tear up every time I listen to David Bowie's Space Oddity ("Tell my wife I love her very much." "She kno-oh-oh-ows!" etc.)
2. I think that the navel part on an orange is gross and it makes me feel weird.
3. I used to love lists of things, but with the rise of BuzzFeed and other similar list-websites, I find that I hate myself for loving lists. But seriously, I liked lists first, you big, fat, Internet-jerks.
4. Since the installment of Chick-Fil-A in the Cougar Eat, I crave it fortnightly.
5. I have cried watching the series finale of the following television programs.
• Lost
• The West Wing
• Chuck
6. Karen Carpenter's voice is butter to my soul.
7. I am constantly bothered that I have to turn my shirts right-side out after doing the laundry, but continue to take them off inside out at the end of the day.
8. I believe in the story-telling potential of video games, and I'm excited to see how we take advantage of it.
9. Claire Danes has the ugliest cry in all the world . . . and I love it.
10. I'm in Education for the money--getting paid to do what I love is kind of like stealing.
11. I have a Christmas music collection that could play non-stop for the entire month of December

Four Very Important Questions

1. The Rolling Stones or The Beatles?

2. Johnny Cash or Elvis Presley?

3. Prince or Michael Jackson?

4. David Bowie or Elton John?

I just got back from a five-day trip to the American College Theatre Festival in Los Angeles. My buddy and I alternated driving the car and driving the radio. We shouted and howled, mumbling along to our favorite songs. We listened to so much good music, made by so many different people. I'm not sure how it ended up happening, but we came up with some really challenging questions for any music lover. Written above are those questions.

You can't pick both. You have to pick one and live with it. Which would you pick?

Food Guilt

I feel a heavy amount of food-guilt this morning.

I should clarify first that when I say "food-guilt," I don't mean that I feel guilty for having eaten too much food or too little food. I don't feel guilty for having eaten unhealthy or just plain bad food. What I mean is, I feel guilty when I eat food without my wife. You might say that the food-guilt is a result of food-cheating on wife--meaning when I eat food without her that I know she would want/love OR I eat food that we had agreed to get together, I feel terrible. I should also mention that food is a very very very very very very very important part of our marriage. I fell in love with her when she suggested that we "stuff" the dinner into our bellies, rather than get a box to take it out. That was our first date. Boy, I just love her thinking about that . . . anyway.

That being said, I feel a heavy amount of food-guilt this morning.

Last night, after a very productive rehearsal, Alicia and I went out separate ways (she went with some friends to pick up some food at JCW's to take to a friend). I stayed behind with some other friends, not really sure what would be happening next. I only knew one thing--imsohungryimgonnadie. We started throwing out of places to eat at. Initially, Mongo's stir-fry came up and I explained that we couldn't go their without Alicia because she would be so sad that we ate there without her (it was the last food we ate before we got engaged--also it's really tasty). Five minutes later, the choice was between Station 22 or Black Sheep Cafe.

It was hardly a choice. Black Sheep Cafe is a fantastic restaurant, and everyone wanted to go there. Our hunger had gotten too intense. We had to go, right away.

We sit down at Black Sheep Cafe, and I get this text (mind you, I haven't told my wife anything about my dinner plans--and yes she is called "Tuna Babay" in my phone):

1st lesson learned: Your wife knows everything.

2nd lesson learned: Always check with your wife if you are susceptible to food-guilt.

3rd lesson learned: Cheating on my wife might actually be slightly less worse than eating good food without her.