Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Sunshine! Ponies!

"Write about what disturbs you, particularly if it bothers no one else."

If you haven't noticed, this quote applies quite a bit to me.  In fact, you could substitute in for the word "write" so many other verbs (rant, complain, get worked up, vent, talk), and they would fit.  The problem with this lies in others' response to it.  Complain about too much, and you run the risk of sounding whiny.  Rant to others too much, and you might unwittingly make them more easily irritated by the same things that irritate you, which just isn't fair to them.  People deserve to keep their ability to overlook the little things.  On the other hand, some things in this world won't be changed or fixed or improved if no one says anything.  We can't all just be complacent, accepting whatever we're given without ever asking for more because nothing spontaneously fixes itself.  Professors don't suddenly convey their points clearly when the whole semester has been a string of unfinished thoughts.  People don't magically eliminate annoying habits.  Hardly anything gets done without some prompting.  The task at hand, then, is to find a balance of pushing for more and letting people know that you really do appreciate the progress that's been made thus far.

A lot of what I write (or rant) about bothers only me, and thanks to the month ahead of daily posts (already sort of starting to regret that decision), it looks like you might be getting a few doses of criticism.  Just know that regardless of how annoyed I sound, writing about what disturbs me, particularly if it bothers no one else, gets things done far more effectively than scribbling down poems about sunshine and ponies.  The sunshine and ponies are there; they're just not as entertaining to read about.

4 comments:

  1. But. But. A poem by Margaret Winchell about ponies and sunshine would be just so perfect. Please?

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  2. Hey, there are 28 days left. I don't make any promises, but there's bound to be a dry spell in there somewhere.

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