The Wayward Celt

Admittedly, this is an odd topic for me to be posting about.

This isn’t about overt negativity (though that is a problem as well, just not one I wish to tackle here and now), rather, this is about the passive, subtle, invasive, and far more difficult to accurately identify negativity. Negativity which manifests itself in such common ways as to be virtually unnoticed let alone identified as negative.

I’ve been working on the concept for this post in my head over the past three months now. But today it came to me from such a different perspective, that I’ve had to stop and re-evaluate how I put this out there. So let me be clear here: everything in this post stems from bits I don’t like about myself, things I see as a reflection of me elsewhere in the world both on-line and off.

I’ve noticed in the past 37+ years of my life, what I will call a personality trait geared towards negativity. Some may call it pessimism, and at times it is (lord knows no one has ever mistaken me for an optimist). At other times, I’d go as far as to call it a sense of entitlement or selfishness. But, most often, it is just a subtlety of verbiage which casts a grey pall upon the mundane; a way of simply missing the positive in a situation and instead focusing on a down-side, problem, or general dislike.

With the abundance of over-sharing on the social web, this negativity is highlighted and brought into greater focus. Complaints, or simply negatively tinged updates run rampant and, by my guesstimation, likely make up as much as 65% of all posts on social sites. Obviously I am shooting from the hip here, with no real data to back this up, just observation over the past few years, but regardless of actual numbers the sentiment stands: there is constant negativity around us all. And it is getting worse. (See what I did there?)

Something as simple as lamenting what that doughnut your boss brought in for the team at work is going to do to your diet seems innocuous enough as single status update. But, when combined with all the other updates coming across your wall/feed/dash, and in such numbers from the same people, you can’t help but be affected by it all… sooner or later that negativity will get to you, even when (or perhaps especially if) you are one of the worst offenders of it all.

Because I am as much of a perpetrator of this problem as I also observe it, I’d like to challenge you to take a moment with me and look at our own posts/status/updates over the past week and try to see them from a different perspective: are those posts tinged with a negative slant? Are the positive ones actually born of a negative perspective? Is there a way to shift the complaint to a win? Join me and let’s work to shift our perspective to the positive and see what happens!

I figure if I try and change the small stuff, the Tweets/ Facebook statuses/ G+ updates/ Blog posts, those things which I have editorial review over before clicking the share or publish button, perhaps it will become habit and bleed into other areas in my life. Perhaps, just perhaps, a slight adjustment here or there will have more dramatic ripple effects and the people around me will soon find me to be more pleasant to interact with and not as negative a person as I’ve been for the past few decades.

I’ll tell you, tough as it is for me, I feel better already.

Tweet

… but…

I WILL be back to blogging once per week in 2012. The latter three months in 2011 became a bit hectic for me which resulted in an emotional depletion of energy, which in turn meant I had no energy left to write. This became overly evident to me in my vain failed attempt to do NaNoWriMo this year. I’d thought that forcing myself to write would jump start me back into the habit, but alas, it just proved too much this time round and I ran out of gas by day 15 without hopes of completion, nor inspiration to continue.

Odd, though, since I HAVE been inspired to blog and write… the muse has been working in my head, just the time and energy seem to have found other venues. Wouldn’t it be nice for the muse to bring her own energy reserves along for the ride, so that when inspiration hits you also have the energy to put the words to paper? Ah, to be so lucky.

That all said, my 2011 goal was to blog once per week, and in general I almost accomplished that… here… If you add in the 3 Drunken Celts blog, and my work blog (in which I posted on average about 3.75 times per week), then I think I actually blew my goal out of the water. But I can’t, in good conscience, claim my work blog as part of the goal since the spirit of it was to blog personally and flex a more creative muscle than I am able to at work. So, I’m maintaining that goal for 2012 as well: one personal blog of some substance, per week, all year, no exceptions, no excuses. If 2012 shapes out to be as interesting as it seems from my present viewpoint, I shouldn’t be worrying about a lack of topics to discuss or experiences to relay.

I am hoping that with some added focus I can make this coming year the year of “Very BIG THINGS” for me, see some of my efforts start to pay off, and possibly become one of those few critical pivotal years in my life…. we shall see.

I’ll leave you with this: one of my recent photographs taken from within my home office on a rather chilly day, the ice had built up a bit overnight on the roof below my window, and then the sun peaked out… perhaps this will also be the year in which I take my photography to a new level as well…

A study in texture:

Tweet

Now, most of you are laughing at the title, thinking to yourself, “How can he have a fear of commitment when he’s been married to Jean for 14 years, together for nearly 20???”. Yes, I know, it amuses me too. But that isn’t the commitment I am speaking of. Rather, I have recently discovered I have trouble committing to more mundane aspects of life something for fear of what I’ll lose or ignore by doing so. Specifically, this has come to me in terms of hobbies, or extra curricular activities outside of work.
A friend recently blogged the following quote, which resonated with me:

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” ~T.S. Eliot

I have been hesitant to start up any hobby which forces a time commitment for me, mainly for fear of choosing to focus on something and find that I have neglected other things, or simply missed seeing something I’d want to do even more so. Take, for instance, my desire to learn how to play my tenor banjo. Do I commit cash and time to lessons, find a group to play with, only to find that I am no longer focused on photography, motorcycling, writing, or (shudder at the thought) my whiskies tasting group?
While I recognize my need to be more social, this fear of committing seems to keep me from jumping into a group and really getting to know local people. I also recognize that in order to begin with anything, I need to end this silly indecisiveness. An end to the day-to-day doldrums will indeed be the place from which I start.
Here’s to new beginnings!

Tweet

It is true what they say; tattoos are addictive. Ever since my first ink back in February 1996, I’ve been constantly planning the next pieces I’ll get, always looking at least 3 designs in the future. Each design has shifted and changed as I have, up to the point where it is the perfect piece at the perfect time to have it set in ink. All my tattoos have been years in the making from concept to execution. And last night’s session at Adorn Body Art was no different.

For the past two year, I’d been contemplating a few concepts for more tattoos loosely based around how my life has changed since we left California and moved to Oregon. Part of that concept was realized in my Craftsman/Mission style number 13 house plague in black and gray on my upper inner forearm. For me, this was a great realization of the work Jean and I have done on our new home, as well as a celebration of 13 years of marriage (anniversary date is July 13th). But something about it left me wanting… it felt somehow incomplete, as if it needed more balance. So, I opted to add in another design I had been thinking about for the past two years: an Arts & Crafts stained glass design called the “Pasadena Rose”.

Both Jean and I fell in love with the design immediately after installing the two wall sconces which incorporate it in our living room. For me, the design connects the dots of our move from Southern California, to the “Rose City” of Portland. It also displays my love for the Arts&Crafts / Mission / Craftsman design movements which are popular in both  SoCal and Portland.

Like all my tattoos, this one has a deeper connection and meaning for me than I can adequately convey in plain words. The best way I can describe it is this: tattoos for me are stamps on the steamer trunk of my body; they tell the tale of my life in iconic form.

In this latest case, it is the stained glass “Pasadena Rose” on my forearm:

Click the picture for the larger view

-

Lastly, here is my Picasa gallery showing some of the tattoo work I’ve had done: http://picasaweb.google.com/acdntlpoet/Tattoos?feat=directlink

More work can be seen on the WaywardCelt gallery here: http://waywardcelt.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=16

-

Tweet

Yes, the title does seem a bit egotistical, but that isn’t the intent. Really, these past 3 weeks I have not had much time to think for myself, let alone about what all is happening in my life…

I apologize, faithful readers, for the lack of communications since we accepted an offer on our house and began making all necessary arrangements for the impending move. I can assure you more frequent updates will be seen once the move is complete. And fear not, the thrilling continuation of the 3DC’s trip to the Whiskies of the World Expo in SF will be forthcoming once things have settled a bit.

For now, some minor life updates will have to suffice:
First, and probably most importantly, our last day in Southern California is set to be May 18th. That is when the movers show up and take all our crap. We actually drive out on the 19th so we can be in Beaverton, Oregon by 10am on the 21st without rushing or in fear of missing our scheduled appointment with the property management group to sign paperwork and pickup our new keys for the rental.

My last day in the Irvine office will be May 16th. Because of this, I am dealing with a bit of short-timer’s disease even though I am not leaving the company, just moving into a home office. This past week, and presumably the coming week as well, I just don’t feel like working. I know this will change once I have settled in the new place, but it is really annoying me currently as there is a metric ton of work to be done and a decided lack of motivation to do it.

In the midst of all this hustle and bustle, I picked up a new ride last Wednesday: a 2007 Honda ST1300A with only 10 miles on the odometer.

This has replaced my 1998 Honda VFR800Fi, as the riding position on that bike was a bit too hard on my wrists. Because I have mild carpal-tunnel/tendonitis in my right wrist, riding the VFR was becoming painful and difficult to handle for more than an hour or so at a time. I realized after my last ride out with John that I would need to do something if I wanted to continue riding AND working. So, as much as it pained me, I traded the VFR in for the ST which has a much more relaxed riding position and takes the weight off my wrists. I can now continue to both work AND ride without fear of further damaging my wrists.

This new purchase will also allow me to ride up to Oregon instead of shipping my bike as I had previously arranged with the VFR. Setting out on a ride like this is something John and I have been talking about for a while now, and is a nice precursor to the Alaska trip we plan to make in the future. In fact, just yesterday I purchased my plane ticket down from PDX so I can come pickup the bike from John’s on June 8th and ride her up to our new home over that weekend!

Other than that, life around the house (and at work) has been keeping me unbelievably busy, with very little time to read LJ, let alone comment. For that I apologize. I am sure my internet habits will return to normalcy after the next few weeks have passed. With this move to Oregon taking us away from all of our friends and family, I will be counting on LJ and Email to keep us in touch and up to date with everyone. Big adventures are ahead of us, so keep an eye out for my posts detailing the journey!

For now, I need to return to work…

Tweet