Celebration Fridays - Celebrating Insecurity

          

                                                                                  hbp_pix

The furniture store where I worked last summer is closing its doors.  I popped into the going out of business sale to see how my old boss is doing.

Surprisingly well, as it turns out.  He has plans.  He's learned a thing or two.  He's laid the idea of financial security to rest.

And that's a good thing, I think.  Because security, financial or any other kind, doesn't actually exist.  It's an illusion we sell ourselves to keep our fears at bay.

It can be a difficult concept to let go of, but when you can accept at some level that this could all be gone tomorrow, life takes on a summer vacation feeling.  And you can either hang on to it for dear life, even though it's futile, or you can enter in fully and enjoy the heck out of every moment. 

I'd vote for option two.

Because even if you do manage to achieve what looks to be absolute security, do you hear that clock, ticking?  That's life calling you out for the fool that you are.

This can either be a really depressing way for Barb to start you on your weekend, or it can set you free.  If security doesn't exist, then why not take a chance?  I've found that it's in those chances that the really good stuff happens.

So today, right now, I'm celebrating today.  Right now.

How 'bout you?

Celebration Fridays - Do It Yourself Decadence

I like nothing better than wallowing in luxury.

And if I've learned anything in all my years of mirroring the economy at large in my personal finances, it's how to have a good time without spending any money.

Dinner and a movie, for example, is way more fun at home.  Put on your comfiest clothes, make some yummy pasta and watch a stack of movies, courtesy of your local library.  We watch movies on my laptop, while snuggled in bed.  Way better than the local cinema!

The afternoon nap has to be one of the greatest inventions ever and totally free.

Now that I have an office to go to five days a week, I look forward to coming home and sitting down for a chat with my husband over a cup of tea or a glass of wine.

Friends of mine like to take baths together, on a week night.  I think the thrill of the stolen moment trumps any kind of treatment an expensive spa could come up with.

I think it comes down to holding yourself in enough regard to give yourself that treat, to not hold off until you have the time or can afford something special.  Because time goes on and opportunities are missed.  And time or money are paltry excuses for not living it up.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone.  Celebrate whatever you can!

 

Celebration Fridays - You Can Never Hold Back Spring

In the history of economics, there has never been a recession that didn't end.

The darkest night gives way to dawn.

And even the longest, coldest winter eventually surrenders to the daffodils.

As with most things, Tom Waits said it best...

 

Celebration Fridays - The Inevitability of Family

We're heading down to Windsor today.  For my cousin's funeral.  And for Alan's family's Christmas in February dinner.

Which, no surprise, has me thinking of family.  And why they mean so much to us.

It's not because you can say they're always there for you.  They often aren't - that's why we have friends. 

It's more because they're always there.

And no matter how old you get or how far away you move, they're the ones who will always call you by your childhood nickname and when they get old won't know who you are if you call yourself anything else.

They're the ones who remember that when you were six they decided you were the difficult one and that your brother was good with his hands and nothing you do will ever change that ever.

Families house the relatives.  The mean cousin you never liked, even when he grew up and was so good to your mother.

And the aunt or uncle or in-law who, at every family gathering, backs you into a corner to question you about your religious practices or wonder loudly why it is you can't find anyone to love you.

And you want to be there for them - or at least some of them - but in times of crisis you find yourself asking your sister if her best friend is there and thanking Christ when she says yes because all three of you know that she is far better able to take care of things with a delicacy that you, in your ham-fisted approach to life and all its problems will never possess ever.

And you make a circle of friends and you count yourself lucky - and perhaps a little wise -to have them.

But comes the phone call and you find yourself dropping everything to make the trek.  To stand with your cousins and aunts and siblings to offer what imperfect comfort and help you can.

And sometimes the news is good and there's a wedding and you find yourself dragged on to the dance floor while the music plays.  And you dance with your sister and your nieces and your cousins and brothers.

And it's not perfect or even always all that good and most of the time you can't really understand the draw.  But it's your family. 

It might have some dents and patches of rust - like the Buick your parents used to pile you and your siblings into for vacations and mystery trips. 

And you realize that there are only a couple of dozen people in this big old world who know what that feels like.  And that sort of has to count for something.

Celebrating the Inevitable

One of the features I really wanted to save from my food blog was "Celebration Fridays" in which I encouraged everyone, myself included, to celebrate anything and everything that life had thrown their way that week.

Here's the original Celebration Friday post, reworked and updated.

From Pasotraspaso's Flickrstream

We are in a state of flux here.

I've been to the states of Michigan, Ohio, Missouri and Texas and they're all fine states to be in.  Though, just a word of advice to Texas?  You could stand to lower the humidity a little, especially down Houston way.  Nobody likes to go through life looking like Bozo the Clown, is all I'm saying.

Where was I?  Oh, yeah, fine, fine states.  But not so much the state of flux.

Things have changed.  Things are still uncertain.  It's the way life is.  It could lead to moodiness.

But!  There are choices that can be made here.

You can bow down under the inevitable glitches and on-going wear and tear that life throws your way, or you can decide to CELEBRATE.  And that's what I choose to do.

From kk+'s Flickrstream

As a society, we celebrate the big things, usually.  The weddings, the milestone anniversaries, the birthdays.  But there's so much more!

Found your first wrinkle?  Head out for a night of dancing.

Didn't get that promotion?  You, my friend, deserve a big steak dinner with your best fans and supporters.

It's February?  Why do you think South was invented?

See what I mean?  Celebrate the inevitable!  It makes life way more fun.

And not just the big inevitables, either.  Every Monday morning, we get together for breakfast with friends.   The occasion you ask?  Monday!  Breakfast!  Friends!

Tuesdays we celebrate Fiona!  and Dinner!

We have a great time.  And no matter what else is going on, we always feel better.

So how about you?  What inevitabilities do you need to celebrate this week?