Idiosyncratic Soul

Objective 2- To be more organized

2009-09-14T15:53:00.000-07:00

What does it take to be more organized?

With all the responsibilities and pressures of life, I often feel overwhelmed and under-prepared to tackle all of my daily responsibilities (Just being honest). Since technology is so accessible and userfriendly, I call myself keeping a detailed task list on my Palm Pre, but I never go back to the phone later in the day to see what needs to be done. I'm not saying that I don't get things done, but for sure, some things are either forgotten or done in a lackluster manner.

My second objective is to live and lead a more organized life and I will continue to inform youall of my progress or lack thereof.

Friend, if you are following, I would love to read your thoughts!

Blessings,

I.S.

FYI

2009-09-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who are reading and following. Please remember that I will leave updates and subsidiary remarks in the comment sections under each post (i.e. "Betterness" objectives). I encourage readers to do the same.

Grace and Peace,

I.S.

Objective two coming soon...

Day 1 of 62 - "In it for the long haul"

2009-09-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

Okay world,

The day has finally come. This experiment of mine is underway with the first objective, which will be my focus for the next couple of days.

Objective 1: Commit to enduring for the "long haul"

There is only one thing that I have committed to in this way without leaving the door ajar for a possible escape. When my wife and I got married, I told her no matter how rough things get, she never has to worry about me leaving her or giving her justification to leave me. Like nothing else in life (except for my faith), I have committed to my marriage for the "long haul."

However, with work, school, church, etc. I've always maintained a provisional allegiance. I will commit to the entity and/or task provided it fits my expectations. This is an extremely narcissistic approach and I am determined to change my shifty ways.

This type of commitment will require me to invest more time, energy, attention, and even money towards my lively endeavors. Mediocrity will nolonger be acceptable. Over these next couple of days, I will comment about my progress or lack thereof towards the fulfillment of this objective. Furthermore, I will continue to work towards and comment about this objective when others are added.

Remember, though my life is the one on display, I expect us all to grow over these next two months. Consider this first objective. Think of times when you would half do a job because you knew you weren’t sticking around for long. Think of how reluctant you were to let another person into your life because you couldn’t see yourself in a lasting relationship with him/her.

In essence, I am suggesting that we give our all in whatever we do in life—Commit as if we are in it for the long haul even if we think our engagement will be short-term. This type of commitment will lead to more fulfilling and purposeful lives!

Advice, suggestions, comments, critique, push-back, or affirmation is strongly advised. This project will only be as good as WE make it!

Lets get it!

I. S.

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY

2009-09-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is day one of this exciting journey towards what I will call “betterness.” I am not committing to this experiment because I am a terrible person, but I do know that there is much room for improvement. That being said, I plan to be as transparent as possible in order for us to learn from each other.

As far as today…We are having a family gathering. As a teacher, there is so much work to be done before September 8 and I probably wont have much fun during tonight’s festivities. Externally, it will seem like all is well, but the whole time, I will be thinking about how much work I could be getting done at home. I know, its bad, but its so true.

Love ya world and I look forward to the starting our little project tomorrow!

If you have comments, questions, suggestions, etc. please feel free to drop me a note or email me @ idiosyncraticsoul@yahoo.com.

I.S.

Groin Stretch

2009-09-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

Hey world,

Today has been a good day, but unfortunately I have been forced to come to grips with a sad reality. I.e. along with my age, by body is getting older.

I decided to play basketball with an old friend and now I’m paying for it big time. We were so eager to play that we avoided the raindrops hitting the pavement, causing the basketball court to become slippier every second. Well, after a while, my cross over started to look more like a disoriented sliding dance move. Ultimately, one of my quasi-“cross overs” turned into a split and my groin area will be recovering from that move for a few days.
Why is it so hard for people to come to grips with the fact that they are “maturing?” With maturity, we cannot always do the things we did in our teenage years because our bodies respond differently.

Today, I would love to hear stories about people coming to grips with being older. It doesn’t matter if you’re only 15 years of age; trying to do everything you did as a toddler would be insane.

Let us hear your story!

I.S.

Intrinsic Beauty, The Color Purple

2009-09-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

Recently, my wife and I went to see The Color Purple "a musical based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker and the film by Steven Spielberg." The musical starred Fantasia Barrino and she did a spectacular job. How can you not love her raspy voice? Did she win idol that year? I need to do my research.

For the most part, the musical and book reminds viewers and readers of how beautiful even the little things are-including the color purple. Often times, we try so hard to find beauty and it is right there in front of us-in fact, staring us in the face (even slapping us in the face like Sophia slapped Harpo). As the play progressed towards the climax (the moment when Nettie came back with Celie's children from Africa), Celie-played by Fantasia- realized for the first time that the beauty she searched for all her life was right there, intrinsically inside of her.

This is a good reminder for me and for readers of this blog. Each of us, in our own idiosyncratic way has beauty and royalty cuddled up inside of our fleshly vessels. We don't need others to validate or affirm us because we have the power and wherewithal to affirm ourselves. Think about it, if God made something as simple as the color purple beautiful, think of the abundant aesthetic, spiritual, and artistic beauty that has coalesced to make us who we are. We are certainly "wonderfully made!"

On another note, my house is being attacked by small insects with many legs. It is driving my wife crazy and she is driving me crazy. When I officially start the project, patience will likely be one of my earlier objectives! She is hilarious; every time she sees a bug she calls me and tells me that the "caterpillars" are here again. Of course she means centipedes, but I don't mess with her much when she is having one her hysterical moments. “What about our kids or future kids…these bugs...” The whole time, in my mind I’m saying “shut up, shut up, shut up already.” I know this is bad, but its so true.

Lastly, the musical also made me think about W.E.B. DuBois' famous quote. I.e. The problem of the 20th Century is going to be the problem of the color line. The musical exemplified the plight of African Americans one generation removed from slavery. In fact, Mista's father was a slave. My question is; is the "color line" still a problem in 2009’s America. I know we now have an African American president but is race still an issue in this country? If so, why? Have we gotten to a point in history whereas race (finally) doesn't viel the intrinsic beauty of our brothers and sisters that are not like us?

Just some thoughts, concerns, and inquires from an Idiosyncratic Soul...

Be Blessed!

I. S.

My Night

2009-09-03T00:07:00.001-07:00

This past night, I stayed up thinking about ways to get people to follow my blog. I've been on yahoo chat, facebook, and I've read some articles about blogging etiquette along the way. It is now 2am and I am sure my wife is wondering why I haven't gone to bed yet. Its kind of fun to have this little expressive avenue that she doesn't even know about. In due time (in 2 months), I'll tell her and we'll be able to laugh about the whole thing for years to come.

While searching for ways to make this blog catch on, I was slightly chastised by a prudent and anonymous blogger. Considering his/her comments, I have decided to keep blogging but to postpone the official 2 month countdown start until September 7th. At that time, I will start over with a new objective 1.

Even though I doubt many people are reading, this "blogging" is kind of fun. This mechanism provides an avenue of expression that can prove to be healthy and even enjoyable. Only time will tell.

Good night world!

Frustration

2009-09-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

It is been almost a week now and I am still struggling to get people to follow my blog. I have a lot to write about and share with the world, but I need people to invest a few measly minutes to keep up with me. Is that too much to ask? When I watched Julie and Julia, Julie blogged for a while not knowing if anyone was even reading her blog and I think that is just stupid! What do you think? My thinking is, wait until people take interest in this project before I continue to blog on a more consistent basis.

All in all, I am frustrated about the lack of buy in world. All I am asking for is at least a couple of followers to get this project off the ground, but it seems like that is asking too much. I thought this was 2009--a time when people don't have anything better to do than sit on their behinds all day and look for new blogs to follow. Am I sadly mistaken with that assumption?

At this point, I'm desperate. Just like Julie, I have had a major problem with commitment in the past and I'm at a point whereas I think it might be best to just give up and find another avenue of expression. Please don't let me give up! Somebody show interest.

I. S.

Objective 1: Better Sex

2009-08-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

World,

I will not comment too much here because it's way past bedtime, but if need be, I will continue at a later date.

Objective 1: to Become a better sex partner for my wife.

This objective is fresh on my mind because we just made love [or had sex or whatever you would call that]. I love her dearly, but I wish she would get more enthused when it comes to bedroom pleasure time. Due to her lack of enthusiasm and constant excuses beforehand, I am pretty sure that I am not pleasing her like I should.

Getting married at such a young age, a part of me committed to marriage so I wouldn't be out of alignment with the Bible as a sex beast, only to find out (years into the marriage) that my wife isn't as "beastly" as I am. Darn! I need to unleash that inner-beast and I am pretty sure that the key is finding that "spot." Or maybe it isn't; I'm not sure about this at all.

All I know is, our marriage is good, but it could be even better if we could find ways to please each other in the bedroom. Her primary excuse is sleepiness. Granted, my wife does get really sleepy and her headaches might be sincere, but if I started to hit that spot right, I'm sure the excuses would minimize.

I don't know if I really want suggestions, I'm okay with comments, but this post was mostly to vent. Please note that I am a married and I believe I have license to say all of this for the betterment of my family situation and maybe even to the benefit of a reader. Who knows...

Idiosyncratic Introduction

2009-08-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

Whats up blogosphere? I'm idiosyncratic soul and this is my idiosyncratic blog. I was inspired to start this blog when I watched Julie and Julia two days ago. A young woman (Julie) committed one year of her life to preparing 524 recipes from Julia's-an American born French cook who wrote her book 30+ years before Julie's experiment-cookbook. The cookbook was for American women wanting to prepare French cuisine. I didn't like the movie, but I guess I was led to watch it to be inspired to start my own project.

Julie blogged everyday, even about her meltdowns and times when she flirted with the temptation to quit and as I embark on this trek, I promise to do the same. [I will try my best to be as open as possible without giving away my identity. I can care less about you knowing who I am, but my wife-the boss-wouldn't be too pleased with this project. She is a very personal person and certainly wouldn't want the entire world 'all up in her business.']

If Julie can pick up a fan-base, I am sure America would love to follow me as I embark on this two month journey. I aspiration during this time is to become a better husband, a better employee, a better contributor to my community, a better son...a better me! I hope you don't mind providing your advise, counsel, critique, and/or trash talk along the way.

All of us have some areas that are in need of cosmetic makeover. However, we often become complacent with mediocrity, accepting the status quo, as our souls long and thirst for more. I know that I should be doing more with my life and I am committed to taking care of my bogus tendencies so that a better me can emerge with expediency. [For some reason, I like to rhyme and be quasi-poetic. I will make things rhyme even if I have to stretch things semantically- I guess that is a factor of my idiosyncracy].

As I embark on this two month journey, I invite you into my life with the hope of you benefiting from my transparency, boldness, and infectious passion. My wife is going to kill me when she finds out about this, but until then, "it's on and poppin!" My goal: commit to an objective (at least every other day) and blog about my pitfalls, dumb mistakes [I make a lot of these], and most importantly successes.

BTY: I am idiosyncratic soul. I can't even figure myself out :-D

I hope you enjoy the ride!