raves | All That Glitters

I was fascinated to learn not too long ago, that statistics show, on average, a person has around 50,000 thoughts a day. Some argue that the amount of mental chatter in our minds is even higher than that, at an upwards of 70,000!

It prompted me to create a new series, “Rants & Raves,” sharing arbitrary thoughts that are on the mind as of writing time, or reflections I’ve been collecting to share that would tie in nicely. (You can read more about why I was so drawn to the idea of the human thought process on a more philosophical level, by visiting my Volume 1 post from last fall.)

Writing is typically such a cathartic experience because in many ways, it naturally helps to process the overwhelming volume of chatter going on in the mind, much of which, has no real purpose other than just being there. Sometimes a gal just needs to rant…and rave. A few random, compulsive, completely unproductive, not-so-deep thoughts as of late…

Rants & Raves: Volume #2

–>Rant
To every salesperson working in retail: I do appreciate your asking if I need help the moment I walk through the door as a form of greeting. However, if I politely say: “no thank you, I’m just looking,” this doesn’t mean that you can now stalk me around the store, talking up the merchandise, telling me how cute everything I touch is. It further doesn’t help that once I finally get you off my back, that your colleague then hones in on me. Being asked by SIX different people in a Banana Republic if I need help within a 10 minute span of time is ridiculous and only makes me want to leave. You’re harassing your customers. Trust me, if I need help with anything, I know exactly where to find you. And P.S.: I don’t need you to ask me (repeatedly) if I’m “aware of your current promotion” if the signage posted on EVERY blank wall in the store tells me that all items are 40% off. I can read, thank you.

–>Rave
It’s 86° degrees today, hitting a high of 90° by Friday. God, I love L.A. Now my pedicure won’t go to waste.

–>Rant
Scandal has gone off the deep end. (Warning: spoiler alert ahead if you’re not caught up.) This season hasn’t been strong in general, but this new story-line where we kidnap Olivia Pope and hold her ransom so that the Vice President can get his war with West Angola, is stupid for so many reasons I can’t begin count. But let’s try anyway:

The writers managed to skim over an important plot point: HOW a V.P. can take over a sitting U.S. President’s Secret Service and turn his entire team against him. Hello?
Who in their right mind would actually declare war risking THOUSANDS of lives, to save ONE? No President would ever do this (I don’t care if he is, ~~was~~, is, (oh, who the hell knows at this point?) hittin’ it.
Olivia convinces her captor to “sell” her to the highest bidder, prompting him not to give it much thought, but to actually take her out of her holding cell and give in to her “suggestion.” Really?
Oh, and JUST as the D.E.A. determines her location and comes to save her – she’s already on a plane, presumably to be put on the market for ransom (again). Hmmm.
This means they’re dragging this story line out even longer!

If Scandal doesn’t get it together, I’m skipping the rest of this season. Yes, I guess this means I’m no longer a Gladiator. White hat gone. Whatever.

–>Rave
God bless the beautiful soul who had the final say on the operating hours for Yogurtlands everywhere. Because of them, I can get into my sweat pants at 10:30pm on a Sunday night and haul ass to the land of unlimited fro-yo and cookie dough toppings.

–>Rant
I have a love-hate relationship with online ordering. On the one hand, I love the ease and often less expensive cost of items. On the other hand, I have no patience and absolutely hate waiting for things to ship. I’m usually so excited, I want it now! I don’t care if it’s Amazon’s super efficient 2-day shipping. Sometimes even this feels too long. I might not have such a problem with waiting overnight for a package. That seems much more reasonable. The caveat is that I refuse to ever “overnight” anything…or pay for shipping in general. I do whatever I have to, to avoid paying for shipping. Yes, I’m one of those annoying people that will Google: “(insert store name/website here) free shipping code.” I also have a huge grievance when something costs more to ship than the actual item I ordered. In what world is this okay?

–>Rave
I realize this is now the second time I’m mentioning Fifty Shades this week (pardon me). Spotify took it upon itself to alert me that the soundtrack, released yesterday, was available for streaming. I had some time to kill while I got some work done. Dammit, if I didn’t love the hell out of it. Like. Every. Single. Song. From Frank Sinatra to Beyoncé, it’s got a fresh, passionate sound. I found myself grooving along more than I expected to. It actually has me excited for the movie now in a way that makes me uncomfortable to admit to anyone. Ugh. So I’ll just do it on my blog and if it gets backs to me…at least I’ll know who reads it.

Do you have any rants or raves to share? I’d love to hear them.

Thanks for indulging me! x

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Image credit: “Neourban Hipster Office” by markus spiske used under CC BY 2.0 | Modifications: text added to original.

I’m sure this concept has been around since the creation of philosophical teaching itself, but I credit Eckhart Tolle for much of my personal understanding of the “ego” vs. the “true self” when it comes to matters of the mind, or in his words, the “compulsive thinker” vs. “being.”

It’s interesting how on a higher level I get that most of the thoughts that flow through my mind are nothing more than mental chatter, frequent visitations from the ego with nothing better to do than just be there; and yet, I still find myself entertaining them. I also understand and believe in the grace of the voice that makes an appearance to talk to the “compulsive thinker” voice. That voice is my true self speaking – tasked largely with the goal to keep things in perspective and keep the mind present.

Now, this is not to cause alarm that I’m some sort of mental case that needs to get out her head (though maybe it is that simple!), but I think on some level we can all relate to this. I often wonder what truly goes on in other people’s minds as they go about their day. (Then again, maybe it’s best we don’t get that kind of access to each other.)

We all have a journey or a life lesson or two to learn before our time is up. I truly believe one of mine is to learn to better manage the internal dialogue that can take place in my head as a result of external forces (read: things I can’t control anyway!) and learn to stay centered and present, in a state of pure “being.”

As I’ve gotten older, I do think I’ve made progress with this, but I still have an “active” imagination. Depending on the day (and admittedly the mood I’m already in) what was a simple “hey, he just cut me off!” could translate to “hey, he just cut me off because he’s an asshole who thinks where he needs to be is more important than everyone else!” Ahhh! Aren’t those ego thoughts just grand? Wouldn’t it be quite funny if I later found out that he had just gotten a call from a man holding his wife for ransom, and his cutting me off was really to get to the bank ASAP before someone killed her? This would clearly be a case where I’m okay with being cut off. It’s a more important destination than my trip to Target…to spend money on things I don’t need anyway. (And there’s that active imagination again!)

Experts say that we think on average around 50,000 thoughts a day, and apparently, that’s a conservative number. I thought I would dedicate a post toward writing down some of them. Now I realize the contradiction here: I’m essentially still entertaining my “ego voice” by doing so, rather than just letting it go and being present, but bear with me – somehow putting my random compulsive thoughts out there, may release them into the ether to make even more room for that true voice….at least, that’s what I’m telling myself. And let’s be honest, it just helps to rant!

Oh, and rave too.

A few random compulsive thoughts as of late:

Rants & Raves: Volume #1

Rant: Do us all a favor who paid the ridiculously over-priced $15 to actually watch the movie while “at the movies” – if you’re going to talk through it as if you’re sitting in your living room, then stay home….or go to a bar and talk over drinks. Thanks! (P.S. The occasional comment if it’s related to the movie is fine…and I mean occasional.)

Rave: Boy, do I worship people who honor their word. It’s how I am in my life, but have learned that not many people you encounter are this way unfortunately. There’s one person I have in mind at the moment who is and has always been this way and I adore him dearly for it.

Rant: Condescending, passive aggressive people. 1). You don’t know it all; and 2.) if you have something to say, I’d have much more respect for you if would just find a diplomatic way to speak your mind, than be passive aggressive about it. I could go on ad nauseam about this, but I’ll leave it at that.

Rave: I do most “salon-like” services myself at-home (mani/pedis, facials, etc.), but I treated myself to a quick visit to S.H.A.P.E.S for the 1st time in 9 months and got my eyebrows threaded (still boggles my mind how they do this!). It’s amazing what a little clean-up can do and how it changes your face for the better. Best $12 I’ve spent in weeks!

Rant: As a person who writes incessantly, why oh why does spell check suck so much sometimes? Do you ever find yourself having to spend absorbent amounts of time trying to re-misspell a word better to help the spell checker find a more accurate selection of words that you’re trying to spell? WTH? At that point, I might as well just Google the word. It conveniently auto-populates the correct spelling before I even finish typing it! Horray for Google! Boo for spell checker! End rant.

Rave: Just a general thank you to the kind stranger who holds an elevator or the door for me. Don’t you just love those people who sense someone is behind them and seemingly speed up so that it would now be passed the limit of required kindness toward pure inconvenience to have wait for you now? Yeah, I don’t either.

I feel better already. This was too much fun. I think I’ll turn it into a series!

Do you have any rants or raves to share? I’d love to hear them. As I mentioned, you have 50,000 to choose from on any given day!

Happy hump day!

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*images courtesy Pixaby.com used under CC0 1.0. Final design is mine.*