Sunday, January 20, 2008

Fresh!

So, new semester, new classes, new work to do, new resolutions. Today I am feeling "fresh" even though I'm also a tiny bit overwhelmed with the work I have due this week.

Anyway, a new topic. Some of you who know me well know that I can be a little stubborn, that I sometimes latch onto an idea (or person?) and keep pushing, usually way past the point of rationality to try to make things work out the way I want them to. Generally, I think of this as, minimally, annoying to my friends and definitely not very zen (It's better to free yourself from desires, right?) but I'm also a little reluctant to go too far down the road of 'whatever happens happens'.

Today I was listening to the third best song by my good friend Leonard Cohen, "Bird on the Wire". In it he sings:
I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch,
He said to me, you must not ask for so much.
And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door,
She cried to me, hey, why not ask for more?

It's a pretty big oversimplication in the song, but the question sticks with me. Better to try to be happy with what I have, or else risk being constantly unhappy and disappointed? Or, better to keep trying trying trying trying because, well, who wants to end up with nothing?

For me the jury is still out. Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?