-
Decision Fatigue: Too Many Choices
When a friend mentioned eating at a restaurant in Amarillo that had only 5 choices for entrées on the menu, his comments reminded me of the movie Hell or High Water (2016). The phrase "come hell or high water" typically means "do whatever needs to be done, no matter the circumstances." It also refers to the "hell or high water clause" in a contract, usually a lease, which states that the payments must continue regardless of any difficulties the paying party may encounter. Both definitions apply to different parts of the plot in this movie. The first two bank robberies take place in Archer City and Olney, Texas. These were…
-
Christmas All Around Us in Stories
To have a story, you must live a story. And that story, if it is interesting and real, will include all the drama and crises that many people prefer simply to read about or watch someone else experience. Heartache. Crisis. Death. And buckets of tears. “You don’t get to be old without knowing grief and loss.” Louise Penny [1] Not a single person whose story got recorded in the Bible escaped suffering, grief, and loss. No, no, not one. A Norman Rockwell life exists only in still life. The Greatest Story Ever Told Stories matter. Your story matters. You live a story. Your life tells a story that others read…
-
Santa is not God, and God is not Santa
Last Christmas Eve, my 8-year-old grandson asked me if I had ever tried to catch Santa. “Well,” after figuring out what he was asking, I said, “I’ve tried staying awake all night but always fall asleep.” Brightening, he told me he had some ideas how to catch Santa. “If you have a chimney, sprinkle powder or flour on the floor in front of the fireplace and in the morning you can see Santa’s footprints.” My grandson’s house does not have a fireplace, yet in his imagination, he could see just how such a plan might work at my house. He also thought of setting up a video camera to catch…
-
“I Coulda been a Contender”
You may recognize Marlon Brando’s famous line from the 1954 film On the Waterfront. The movie won 8 Oscars and numerous other awards. This classic film about mob violence occupies the #8 slot on the American Film Institutes Top 100 movies of all time. [1] There’s anguish in Marlon Brando’s character as he speaks the line, “I coulda been a contender.” A longing for what might have been. A few wrong choices closed the door to his hopes and dreams. For whatever reason, many of us try not to think about what might have been. Still, it’s natural to wonder where the roads not taken might have led. Did I…
-
Admitting When You Are Lost
Have you ever believed you had headed in the right direction and it turns out you went wrong? What then? How long before you stop and change directions? When I was pregnant with my third child, our young family went camping with another family. Two dads, two moms, two 4-year-old girls and two 7-year-old boys. Our friends had borrowed a large RV so that both families could travel together. Behind this monstrous bus, the driver dragged a Jeep for transportation once we got to Red River, NM. My family slept outside in a tent, beside their more substantial housing. Next day, piled into the Jeep, we headed up the mountain…
-
When Sane People Believe Lies
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, a book written in 1841, spawned the title for Louise Penny’s latest book. In her author acknowledgement, Louise Penny explains that the original book by Charles Mackay “offered a series of nonfiction essays looking at why sane people believe the nuttiest things,” begging the question, “What happens to tip people over into madness?” (434). People do behave differently in crowds. Crowds begin small, adding numbers like wood to a fire. Words that influence crowds can serve as a weapon. Reading that Disturbs the Peace The Madness of Crowds, (#17 in Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series), takes place back in the tiny village…
-
Drinking from a Pool of Ignorance
“Timmy fell into a well and he can’t get out.” Quoting my husband, he repeats this line to accentuate my overreaction to some perceived crisis. These words reference the television series Lassie. As Timmy’s dog, in each episode, Lassie invariably had to seek help when Timmy got into trouble. The dog barks in a way that somehow people understand Timmy needs help. Timmy never fell in a well, but the actor who played Timmy, Jon Provost, titled his memoir Timmy’s in the Well. The expression has become a trope for attempts to communicate something unintelligible. Like a dog’s bark. So, using a high-pitched, sing-song voice, my husband signals when he thinks whatever…
