Wish in One Hand...
Kelli Dunlap has her weekly Coffee Talk.
Brian Keene blogs about topics ranging from the silly to the cerebral.
Geoff Cooper blogs about... well... he blogs infrequently, but his posts, like those of the late George Carlin, are always damned entertaining and most often thought provoking.
So I've been thinking a lot lately. Losing the ability to sleep will offer that opportunity.
Growing up, I had quite a mix of influences in my family. The maternal and paternal sides couldn't be more different, but one thing they did share was a penchant for obscure phrases and sayings. Some of them were just "old timer" sayings. Others... who knows how and where they developed. But I'm going to attempt - at least as long as I can - to offer up a phrase a week and we'll see how things go along.
This week we'll take a look at a saying from my late grandmother on my mother's side. She was a virtual cornucopia of sayings, but the one I've been thinking of lately is when she'd hear someone use the phrase "I wish..."
Not that she was apt to kill any magical thinking of wishing, but then again, she'd been through some tough times when wishing did nothing but instill false hope, and though she prayed, I think the logical part of her put faith in her own two hands to get things done.
Her response to "I wish..." was sometimes... "Wish in one hand and shit in the other and see what that gets you."
My grandmother was a wonderful, colorful character, and for her words: how very, ridiculously true.
In a bad situation, you can wish your ass off and it won't make it go away. Have to face the music sometime or another. Lately, there's a hell of a lot of things I'd like to wish for but like my grandmother, my Bob-logic tends to put more faith in my own two hands. Oh, I'm not adverse to getting help along the way, and I'm a huge believer in the power of positive thinking... the laws of attraction and all that. But I almost never wish anymore.
I've been thinking a lot lately about being a kid and having that magic of wishing... having that power of belief and conviction - not because you don't know any better, but because no one's ever really told you any different.
As you get older, does that magic have to fade away?
I'm sitting here typing this in my office. My business partner isn't here yet. I've got a fresh mocha coffee at my side and music blaring. It's the day before Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to a long weekend. This day is very far from being over. It's a pivotal sort of day. A day for wishing.
And both my hands are empty.
Brian Keene blogs about topics ranging from the silly to the cerebral.
Geoff Cooper blogs about... well... he blogs infrequently, but his posts, like those of the late George Carlin, are always damned entertaining and most often thought provoking.
So I've been thinking a lot lately. Losing the ability to sleep will offer that opportunity.
Growing up, I had quite a mix of influences in my family. The maternal and paternal sides couldn't be more different, but one thing they did share was a penchant for obscure phrases and sayings. Some of them were just "old timer" sayings. Others... who knows how and where they developed. But I'm going to attempt - at least as long as I can - to offer up a phrase a week and we'll see how things go along.
This week we'll take a look at a saying from my late grandmother on my mother's side. She was a virtual cornucopia of sayings, but the one I've been thinking of lately is when she'd hear someone use the phrase "I wish..."
Not that she was apt to kill any magical thinking of wishing, but then again, she'd been through some tough times when wishing did nothing but instill false hope, and though she prayed, I think the logical part of her put faith in her own two hands to get things done.
Her response to "I wish..." was sometimes... "Wish in one hand and shit in the other and see what that gets you."
My grandmother was a wonderful, colorful character, and for her words: how very, ridiculously true.
In a bad situation, you can wish your ass off and it won't make it go away. Have to face the music sometime or another. Lately, there's a hell of a lot of things I'd like to wish for but like my grandmother, my Bob-logic tends to put more faith in my own two hands. Oh, I'm not adverse to getting help along the way, and I'm a huge believer in the power of positive thinking... the laws of attraction and all that. But I almost never wish anymore.
I've been thinking a lot lately about being a kid and having that magic of wishing... having that power of belief and conviction - not because you don't know any better, but because no one's ever really told you any different.
As you get older, does that magic have to fade away?
I'm sitting here typing this in my office. My business partner isn't here yet. I've got a fresh mocha coffee at my side and music blaring. It's the day before Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to a long weekend. This day is very far from being over. It's a pivotal sort of day. A day for wishing.
And both my hands are empty.
posted by Bob at 11/26/2008
7 comments
