STRIVING TOWARDS IMPERFECTION—PART ONE

I am learning a whole new way of living here in California. It is perfectly said by the hint I sometimes get from my sons: "Chill, Dad!" This goes a long way towards reminding me that my goal should be to relax.

I need to be reminded not try to be so perfect. Not to get so caught up in the game of living that I lose sight of what’s important.

What’s important is to enjoy life—to enjoy the game. I am constantly reminded that this place does not play by the same rules as the uptight, chase-the-dollar-at-all-costs rules that seem to govern life on the streets of New York, or Westport, Connecticut where we came from. I learn something new everyday just by living here in this more peaceful world about how to enjoy life.

One thing I’ve learned of late as a writer for the local newspaper, The Ukiah Daily Journal, It is okay to be flexible when keeping appointments. I’ve learned that time can be considered more infinite than something finite. Showing up for a nine-o’clock appointment can be flexible. When the K.C. Meadows, the Editor of the paper recently asked me if we could meet around nine-fifteen, I asked, "what does ‘around nine fifteen, mean?’" She laughed and said, "time’s a flow."

What a wonderful thing it is to be reminded especially by someone whose job turns on deadlines that time is a flow. Time is infinite. There’s plenty of it to go around—so chill!