La Pega

In most of the Spanish speaking world, la pega refers to an obstacle, problem or something else equally as encouraging. In Chile, it is most commonly used to refer to your job. The phrase is used with about the same amount of warm and fuzzy sentiment as calling your wife the old lady.

I've been spending a lot of time at work lately, but on my way home today I realized that, despite my exhaustion, my work is not pega. This week, my (extremely long) days have primarily consisted of updating, proof-reading, and editing short biographies of 116 scholarship recipients. Aside from the fact that my eyes hurt and I am just plain tired, I am emotionally spent. 

These students are exceptional in every way possible. They live in exceptionally difficult circumstances with exceptionally low access to education. They are exceptionally intelligent with a drive to succeed that is far beyond exceptional. They accomplish exceptional feats and have exceptionally high hopes for the future of their families, their community, and their country despite all signs indicating otherwise. They are my heroes. 

This is a friendly reminder that work does not have to be pega. I am definitely guilty of forgetting this and focusing on the negative, taxing aspects of my work at times. I love remembering that it's possible to dedicate your career to something that matters; something that you really care about. Quite honestly, I'm not sure that I could do it any other way. It makes all of the work (the pega work) worth while.

Today I am feeling very fortunate for the opportunity to take part in the exceptional lives and accomplishments of these students.

On Chilling Out

A wise man once said, "Perfectionism is likely to be helpful in moderation but increasingly problematic when taken to extremes."

I can't even begin to explain how perfectly this image represents my life. And yes, even in my childhood. I love order; when everything is planned, organized, and in its place. I can think clearly, feel rested, and start enjoying other things.

But sometimes you can't control things. Sometimes they pour out all over you in a cripplingly overwhelming sort of way and there's nothing that you can do about it except spend that last bit of energy not freaking out. Kind of like when you put things on Kitsune.

I get that this sounds simple, but it's such a hard thing to do! I have to imagine it's difficult even for the more laid back souls out there. It might be obvious by now that I'm currently in a struggle of freaking out vs. chilling out and at some point I thought that telling the internet about this problem would help. The moral of the story is that we can only control some things and we can't stress out over the other stuff we can't control. You do the best you can (and trust that it's pretty darn good, seeing that you are a perfectionist after all) and put it away - really away - when you can't anymore.

Kitten Quirks

All pets (and people, for that matter) have funny quirks that make them who they are. One thing that makes Bear and Kitsune so uniquely different is that he's a classic dog through-and-through and she is generally like a cat. She even loves yarn, which we discovered with my recent adventures with crocheting.

My new-found hobby also served as a reminder of one of Kitsune's most amusing idiosyncrasies - if you put anything on her, she is rendered completely powerless and cannot move.

We first learned this when Casey put a rope toy on her back just for kicks. She immediately laid down and stayed put until the crushingly oppressive object was removed. This happens to be one of my practice crochet pieces, which the dogs actually like to play with. Turns out you can crochet dog toys, so that may be in my crafting future (because Lord knows doggie toys are expensive!)

I may have to create some puppy photo projects: 

Things on Kitsune and Sleeping Bear

What We Don't Naturally Do

As uncomfortable as it may be, it's often productive to do the things that don't come naturally to us. That's how we get good at them, right?! No one is inherently good at all of the things they do. Well, maybe Shaun White; but the rest of us need to practice awkward processes before becoming pros.

My recent adventures in crocheting definitely fall in this category. After many online tutorials (and the discovery of Lucille) I finally found a stitch that I can comprehend and reproduce... which unfortunately results in the tightest, curliest piece of "fabric" that I can imagine. Despite my current domestic woes, I have faith that practice makes progress and I will eventually create something soft, snuggly, and pleasant. But cross your fingers for me, just in case!

I started thinking about this topic during my run today, which had me doing exactly the opposite of what my body does on its own. To be honest, I didn't even notice my routine until I tried to do something different. The short of it is: with the help of a friend, I have a new running plan. The goal is to get faster because I'm slow. Today's planned run was simple, 2 miles at an easy pace (believe it or not, slower than I usually run), followed by 3 miles at a faster than usual pace, then one last easy mile.

I already knew that my fastest miles are usually at the beginning and end of a run, but I had no idea how much I slowed down in the middle until I kept track of each mile. I came in a minute faster per mile than I was supposed to in the first two miles but it was still an easy pace so I'm thinking, "I'm so ahead of the game!" Then I thought I picked it up for mile 3. Let me tell you, so. much. slower. Mile 4 was even slower than 3! I was working harder and still going slower.

All of this is to say that I had forgotten how helpful it is to throw a wrench in your own routine, take a look at what happened and then move forward from there. Sometimes it's nice to get un-stuck in your ways.

The Skinny Syndrome

Many people in our country are focused on health, weight, and overall physical image. I think we would all agree that this can be a good thing or a bad thing. I firmly believe that myself and my fellow Americans need to pay more attention to how we treat our bodies and what we put into them. We generally don't take care of ourselves the way we should and we often sell ourselves short when it comes to what we're physically capable of.

On the other hand, many of us are far too obsessed with what that means in terms of clothing size or how gross/weird/strange our [insert obsession here] looks in a dressing room. We are all supposed to be different  in shape, size, and proportion. What we need to be focused on is our health. You might be "fluffier" than you'd like to be, but I think the important measures are whether you are healthy, strong, and can physically sustain (or excel at) both what you need to do and what you like to do.

Much of my time spent studying mass media in college involved the unrealistic physical expectations of women, and unfortunately that is the reality of our situation. However, I thought I knew who to expect this from: fashion magazines, celebrity "news" shows, the usual suspects. Who I did not expect to glorify this image are the "normal people" retailers gearing up for the holiday season. I've even surprised myself with how worked up I've gotten over this kohl's commercial:

A quick scan of Kohl's facebook page tells me that I'm not the only one who's upset. In my opinion, the kudos goes to companies like Marshalls that pull off a commercial (complete with runway theme) that happens to include real women with real body parts: