cabin pressure

In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
-Eric Hoffer

I overspend on a cellphone whose main usage is sending text messages. I sell cellphones as part of my job, although I care very little about silly technological toys that create distractions that I don't desire. I used to write letters and send cards for birthdays and had an extensive Christmas card list. Since I'm working on a play the extent of e-mails I have been writing has increased exponentially. Certain interactions have been reduced to commenting on Facebook. This must be why seeing someone you know out and sharing a dozen words can feel satisfying.

Modern life has become a peculiarly abbreviated matter.

I got an e-mail from my dad yesterday. I can't recall how much I mentioned in the past, but my family has been fractured for some time now. Last Thanksgiving my sister broke up with my parents after a heated argument, although, from one standpoint it just looks like the silent treatment. They both refuse to speak to the other until x, y, or z happen. It's a Mexican stand-off of stubbornness that might well be indicative of the appropriate direction for these relationships, but I am not certain anyone involved has any resolution on the matter. My brother and his family have kept an arm's length from them since the whole turkey day debacle that I was thankfully a thousand miles away for. So many things are heard through hearsay and suspicion. Backhanded motivations and indirect dealings are but two concepts recessively attached to my family's DNA.

My dad sounds very sad and unsettled. He describes a world that he has little handle on. He made a weird Jell-o analogy, but I get the point. Everything he thought he understood is blatantly askew, especially as it has to do with the family. Despite everything that came before, I haven't pushed my parents out of my world as well. I decided some time ago that sometimes it's more a matter of approach. I see the human frailty in them, and it allows for far more eye to eye.

Overall, I am careful to keep poisonous influences out of my life. Once you realize the power is yours to maintain the quantity of unhealthy relationships in your life, Pandora's cute little box is stretched open wide for good. But you've got to pick your battles.