When you are discouraged...

“I think, in a way, these are testing times. Perspective seems important to me - taking note of things I am grateful for, lucky to have, and there are many of those. Troubles remind me of what is important, of what I have, of what others have suffered through.” – Jon Katz, from his bedlamfarm.com blog

I’ve been down in the dumps a bit lately. Between all the bad news in the world, the subsequent tightening of the purse straps (not fun AT ALL), and a general malaise surrounding my career and the fact that it is, fundamentally, a great job, I’m just not so inspired after 10 years of designing roads, Good News has felt few and far between. Last night, Ryan and I talked about the need to just ‘snap out of it’ and try and be more positive in general. We vowed to complain a little less, have more fun, and try not to feed off of each other’s (and other folks') stress and negativity quite so much. That’s an easy cycle to get into and a difficult one to break. But somehow, just talking it out last night helped.

Then I read the above quote and it kind of slapped the perspective back into me. “Get it together, dummy,” is what it said. We have a great life and we love each other, we have endlessly entertaining animals, (mostly) good jobs, a comfy, cozy home, good health, and good friends here in Baltimore and supportive families. Now, especially, in this time of turmoil and uncertainty, we should Count Our Blessings, name them one by one. Sometimes consciously tallying the good things in life is just the boost needed. Also, new shoes. They help too. Grey motorcycle boots from England, on sale. Can't wait.

So no, this is not an animal-centric blog, today, just something I needed to get off my chest.


Here's the animal in its natural habitat:


Rusty wants you to vote for Obama. Oh, and feed him.