One night a couple years ago Tom was working the night-shift and so I plopped down on the couch and flicked on the tv. The show, Heroes, appeared and, never having watched it before, I gave it a whole five minutes before I decided:
Heroes is too confusing.
I can't figure out what's going on.
It's kinda boring.
It's probably not worth watching.
So I grabbed the tv remote and changed the channel and, because of my lightning-quick assumptions, never watched Heroes again.
Until a couple weeks ago, that is. As I told you, Tom and I so enjoyed The X-Files that we hated to totally let go of that fantasy genre of tv series when we finished X-Files everything. But I kept thinking, "Man! There just cannot be another series on the Netflix instant view list that we'll love nearly as much as The X-Files or the two Stargate series, either."
After all, everyone knows (and says) they just don't make good tv shows anymore.
And so when Tom suggested we give Heroes a try, I, with great doubt and pessimism, told him, "Ok. Might as well. But (groan) it will probably be stupid. And nowhere near as great as X-Files."
Oh. My. Goodness. Will I never learn to stop making assumptions? (Sometimes I wonder.) I still can't believe this, but I loved Heroes even more than The X-Files, Stargate Atlantis and nearly as much as Stargate SG-1. Wow. What a suspenseful, mind-bending, keep-you-guessing, teach-you-some-things-as-well, fun show.
And throughout each season of Heroes I kept lecturing myself about how I should never, ever make snap judgments. I promised I would never again assume anything about anything, including people or what they do.
Then yesterday as the Heroes series finale show faded from the screen I thought, with sadness, "It's over! It's all over. And Tom and I can't possibly find another such awesome Netflix show to replace it."
Good grief.
Looks like another New Year's resolution is going on the ol' list: "Ask God to, whatever it takes, free you from the bondage of negative assumptions."
Wow, wouldn't it be awesome to be freed from those?!
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Disclaimer: Let me add, though, that I had to close my eyes through lots of the violence on Heroes. There wasn't much 'language' and almost no sex. If you can't handle violence, even with your eyes closed, then you probably won't like Heroes. (But of course, I could just be making another assumption! ...heh...)
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How much larger could my life have been if I'd not always assumed, "I can't do that. I wouldn't like her. I'm not meant to go there."?
So here I am inside this 1880's farmhouse way out in the silent countryside.
And yet I'm sorta in France, too.
Let me explain.
See, we live quite close to Canada and my 1930's replica radio on top of the refrigerator picks up a couple French stations from Toronto, even more clearly than the Buffalo classical station.
Listening to French radio stations is great fun for this gal who took 2 1/2 years of French in Jr. High and High School. Of course, those years were an awful long time ago and I've forgotten much.
In fact, I listen to the radio announcers and I tell them, "Slow down so I can pick up a few words!" And I keep hoping they'll say classic things like, "Le crayon est sur la table," (The pencil is on the table).
I'm still waiting to hear that sentence. ツ
But mostly this is what it sounds like to me, who only understands the occasional vocabulary word, when two announcers converse:
"JibberishJibberish three Jibberish Monday JibberishJibberish I am JibberishJibberish hahahahaha." (I love it when the dj's chuckle and I have no idea why they're laughing.)
Anyway, this one French station went on my Miracles And Assorted Blessings List which I began keeping as a sort of encouragement after Tom got laid-off. This station is awesome!
French music from the 1960's and 70's, especially. We're talking folk music and the classic stuff with a Frenchman singing (moaning?) as though he's in physical pain from losing his lover. And the type of music you've heard in every campy, odd movie filmed in France as well as the awesome songs you hear in the end movie credits, waiting till the very last to discover who's singing.
Mysterious-sounding songs just perfect for a Saturday afternoon and happy-sounding, skip-around-the-park-why-don'tcha? stuff. It's all there--the music types I love best.
Wow, another gift from God just when I needed it. A way to stretch me and add bits of culture and joy to these wintry, snow-across-our-lawn days. A whole radio station which feels as though it was custom-made, something to keep me company and smiling while I cook all those extra meals in our kitchen on these days when much has changed.
God is so good, God is so good. God is so good, He's so good to me.
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Want to listen to my station online while you surf the Net? Go here (click on Listen in the little green box). (That's the parent company, though my station sometimes does extra bits of news, etc.) Oh, and some times of day the music is better than others. They even played Norah Jones yesterday (a rare song in English!). I like her.
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I really want to thank each of you who left comments after my post yesterday. I greatly appreciated each one and I thank you for pausing in your day to say such sweet things.
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Are you on Facebook? And are you interested in learning to speak French? You can sign-up here to have a new French vocabulary word sent to you each day. My friend, Donna, has that and so her new-word-a-day shows up on my homepage, enabling me to brush-up on my French vocabulary. Awesome!
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I'm thinking if you are a blogger, you are a brave person.
Think about it. Bloggers share some deep feelings. They tell us how Life appears to them and how they feel about their favorite (or not-so-favorite) people, places, books, movies, design, foods. They often share what used to be just private thoughts, ideas, fears and beliefs which once remained locked-up. They describe their relationships and their days which, ultimately, paints a Life. They're sharing what makes them, well, them.
That's all pretty huge. And I, for one, know that sometimes typing your thoughts into a blog can feel like stepping out onto a frozen lake which you're not certain is frozen enough to hold your weight, meaning, you just might sink into some pretty icy depths.
I know, since I used to be a very private person, mostly because too often my hand was bitten (figuratively) when I extended it to people who I'd thought could handle my differences and odd ways of thinking.
And of course, that hurts. And at times I've been hurt in this blog, too, like (just one example) the time one of you asked, "Why are you such a people hater?"
Gracious! (And the wild thing was that my post was about extending love toward others who can't extend it toward you.) And well, I didn't publish that comment (there was more to it) because it was all just so ludicrous. So over-the-top accusatory.
Besides, it's my blog and I can delete comments if I want to. So can you.
Thankfully, I don't receive many of those comments, just a sprinkling. And yet in the six years I've been writing here I've noticed that God heals me more quickly from those kinds of cruel remarks. He also quickly reminds me of the reason He called me to blog--to help others find the peace He's worked into me through many years and many trials and errors and adventures.
And helping others, dear friends, way more than makes up for any snide remarks along the path.
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~ A blog is merely a tool that lets you do anything from change the world to share your shopping list. ~ ... Unknown
~ Your blog is your unedited version of yourself. ~ ... Lorell
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Oh well, those 40 and 50 degree days were lovely while they lasted...
