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Sunday, January 12, 2014

"Search"


I can't find the battery charger for my camera.  I've searched all over my house and my office at work multiple times without success.  I'd like to blame someone else for this, or blame my recent housekeeping activities, but deep in the back of my mind I know I put it someplace "safe".  It's probably behind the butter in the refrigerator or someplace equally stupid.

The missing charger has become something of a Holy Grail for me.  I pop out of bed in the middle of the night when I think of some other place it could possibly be hiding.  I've been reading The Once and Future King by T. H. White because my brother insisted that it's a necessary part of my literary education, and I feel just as idiotic as King Pellinore searching for his beast.

Sometime after I give up and get a new charger I'm sure I'll find the missing gizmo.  It's the law of the universe.  It's right up there with finding a boy/girlfriend when you've given up looking -- when the universe might laugh at you by providing 2 likely candidates, which confuses things so much that you call Bill Mike or vice versa and both prospects disappear leaving you wishing for a partner -- but you can't find one (or 2) until you languish a while and eventually give up again.

The thing is, we're all searching for something all the time.  We always seem to want something we don't have.  It can be a job, romance, fulfillment... Whatever it is that we don't have, we want to go up a step on Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  Once we get something we thought we wanted, it doesn't matter any more.  Now we need ______.  It's a fatal flaw in the human condition.

I wanted a job when I didn't have one, now I want some peace and quiet and time off, especially after working another solid weekend and my laundry for tomorrow still isn't done.  Why is it always all or nothing?  My phone can sit quiet so long that I wonder why I pay the monthly bill, and then 3 people call at the same time.

I had lunch with someone recently who's upset she got passed over for a promotion.  Her BF says she ought to be happy with her current job, and after listening to the details, I think I agree.  She makes close to what I earn with a lot fewer headaches and a whole lot more benefits -- which makes me wonder if I should find a different job, which all goes back to the original premise -- we're never happy enough with what we've got that it stops us from searching for more.  I suppose it's why my ancestors left Europe and following generations decided to walk over mountains with all their stuff.  Something better simply had to be beyond the next hill.

 
I'm working on feeling happy with wherever I am and with whatever I've got, but if anyone finds my battery charger, I'm sure I could be even happier yet!

8 comments:

  1. Linda, I'm like you a perfect squirrel. I store away stuff so cleverly, I have a hard time finding things back. Your acorn is a re-charger; mine is a USB stick. I expect to find it back when we move house again. Sometimes I come across maps with neatly stored papers and I think 'Wow!'

    How do you like The Once and Future King? I l-o-v-e-d reading it. That book I can find easily; it is on my bookshelves, in all house I've lived in.

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  2. I've decided it's an age thing Linda..and yes you have probably put it in the safe place you can no longer remember...I do it all the time. The thing to do is to stop looking/thinking and it often jumps right out! I hope this year brings you more contentment and peace that the last one xx

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  3. Brilliant post, dear Linda…I like everything about it! The ability to take everyday--human frailties, hassles and problems alike--and turn them into words that Everyman can find herself in is a ruby beyond price, and you have that ability in spades.

    I'm wondering…does anyone else bounce around this Self-Actualization Pyramid, one day feeling they've finally got one step, the next it's miles away again. Sigh. Your point exactly about endless searching? The whole 'pyramid' idea must be the problem. "Comparison is an odious thing," said Ursala Le Guin, I think. Even when it's only comparison to an Ideal Me. Thanks once again for a great post!

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  4. Victory! The battery charger was in an accordion folder of work stuff that I'd completely forgotten about in plain sight. It was the equivalent of hiding it behind the butter. I am enjoying the Once and Future King, but mostly enjoy my brother's amusement of it. That book must be the source of a lot of Monty Python skits.

    I don't think I can live up to the comparison of the Ideal Me, Susan. She's waaay better than I've managed to accomplish!

    Thanks for the comments everybody!

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  5. This post goes directly to the heart of being human. It touches a very profound subject. Happiness. And why whatever we have achieved that we once dreamed about doesn't bring that happy feeling we expected. Particularly material things never works. As soon as we get something we have wanted for a long time, we want something better, different or bigger. Happiness is simply not found there. It's in all those free moments of friendship, love, care and daily wonders like the blossom of a cherry tree. It's in the being able to live here and now and appreciate here and now. Of course I say this craving more stuff, too, and searching for something like everybody. But nevertheless I believe in what I just wrote. Besides you are completely right. Stop looking for the d... battery charger. And before you know it, it's going to pop up right in your eyes. Good luck! And may you have a great 2014.

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  6. Another thoughtful post, Linda! I know your pain about the battery charger. I once hid a gemstone bracelet in a "safe place." Took me 2 years to find it!!! (Which was good, because I wasn't buying a replacement!!!)

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  7. Oh my goodness, how frustrating! I am so glad to see your update that you found it. Hooray!

    I totally agree we all long for things we don't have. And things given to us are not as valued as if we had achieved or earned those things ourselves. But if you are aware that the brain does these things, and think about them, you're totally ahead of the game. You can stop yourself, sometimes, and move your brain to a more useful and positive space. Or try, anyway. :)

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  8. At least my battery charger would've been less expensive than a gemstone bracelet! But all's well that ends well since both of us found what we were looking for eventually Mit. Now if we could all stop looking for more stuff that we think will make us happier but probably won't, and appreciate all the good that's around us right this minute. Thanks everybody!

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