Love in the Age of World Domination

The Catholic Happy Hour

Its been many a moon since  I have been to a Happy Hour, and a couple of years since I've seen the inside of a bar.  Thus, ironic that my foray last week into that familiar old haunt should be for a catholic young adults event. By the way what is up with catholics and drinking? Not a good combination.

How did I find myself at a Catholic YA event - well a girlfriend invited me along and I thought why not - a nice quiet evening. My first surprise was walking into a loud jam packed bar full of young city professionals in work clothes. The young Catholic contingent in DC is very active/ powerful, and lots of young men and women frequent these socials and mixers to find like-minded people and even partners (now why didn't I think of that!)

I was also reminded (again) that some segments of this group are extremely articulate, opinionated, and not shy to tell you what they think. Which went something like this:

1) If you don't believe in Jesus Christ you'll go to Hell
2) Catholics are the closest to God; and the Church is infallible
3) We must lead by example, show the right path to those led astray by bad influences, and convert all these poor souls who are misguided into paragons of virtue like ourselves.   

Like. Wow. That was kind of awesome, just in its sheer lack of humility.

I had no idea that I was supposed to save people from themselves. I have been reading Mass for like 3 years now and I do it because its service work, which helps me. It never occurred to me that I do it to lead by example and influence family and friends to do the same. Hell - I rarely know whats right for me, let alone for anyone else. I would hope that people would find spiritual paths that suits their own interests and needs.

But you know what really makes me sad? I love going to church (often when its empty;), and I love some of the prayers and rituals, and readings. But I am finding it increasingly difficult to be around certain segments  of organized religion that are judgmental, intolerant, and anything but spiritual.

I guess all religions have good and bad, and there are ultra-conservative elements in society every where. What happened yesterday is just another data point supporting something I have felt since the age of 4 - religious people seem far more concerned with influencing the behavior of other people than focusing on their own spiritual growth and relationship with God...  weird because one can obtain much comfort from the latter while the former only leads to frustration.

OK, I know. I can be judgmental too! I need to work on that. And I am. Meanwhile, I just feel sad, when I read things like this Very Poignant Letter.

The Oddysey Years

"The Odyssey Generation are people in their thirties who are restless both personally and professionally. They are unsettled in their careers, and they are unmarried".

These articles are pretty interesting. Here I am in my early thirties, with a job I like, my own home, and savings for a rainy day. I have best friends who are like family, family who are like best friends, and a life that is thoroughly rooted in the 21st century. I have my banker, therapist, personal trainer, agent, and mortgage lender on speed dial. Not restless but it is true that...

I don't have a marriage, kids, or a sense of being settled in an assured stable partnership. Now am sitting here thinking - OMG! that is odd. What happened?! Then I think, wait but thats everyone's story. I can't tell you how many men and women I know here in Washington DC - some mere acquiescences, some good friends - who are in the same position, and kind of collectively incredulous as to how we all got here...  and how its actually a pretty damn good place to be in, despite it being very different to what we may have imagined in our twenties.

And I am not sure that we are wondering about 'lost', not sure of ourselves, as the article implies.  In fact some of these people have probably never been more self-assured, or more content. Our generation - we are smart on what the odds are for marriage  - ie. HALF of them end in divorce - and we want to be very very  certain. Society and religion are simply not putting the pressures they used to on keeping unions together. And it really doesn't matter anymore whether you are in Sri Lanka or Switzerland - the decline of the institution of marriage holds true everywhere. 

Now, I am totally not saying this is a good (or bad) thing. Who knows. I am not God. I am simply commenting here on a situation that a whole generation of young people are finding themselves in. Those of us who do not really trust the wisdom of things handed down to us kinda wanna take the time to figure things out for ourselves. The word ‘odyssey’ captures that sense of exploration, journey, quest.

For many that means world travel, adventure, wonderlust, a kick-ass career. But for me - seriously I just want more information damn it! More data points that it will work out. Like I don't want to settle down, find a suitable mate, and reproduce my incredible genetic code? Hell yeah! But I am not stupid, and I know that this is a very tall order. Better to take the requisite time to get it right.

Also, of course we are an entitled generation - educated, well heeled, and well-informed. We don't need to just tick the box and procreate. We want to marry someone we love/like, someone who is a companion and with whom we can enjoy movie night and Sunday brunch (and trekking in the Himalayas for those of us so inclined ), and above all, form a relationship that will last.

Nobel: Big Win for Climate

You Go Goracle!

Although I really don't get why this is a peace prize per se.

Anyway, this bright and sunny morning in Washington DC, we are thrilled. Hopefully this will allow the climate debate in the US to move past "lets make more ethanol" and on to a more serious platform of technology improvements, carbon caps, expanded R&D programs, and maybe even carbon taxes (ok maybe not).

WRI's Climate Director (and one of my bosses) Jonathan Pershing was one of the lead authors for the most recent IPCC report, and has been a participant in all four of the IPCC reports since 1990. So we are doubly thrilled!

In its formal citation, the Nobel committee called Mr. Gore “probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted.” If not for the incredible levels of public awareness raised by Gore, his film, and now this - we would not be here today.

But parallel to the publicity, and equally important, is the science. And the awesome analysis of the IPCC -  2000 of the world's top climate scientists - have made some major inroads in creating some kind of global consensus around man-made global warming (well except for Bush and Enron).

You still think climate change is a hoax? Ok, now, thats just crazy talk.

All I Need to Know I learnt in Kindergarten

Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school. These are the things I learned.

Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup - they all die. So do we.

And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and sane living. Think of what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world had cookies and milk about 3 o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

From the book by Robert Fulgham

These words made my week. Seriously, like the whole nap thing - I could have written that! I immediately looked for a poster of this and bought it for my wall.

Good Habits for the Last Quarter

Its October 1 today, which means we are now officially in the last quarter of 2007. How quickly we got here.

So I've been doing a bit of naval gazing (people who write blogs tend to do a lot of that) and have come up with a list of 'good habits' I want to focus on for the rest of this year. They are based on a bunch of great tips  I found over at Zen Habits.

1) Simplify my life. I’ve greatly simplified my life this year. I have consolidated my finances, paid off all my grad school debt, got rid of old furniture, and old clothes. I have less 'stuff' in my home, and less accounts and paperwork to manage across two continents. But I still need to set up a filing cabinet and efficient systems for laundry, mail, dry cleaning, house cleaning, and random administration.

2) Manage information overload and communications. I really need to figure out how to simplify communications with friends and family, and not swing from extreme to extreme. I either go AWOL and don't reply to anything for days, OR go crazy and spend 12 hours straight interacting on email, facebook, blog, skype, and MSN. I really don't know how to do the in-between - responding briefly in a timely manner, handling 'paper' only once etc. 

3) Plan 3 most important tasks for day and week. I love making To-Do Lists as much as I hate doing whats on them. Items such as 'dental check-up' languish on there for months. And I have this annoying natural inclination to do the least priority, least important thing first. Like, if my list today is - do expense claims worth thousands of dollars, pay an important bill, and update photos on flickr - guess which one I will do first and spend 3 hours on? Yes, that would be flickr hands down. This quarter I am going to force myself to limit it to 3 important tasks for the day, and aim to get those done first. Its the 80-20 rule. You get 80% of the value from 20% of the tasks. Focus on these. The rest is just icing on the cake.

4) Change my evening routine. An evening routine is supposed to be a good way to wind down from a long day, prepare for your next day so the morning isn’t so hectic. My evening routine involves anything but winding down. Armed with several cups of coffee/tea and a critical amount of sugar (in the shape of chocolate or ice cream), I get ready for a good 2-3 hours of hyper-activity on FB, blogs, email, YouTube,and 5 simultaneous conversations on skype and MSN. I really really want my evening routine to be a hot shower, a cup of chamomile tea, and sleep by midnight.

5) Change my morning routine. If there is one thing worse than my evening routine it is my 'morning routine'. In fact to dignify the train wreck that is my morning by calling it a routine might be too much. Morning people, early risers say exercise or meditation or quiet contemplation is a great way to greet the day. I hate these people. My morning 'routine' essentially involves me jumping out of bed at 9am and rushing half dressed to the metro. On the metro, between the 7 stops from Cleveland Park to Union Station, I put on some makeup, perhaps a par of earring if there is one to be found at the bottom of my handbag.  This quarter I will aim to get ready at home instead of on public transportation, and perhaps even have a banana before I leave the  house.

6) Exercise. Oh dear Lord, what I wouldn't give to be one of those people who is addicted to exercise. Who say things like "I love/need to workout, otherwise I am unhappy".  I know it to be true through direct experience that when I exercise, even for 20 minutes, I feel better, I drink water, eat well, sleep well, and have more energy. But getting there is like 90% of the battle, and it is one that I lose regularly. This quarter I want to go to the gym for just a half hour every other day, which is really not that much to ask.    

7) Be frugal. Now that I have a mortgage, and actually pay taxes (argh I miss the World Bank), I probably should not be having my twice daily starbucks tall skim latte, because at $7 a day that adds up to $2500 a year! Luckily I am not an impulse buyer or a big spender in any way, but I do spend with abandon on convenience items - cabs, lunch, snacks, magazines, books etc.