I went to Inniswoods Metro Park earlier this week. As I was walking around, I found a section I had never been to before. It was marked with an archway that led into a garden area. Said garden with marked with a stone path. Now lots of gardens have stone walkways, but there was something special about this one. Upon closer inspection, you realized that certain pavers has words carved into them and if you followed the numbers on the pavers, they told a story. As I stood and looked at this little garden, I realized what a great representation of life it was.
They say when we are born, we are given a certain number of days to live. Now we do not know how long or short that time is, but each day is one more stone in the path of our story. As we walk along, we continue to write more and more of our life's narration. And just like the garden path, sometimes we think we are on the correct path, only to find ourselves at a dead end, so we have to turn around, and start down a new path. Some would say the previous path was a mistake, but I am a firm believer that every "mistake" is not really that but in fact a lesson to be learned from. After all, do you think Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, or Henry Ford always got it right on the first try? Every twist and turn makes us who we are. Every triumph, every tumble, every high, and every low adds to the beauty of our own personal story. Yes, sometimes our stones get cracked, our path can become uneven, but sometimes the most beautiful gardens are the ones reflect the chaos of nature.
So what does the maze of your own personal garden path say? Mine shows many twists, turns, starts, and stops I never imagined it would and I am still laying it out so who knows what the future holds. But as much as I enjoyed reading the story on that little garden path in Inniswoods, I plan on enjoying writing mine even more.
-Buffy
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Life Lessons from the Clothing Rack
For those who do not know, I work in Retail Sales. I am the Asst. Manager at a women's clothing store. Scary, I know. Believe me, there are many days when I just want to lock the doors and hide behind the counter. But I have to say there are also lessons to be learned in watching how people shop. How so, you ask? Let me explain.
There are those customers who come in knowing exactly what they want. There is no discussion. No venturing off the path. No being tempted by the new stock. I admire these people. They know what they want. I wish I were more like those single-minded people who know their goals and stick with them. I am not often like that. I tend to be all gung ho at the start of something, but then it tends to lose my attention fairly quickly. I am VERY often distracted by the shiny and new. I am much like that dog in the movie Up - "I love you. I love you. I love you . . . Squirrel." I bounce from hobby to hobby never really staying with one thing for too long. I can even be this way with people. I am working on being more mindful of how I spend my time, but I still have a long way to go.
Next you have those who are "just looking". They come in with nothing particular in mind they want. Maybe boredom brought them in. Maybe they saw a sale sign. Maybe it was plain and simple curiosity. For them, life is adventure. They never know what treasures they might discover. Now, I do have a bit of this trait in me. I feel life is an adventure and we need to be open to the journey. I love going into new little shops and exploring new places. There is a line from the TV show CSI which fits this type of person - "You never know if the next thing you find might be the very thing that changes your life." Another line which fits is from one of my favorite movies Auntie Mame - "Life is a banquet and most poor fools are starving to death." So, go out and eat from the banquet of life. You never know what delicacy is around the next corner.
Then you have the really needy customers. The ones who cannot make a decision on their own to save their lives. From this customer you will hear things like: "Are you sure this looks okay?" (This question is asked about 15 times - in a row.) "Are you sure you don't have this in such and such size?" (This is after you have already told them 19 times that all the sizes are out and you keep nothing in the back room.) "What was the price again?" (This after you have looked it up on the computer, written down the price, created and performed a musical entitled - The Price and the Pauper, hired a skywriter to write it across the sky, and shown them a DVD of the making of the price which also includes the bonus feature of the trailer for the movie version of your musical.) They will have you running from rack to rack all the while demanding new sizes and draining the very marrow from your bones and the life blood from your body. Then, when the feel you have nothing left to give, they will leave empty handed, but with an explosion of clothing all over the dressing room floor that will take you two hours to put back on the racks. We all have people like this in our lives. And sadly, I must admit, I have been this person. I used to demand those around me fill all the voids in my life, to jump to my every whim, to be everything I needed them to be. But no one person can be everything to us. No matter how hard they try, they will eventually let us down, even if they do not want to. Sometimes we need to learn to be our own best cheerleader. I am not saying we should isolate ourselves. Going too far the other way is just as harmful. No person is an island. I am saying we need to learn balance. We need to learn to stand on our own to feet, but also be willing to reach out to grab some support when we feel ourselves start to fall.
So what are the lessons in all of this? Set goals and be diligent in pursuing them. Learn to be adventurous. Learn how to be flexible, being neither too demanding nor too stubbornly independent. If you need help, don't be afraid to ask for it. Know that fit is more important than a number on a tag. (Sorry, hazard of using retail as a topic. Consider it a freebie). Basically, live, love, and learn. You never know that you might end up leaving the store with if you do.
-Buffy
There are those customers who come in knowing exactly what they want. There is no discussion. No venturing off the path. No being tempted by the new stock. I admire these people. They know what they want. I wish I were more like those single-minded people who know their goals and stick with them. I am not often like that. I tend to be all gung ho at the start of something, but then it tends to lose my attention fairly quickly. I am VERY often distracted by the shiny and new. I am much like that dog in the movie Up - "I love you. I love you. I love you . . . Squirrel." I bounce from hobby to hobby never really staying with one thing for too long. I can even be this way with people. I am working on being more mindful of how I spend my time, but I still have a long way to go.
Next you have those who are "just looking". They come in with nothing particular in mind they want. Maybe boredom brought them in. Maybe they saw a sale sign. Maybe it was plain and simple curiosity. For them, life is adventure. They never know what treasures they might discover. Now, I do have a bit of this trait in me. I feel life is an adventure and we need to be open to the journey. I love going into new little shops and exploring new places. There is a line from the TV show CSI which fits this type of person - "You never know if the next thing you find might be the very thing that changes your life." Another line which fits is from one of my favorite movies Auntie Mame - "Life is a banquet and most poor fools are starving to death." So, go out and eat from the banquet of life. You never know what delicacy is around the next corner.
Then you have the really needy customers. The ones who cannot make a decision on their own to save their lives. From this customer you will hear things like: "Are you sure this looks okay?" (This question is asked about 15 times - in a row.) "Are you sure you don't have this in such and such size?" (This is after you have already told them 19 times that all the sizes are out and you keep nothing in the back room.) "What was the price again?" (This after you have looked it up on the computer, written down the price, created and performed a musical entitled - The Price and the Pauper, hired a skywriter to write it across the sky, and shown them a DVD of the making of the price which also includes the bonus feature of the trailer for the movie version of your musical.) They will have you running from rack to rack all the while demanding new sizes and draining the very marrow from your bones and the life blood from your body. Then, when the feel you have nothing left to give, they will leave empty handed, but with an explosion of clothing all over the dressing room floor that will take you two hours to put back on the racks. We all have people like this in our lives. And sadly, I must admit, I have been this person. I used to demand those around me fill all the voids in my life, to jump to my every whim, to be everything I needed them to be. But no one person can be everything to us. No matter how hard they try, they will eventually let us down, even if they do not want to. Sometimes we need to learn to be our own best cheerleader. I am not saying we should isolate ourselves. Going too far the other way is just as harmful. No person is an island. I am saying we need to learn balance. We need to learn to stand on our own to feet, but also be willing to reach out to grab some support when we feel ourselves start to fall.
So what are the lessons in all of this? Set goals and be diligent in pursuing them. Learn to be adventurous. Learn how to be flexible, being neither too demanding nor too stubbornly independent. If you need help, don't be afraid to ask for it. Know that fit is more important than a number on a tag. (Sorry, hazard of using retail as a topic. Consider it a freebie). Basically, live, love, and learn. You never know that you might end up leaving the store with if you do.
-Buffy
Saturday, March 5, 2011
A Rose by Any Other Name
Hey all. Let's get things started with the question I know is on everyone's mind. Yes Buffy is my real name. No is is not short for anything. No I am NOT named for the Vampire Slayer.
Growing up I hated my name. Imagine being a Buffy in a sea of Shannons, Amys, and Tracys. Maybe that is why, to this day, I hate standing out. I am much more content to just hang back and blend in. Yet, despite this trait, I was also blessed with a pretty well-defined sense of humor. Maybe it was God's way of leveling the score. "I shall give thee a strange name that everyone will not believe is your real name, but I shall also giveth thee a twisted sense of humor. Enjoy, my child"
What's worse is that I in no way, shape, or form resemble someone who should be named Buffy. I lack the long, blond hair and the cheerleader build. I do not have a trust fund or have any friends named Muffy or Biff. I cannot bring down vampires with just a swift kick and a smile. Man, I was SO jipped.
But despite all of my complaining I cannot imagine being named anything else, though that is another question I am often asked. I cannot picture myself as one of those named Shannon, Amy, or Tracy. (No offense to anyone named that.) I guess over the years I have come to identify myself as my name and to think of myself with a different moniker would just seem wrong. I am Buffy, just not the one who slays vampires. Sorry, she lives in Sunnydale.
-The other Buffy
Growing up I hated my name. Imagine being a Buffy in a sea of Shannons, Amys, and Tracys. Maybe that is why, to this day, I hate standing out. I am much more content to just hang back and blend in. Yet, despite this trait, I was also blessed with a pretty well-defined sense of humor. Maybe it was God's way of leveling the score. "I shall give thee a strange name that everyone will not believe is your real name, but I shall also giveth thee a twisted sense of humor. Enjoy, my child"
What's worse is that I in no way, shape, or form resemble someone who should be named Buffy. I lack the long, blond hair and the cheerleader build. I do not have a trust fund or have any friends named Muffy or Biff. I cannot bring down vampires with just a swift kick and a smile. Man, I was SO jipped.
But despite all of my complaining I cannot imagine being named anything else, though that is another question I am often asked. I cannot picture myself as one of those named Shannon, Amy, or Tracy. (No offense to anyone named that.) I guess over the years I have come to identify myself as my name and to think of myself with a different moniker would just seem wrong. I am Buffy, just not the one who slays vampires. Sorry, she lives in Sunnydale.
-The other Buffy
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