choices

 

Are more choices always a good thing? 

As someone who has a really hard time deciding what to do with her life, I would say no.  I am a very lucky person- I am good at a few things and I have the opportunity to pursue something of my choosing.  Although it is now somewhat common in this country, this opportunity or lot in life is not something to be taken for granted – especially in this Great Recession.

So where does this leave me? 

Well, I feel torn almost every day.  Am I better suited to be my own boss and pursue something crafty full time?    Do I try to save the world and our climate through planning?  Do I try to save the world, our climate, and our built history?  Will working for the man, entrenched in bureaucracy, kill my spirit and frustrate me to no end?  Do I just try to save our built history and hope the rest will follow?  Or do I pursue something crafty (as my own boss) and do it a socially/environmentally conscious matter and become an active citizen to hopefully help my community improve our climate, social equality, and save our built history?

See, too many choices. 

Here I sit, as I have for the past seven months, working towards a Masters and wondering if I will even end up using it when I finish next year.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the knowledge I am gaining and the increasing awareness that it offers.  In no uncertain terms do I feel that furthering one’s education is ever a waste of time or money.  I just wonder, for my family, if I am making the best choices. 

Sorry if I sound whiney, but this looming decision weighs heavy on me.  Anyone else feel this way on a day to day basis?

inversion, you depress me

Have you ever lived or do you currently live in an area that suffers from inversion or sever smog?  I do and it grosses me out. 

We relocated last summer for my grad schooling and it was all dandy… until the winter.  Sportsglutton and I experienced something we had never encountered before.  We had seen a smoggy or red air alert day once in a while, usually during the summer, but we had never seen any air pollution as severe or noticeable as this.

For those who are not familiar, inversion happens when cold air gets trapped under warmer air in a valley setting.  Typically the mountains are colder than the valley, but sometimes the temperatures “invert” and the valley is slightly colder than the mountains. 

Who cares right?  Well, if the cold air is trapped, so is all the pollution emitted by cars, smoke stacks, etc. 

Your days start to look like this:

= Depression.  No blue skies, no crisp white snow, no clean air to breathe, no views clear across the valley.   

I was in a car when I took these pictures because the inversion was lasting for days and we needed to escape to the mountains to breathe in some clean air.   In general though, on a day-to-day basis, I am a mass transit user and we are a one car family (just wanted to put that out there before any commenting backlash begins). 

Get out of your cars people!  This is gross and it is just going to get worse as the population rises! 

I am not trying to sound like some granola nazi, and I completely understand  if a car is your only option, BUT for many of the people where I live, that is not the case. 

Ok, I’m done now.