PlazaJen: Passion Knit

If I have learned one thing this past year, it is to ratchet down my expectations, because disappointment, to me, tastes much like campari & soda. Bitter, bitter, bitter. The only problem is, I'm a natural-born cheerleader. (Without the lithe, limber build.) For all the godforsaken baggage my mother piled on me, she also gave me the ability to be resoundingly cheerful in the face of hopeless wreckage. And that approach does not work congruently with expectations so low you trip on them. We need to have hiiiiiiigh hopes, and aspirations! and dreams to dream! Where does that fit with "mediocrity = success"???? It doesn't. It lands you on your ass, wondering how many times more you will fall down & go boom.
Every year, I think about getting a tattoo. Or three. And I'm a pain ninny, so until something hits me as stellar, it's more in the thinking and ideating phase, not "let's call around and see who inks the best". In the past it's always been chinese symbols for things like "strength", "love", "wisdom". This year, I am contemplating a twist. Phrases that represent me, and the core of who I am. I don't know how these translate into Chinese, and with my luck, I'd get some jokester who puts the extra swipe and dot on rendering my wisdom into "I blow monkeys for cheez whiz". In any event, these would be a few of my "main mantras":

LIFE IS NOT FAIR, BUT FAIRNESS IS IMPORTANT.
GRAMMAR IS IMPORTANT.
STRIVE TO SUCCEED.
BE NOT AFRAID.
IF YOU ARE AFRAID, LISTEN TO WHY. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT. IT HOLDS THE KEY.
ALWAYS DO WHAT IS RIGHT.
THINK OF OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR ACTIONS.
SHARE THE BEST OF YOURSELF WITH THOSE YOU LOVE & LOVE YOU BACK.
STRIVE FOR BALANCE.

Now, I don't know if I'd have something about grammar tattooed on me. But if I could pick one of these, "Be not afraid" would be the one. Our society is spiraling faster & faster towards one based entirely in fear. Fear is the most communicable disease in this country. Fear of blacks, hispanics, asians, any-other-color-shape-or-size-than-me people. Fear of gays. Fear of the poor. Fear of the man. Fear for our jobs. Fear of terrorists. Fear of anything and everything that looks, tastes, sounds or smells different, and if it thinks differently, we're paralyzed with fear. Fear of losing power is a big one, HUGE one.
So, while I have to trip over expectations so low they sit on the carpet, and I have to smash down the pom-pom-waving pollyanna inside me, I don't feel fear anymore. I feel nervousness, I feel curiousity, I feel disdain for those who are clutching their secrets & lies & power (or lack thereof), because they really aren't living life to its fullest. Fear-based actions may actually allow you to "succeed", if we define it by money or cars or perceived power, but if all you've done is cling like a barnacle to the right boat, when we inventory at the end of the day? you're just a barnacle. And if I'm going to be afraid of something, it's becoming a barnacle. A complacent barnacle, sucking on the side of a boat. I'd rather be a falling-down trippy cheerleader with a tattoo.