Al Capp, Shmoos, and Abundance

I recently came across a copy of The Life and Times of the Shmoo, by Al Capp. I had forgotten about these adorable little critters that lived to give. Well, actually died to give, since “When yo’ looks at a shmoo as though yo’d like t’ eat him he dies of sheer happiness.”  The book was published in 1948 and the shmoo became an overnight phenomenon. Here’s a description from PJ-Comix:

It was a lovable bowling pin-shaped whiskered creature. The Shmoo yielded milk, eggs, cheesecake, and just about anything else you might desire. Shmoo meat when roasted was pork, when broiled it was steak, and when fried it was chicken. The eyes of a Shmoo made good suspender buttons and its whiskers made fine toothpicks. The skin when cut thin served as high quality cloth, cut thick it was leather, and cut in strips it became boards for housing.

Well, they became too much of a good thing for society and too much for Al Capp too, so they were killed off by early 1949. Shmoos were brilliant satire, and even Al Capp didn’t have a good resolution to the creation of a society where no one needed anything any more, but revisiting them got me thinking about abundance. And giving. And purpose.

How do I create abundance in ways that benefit others as well? Is that possible? Where does personal responsibility fit into this? Does everyone need to create for themselves? I think maybe the answer is to live from a stance of abundance and appreciation. To offer that as an example and be available to teach those who want to learn.

A colleague points out that none of us should be making choices – read value judgements – for or about anyone else. I agree, although find it hard to do. Still, perhaps it’s possible to live well (no, that doesn’t mean racking up toys), share often, learn and teach, and in that, create wider abundance.

There’s an old joke about a pig, a hen and breakfast – the hen is involved, but the pig is committed. I guess that applies to Shmoos too. And any of us who might think about being Shmoo-like. Give all the milk and eggs you’d like – in this case, I guess that means share what you can, whether financial assistance, service or information. Make your gifts available to those who want them – this means stepping out of the shadows and becoming visible – and leave the rest to the Universe.

Just a little New Year’s Eve ramble.

Stashing Stuff, Getting Things Done and Planning Parties

Well, the painters are gone, the new floors are down and the furniture is assembled. Whew! It looks like I got my beautiful barrister bookcases just in time – Sauder has discontinued this model. It’s all over but the cleanup.

How did I come to still own so many things? After all that throwing out, purging, painful parting, shouldn’t I have space for everything and space to spare? Apparently not. Nine – count them – nine new bookcases and still piles of books on the floor. Kitchen equipment with nowhere to go. Stray chairs.

This weekend will be a mix of organization, baking, Christmas parties and present wrapping. And the tree is finally going up. Having lost the storage space that was part of my old stove, I’ve gained actual counter space – a real blessing in a New York City apartment. Since that space came in the form of a rolling cart, I have storage too! Next decision – what bowls, pots, baking implements do I need to keep but don’t need to access on a regular basis? These will get stashed in the cart. The cart will roll back into it’s space between the stove and the sink (it just exactly fits) until I need something store there or need to get at something in the depths of that undersink space.

Under the sink? Cleaning products, paper goods. Why is this somehow a scary space? It always feels like something is lurking there.

The kitchen is an easy fix. And for the first time in decades the silverware is in an actual silverware drawer. And the knives are in a knife drawer. Don’tcha love organization?

DVD storage units double as shelves for paperbacks. And they fit beautifully in narrow spaces – like the back hall. I see two more in my future. The CDs are all snuggled in wooden units that look like old card catalogue drawers. The linens all fit perfectly in the beautiful 1946 Lane blanket chest. If you’re anywhere near my age, you may remember these as hope chests and may have ogled them endlessly in Brides magazine. Apparently, by the way, Lane was the victim of a hostile takeover in 1987.

How will I get everything stashed? I’ve decided to throw a party! Nothing like a deadline to get you moving! Like so many other things, that last bit of straightening and stashing can get lost in the shuffle of everyday life.

What’s next? A big calendar of all the stashed projects that didn’t get done in 2008. With parties attached to each. And e-vites. My 2009 accountability plan.

The Aftermath of Change

As it turns out, the aftermath of change is messy … very messy. I knew that this was true in a Bridges sort of way, but looking at it in my living room is a decidedly different from teaching change as a concept. 

I suppose that this isn’t really the aftermath but is still the middle – that state of confusion between the old and the new. As I sort out my possessions, I find that I am also sorting out parts of my life. What do I want to keep? What do I want to discard? Perhaps more important, what am I hanging on to that I should NOT be keeping.

Four of my new bookcases are in place and are beautiful. It is my intention to keep no more books than will fit. I’d like to do the same thing with the clutter in my head. Can I bundle up the ideas and fears that no longer serve them and put them out with the recycle?

Do I need a flour sifter? Does sentiment win over good repair? Does the cracked but beautiful bowl stay or go? How many glasses are enough? Where will all the paintings go? Should I give some away? 

Where is the pain point that pushes us past procrastination into action? There’s a clear path in my bedroom (finally) and the whole room will get finished this week because the clutter is addling my brain. What about the internal clutter? Is there a pain point for that too? Something to meditate on …

Three Down – One to Go

Ahhhh … The bathroom is beautiful. The kitchen is magnificent. The living room is … clearly the aftermath of a major storm. Chaos. Cluttered. Uncomfortable. NEXT!

My nine new bookcases need assembly – but not until the walls get painted – so they’re sitting in the middle of the room. Barrister bookcases – they’ll be wonderful. No more constant dusting.

A lovely Heywood Wakefield china cabinet, a dry sink and a butcher block rolling cart will be in the kitchen by mid-week. At last there will be a a place for everything. A new blanket chest that doesn’t occasionally take a swipe at my thigh will also arrive.

It feels good to be at this point in the change process. I can see my vision becoming a reality.

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Change, Chaos and Waiting

The painters have been here for two weeks now and I’m losing my mind. My keys. My shoes. Papers. Bills. You name it – it’s hiding.

My bedroom had been replastered and is now a beautiful pale blue with white trim and a white ceiling. It is also packed with objects that should live in the foyer and back hall and living room. I’m navigating a narrow path that allows access to the top drawers of my (new!!!) bureau, my bed, and, with just a little stretching, the alarm clock. My bed will need a small repair – cracked due to improper moving – that will have to wait until I can actually move around the room.

Bathroom work has taken almost two weeks, partially because of the mess it was, partially because the Super and his brother have other work to do. Their careful, tedious efforts with solvent and razor knives have revealed the original white Subway tiles hidden under ugly navy blue paint. They have added additional tile in the shower, repaired an electrical problem and removed the old floor. And painted. What they have done is lovely.

What’s still to be done is making me insane. I want my sink back!!! Until they retile the floor (Monday, I hope) they can’t install the new sink and vanity. I want my sink back!!! I’m washing in the kitchen sink. Showering in friends’ apartments. I want my sink back!!

Perhaps the living room will get painted next week. Perhaps the kitchen – another huge job, with new sub-floor and floor plus painting – will be done by the week after. Only then can I begin installing the new bookcases and kitchen table and storage units.

Oh, it’s going to be beautiful! Someday.

Meanwhile, chaos in the apartment is spreading to my brain. I need to keep packing things up so the last two rooms can get worked on, but I don’t want to. I need to throw more things out.

Here’s what I want to do – run away from home.

 We decide that we want change in our lives and forget how much work this might be. It takes longer than we want. It involves more hard work than we want. It moves from challenge and fun to slogging and depressing.

Is this true for you? It’s more true for me, right now, than I would like it to be. I’m working hard at not working hard right now. I’m taking great pleasure in the small things that are done. I’m envisioning what it will look like when everything is back in place. And planning a party. And meditating. And turning the process into a series of short games. 

Today, I’m having a party in my head. In December, I’m having one heck of a bash in my apartment!

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow – Part 2

As part of the grand renovation, I’m taking a long look at my possessions and (gasp) throwing things out. If I were better at thinking ahead or more planful, I would have consulted an Amazon or eBay expert months ago. If I had a car, I would be making many, many trips to the library or thrift shops. In the middle of Brooklyn, carless, branch library under construction, no thrift shops nearby, however, I’m simply pitching stuff out.

I have two choices – things my neighbors might use go out near the compacter shaft. Everything else goes out back. I was gratified to hear the sounds of a Mission oak dresser heading to a new home the other day. And the bags of books have been rummaged through. And usable clothing has moved on to some lucky individual in the building. This helps – I like thinking about my old things having a new life. And I don’t like waste, so the less that moves out to the sidewalk trash pick-up, the better.

My biggest decision was to reduce my library by at least 1/3. This has been painful. I treasure my books and almost every one has a story. How can I let them go?

First cut – books I can take to the local used book store and get actual cash and/or books I will give to friends and family. That sort was easy, because it’s an act of sharing. Betsy will love these mysteries. Allison will enjoy these vampire tales that just didn’t work for me. Loretta can make use of these professional books for her work library.

Second cut – old and useless. Some books are just old and not destined to become valuable antiques.  So, two history books that were written before 1900 and are in tatters are now – well, history. Women’s history books go next, except for a few classics. Psychology by unknowns pre-1970 is next. Pre-1990 management books, texts from courses I will never teach again, a German translation (no, I don’t read German) of a book I  have in English, a pile of supper-sappy novels that have absolutely no appeal – all these are easy.

Now we get to the harder stuff. Do I really need a whole shelf of plays from a Modern American Drama course taken in 1966? Will I really come home one evening with a burning desire to read Tiny Alice? OK. No. Out. 

Will I finally read Ulysses? Those biographies of Teddy Roosevelt? Julia Child? How many teach yourself Italian books do I need? Spanish? Will I re-live my Russian Lit. course? I wasn’t all that crazy about Anna Karenina the first time. Oblamov is going. War Tales. Crime and Punishment. Goodbye, all!

Jane Austen gets to stay; much of Steinbeck and Hemingway are going. 

This is hard. I still mourn the loss of a brown corduroy suit I gave away in 1969. But it’s necessary. And important. Streamlining the apartment helps to streamline my thinking. Casting off makes room for new things to come. 

Most of all, this is a great opportunity to look at what’s really important.

What’s important to you?

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow – Part 1

OK. This morning I’m taking a short break from packing things up to begin to chronicle this change. Starting at the top – the part.

Probably you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how or where you part your hair unless you have one of those interesting zig zag parts. Your hair has a natural part and you go along. Or none – and you also go along or create one and stick to it. I’ve been parting my hair in approximately the same place for a good 30 years now. And I’ve rarely given it second thoughts. Until I noticed that the hair along the part line was thinner than elsewhere. So I shifted the part a tad and went to my stylist.

“We’re moving it!” he said definitively. “It might hurt at first, but you’ll get used to it. And see how much better it looks?”

He was right – hair follicles, it turns out, are not unlike the whole human on (in??) which they reside. It hurt. Hair follicles do not like change. And they let you know about it. For at least a week. Ouch!

Next comes re-training – not just the hair, the human controller. It’s a windy day. Your hair has blown into your face. You reach up to brush it aside – IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. You fiddle with your part. You comb your hair in the wrong direction. You now have to relearn your blow drying routine.

In the end, something as seemingly simple as changing your part works exactly the same way as big changes. Who knew? 

All change involves giving us something in order to move to something else. It involves unlearning and relearning. It involves surfacing tacit knowledge – our old routines – and creating something new. It involves being consciously competent for a week or so until you magically become unconsciously competent in the new routine.

Ah, the joy of finally flipping my hair in the (new) right direction!! The bliss of pain-free parting! On to the rest of the change list with renewed confidence.

A Long Tale of Change – the Preview

So, after months of summer playing and general avoidance, Fall hit with a vengeance and I’m thinking that the best way to enjoy chaos is to blog about it! In September, I decided to clean up a lot of old chores and to make a number of changes. And a few unexpected changes landed in my lap. One of the many changes is that I’ve been invited to be a guest expert for Compass and have created a MAP called Make it Happen! that will be featured in January, 2009. It’s all about changes, so it couldn’t be more appropriate. As we move into 2009, I’ll be following my own advice and chronicling it hers, so stay tuned! So – the rest of September – I have wanted to teach coaching courses in a university setting for a while now, and an excited to have been added to the faculty of NYU’s coaching program, where I am currently teaching an independent study course and will teach Foundations of Coaching II in November. I also wanted to help managers understand how to coach and to play with visual thinking as a problem-solving tool, so I’ve added two new programs for NYC managers through Citywide training. And I wanted to spend more time exploring midlife with my peers, so I joined a newly-formed peer group through The Transition Network. And I wanted to learn more about my Buddhist practice, so I joined a Sophia group. Whew!!! So, this wasn’t enough. I decided that it was about time I upgraded my apartment, so I’m having it painted and getting the floors re-done. And just in case this wasn’t enough, Ernest the Magnificent, my hair stylist, decided it was time to move my part to the other side of my head. I think I’ll go lie down now – no – wait – I need to go buy tile and meet my brother, sister-in-law and niece at Penn Station. More soon.

Which Lane Are You In?

 

Fast or Slow?