temporary

I just realised I didn't actually post something I thought I had earlier, so I clikced 'post' now, but I didn't change when it was written, so there is a 'new' post, but it's not here at the top --see Jan 25th.

True Love

The mark of a true friend, it seems to me, is that you don't have to do anything special to have a good time, you don't have to say everything clearly to be understood, it doesn't have to be important to be worth listening to or caring about. A true friend is someone who holds that smallest part of you in their hands gently, who understands and cares about the little things in your life, not just the things worth 'writing home' about, not just the things that affect them. When they can listen to your deepest ponderings and your pointless prattlings, you know they must truely love you.

God loves each of us so much, but do we remember that in the mundane moments? Do we have a good time with Him in those every day moments, when nothing special's happening. Do we chat with Him anyway, when there's no important requests, when we're not overwhelmed with joy? And when we get frustrated by little things, or bogged down with boring details, do we remember that He cares about all those little things too, that He understands our wierd moods, and doesn't mind our sillly ramblings. He thinks we're cute, and precious, and holds that little heart of ours in His hands so lovingly. He won't stay mad at us long when we mess up, and though He's as powerfull as the crashing waves, He also whispers softly in our ears. He whisperes it all the time, 'I love you.' Do we remember to keep whispering back 'I love you too.' I think just remembering He's always there and giving Him all our little thoughts and cares makes Him happy, happy to keep holding our hands, and keep listening, and keep reminding us that He doesn't ever tune us out to take care of more important matters.

I've found that when I remember to stop and pray about all the little things, the things that don't really matter in the long run, He always blesses me with little reminders that He really is there, listening, that my life really matters to Him. And when I remember to just stop and smile up at Him when I'm happy, to say 'thanks' and 'You're so wonderfull' whenever I see something beautifull, or have a really good thought, or things are going well, or something small but nice happens, then I am filled with the sensation of His smile on me. When I remember that all these little blessings are His gifts, then I know He loves me.

further ruminations on morningness and nightness

I have observed that most morning people seem to be 'practical' types, and also somewhat conformists in the sense that they value established ways of doing things (or established uses for things. -An example of what I mean here is someone never dreaming of using a scarf for anything but a scarf simply because it was called a scarf at the store and therefore has been categorized in their mind as 'something to go around the neck for warmth' as opposed to simply 'a long piece of cloth'). What I wonder is whether there is something deeper within which links waking up with the sun (or feeling particularly energetic directly after waking up) and liking to follow instructions on the 'proper' way of doing things rather than making things up as you go along, or if this preference of morning is simply a product of the preference for established ways in light of the long accepted saying 'The early bird get's the worm' or the generally respected (even if resented) idea that getting up early in the morning means that you are not lazy (and conversely that sleeping later in the day implies laziness or some kind of lack of worth and tendancy toward wonton behaviour).

What I also find perplexing is how easily these practical people miss their own inconsistancy when refusing to cooperate with 'night people.' (Perhaps a penchant for believing oneself to (almost) always be in posession of absolute truth on matters is also somehow linked with the morning and conforming traits?) A morning person, when they have reached their limit energy-wise, will simply tell you they are going to stop whatever it is you may be doing together and go to bed - in fact they will usually say they 'have' to go to bed. And they would think it ludicrous and insensitive of someone to insist that they stay up a moment longer, and feel just in refusing to do so. Yet, when a night person tells them that they simply cannot get up at this time, that they have to sleep a little longer, they won't stand for it, and frequently launch into disparaging their character and habits, and continue to pester or even assualt them untill they are forced to get up in spite of their disinclination, or lack of the required abilities, to do so. (It would seem morning people have no qualms about dragging dead weights along with them, even though they will complain about it, blaming, of course, the dead weight and not their choice to bring it. It should be noted here that in contrast, while a night person may greately desire to keep a morning person up, and may plead, or devise ways of keeping them awake, once the statment of 'bed, now' has been made it seems they are usually willing to dismiss their 'party-pooping' presence - rather than dragging along a limp body).

On the other hand it is common for 'creative' types to be night people. I suppose perhaps that creativity is neccessarily more open ended, as it requires searching for the end of something (whether it be a piece of art, or the conclusion of a theory/experiment), seeing possibilities, and turning one thing into something else, as opposed to working methodically toward and already established ending point with already establlished tools or methods. And perhaps it is this open-ended nature that allows them to continue on indefinately in either one state or another (whether action or sleep) - thus they keep late hours (caught up in the exhilaration of inspiration) and then sleep long the next day after the work of the night before is done, or they drop with exhaustion. Morning people, then, in contrast, work all day toward the ending point of 'bed time' which is already relatively established in their minds, and then also, in a sense, sleep toward the goal of waking up, also at a relatively pre-established time in their mind. This also may tie in with 'time-oriented-ness' to some degree in respect to liking measured, established, scheduals, and predictable limits.

What I wonder, then, is whether the trend to be accepting of the fact that some people simply are lively in the morning (however incomprehensible and vexing it may be to them), which I have frequently observed in night people, is due to a general openness of mind and the understanding that something can be used as something else (in this case that the day can certainly be used for sleep and the night can certainly be used for action), both uses being perfectly acceptible because in their minds things are categorized by nature and not function (My thought here being, if you think of something fundementally as 'something that does this' you won't think of it as also being able to do something else -it goes against itself, but if you think of something as 'something with these qualities' then it could be used for anything that requires those qualities. ex: a sheet is something you cover your matress with; a large piece of cloth could be used as a sheet, or a tarp, or a cloak, or a curtain, or a knapsack, or a sail, or, or, or.......); Or if it is simply because 'liking morning's is right' has been so hammered into them by parents and teachers and culture that they can only add 'but nights are good too,' unable to escape the reality that, whether or not one way is or is not right, both types of people do exist.

Of course not everyone fits nicely onto two groups, these are just general trends I have noticed.