Fuzziness … It Is Everywhere …

“The supreme accomplishment is to blur“fuzz” the line between work and play.”  ~  Arnold J. Toynbee

Wouldn’t life be perfect if work and play were the same thing?  Many wise people stressed this during my final year of high school and first few years of college in an attempt to help me make career decisions.  Making career choices and life paths were tough for me back then.  To me, it appeared to be a permanent choice (the cost of college had something to do with that).  Once I made the decision, it was going to be a path I was tied to for life. Another obstacle to deciding was that I was interested in and liked so very many things .. too many choices.  I stuck to a middle ground – experiencing both ends of my choices as long as possible, struggling with making the “final” decision the whole time.  Choosing a career that would provide financial security, would feel like play, matched up with my skills and interests, had variety, allowed me to live in rural area, etc … it all went into my decision.  The short version of my story is that my “final” choice was the wrong one for me and my career path changed within 2 years of graduating college … I ended up back at college part-time with odd part-time jobs. (Lesson learned .. you can change your mind and go back go forward down a different path)

“Why did I make the wrong choice?”  I have wondered often.  After all the thought I put into the decision I was comfortable with my “final” choice.  Therefore, the only answer I have for making the wrong choice is that too many factors past graduation were fuzzy, unclear and not predictable .. it was life, after all. I have no regrets for making this mistake, I learn tons from my mistakes. And, maybe, it was not a “mistake” … rather a needed life lesson.  Following my heart, fitting my decisions into life circumstances that come my way … going with the flow when necessary (floating with the fuzz) … have resulted in better choices for me.

Now, when my students ask me for advice I mention the work/play advice … but I tell them it is the most important to follow their heart and to fill up their “life toolbox” with as much knowledge and skills that they can so that they can adapt to life (and float like fuzz) to deal with the next life challenge.  Times have changed.  Career choices are not as permanent as they were way back when for me … I am not sure what the statistic is, but I know that the number of careers our students will have in their life time will be numerous and they expect that.  Most will be life-long learners floating like fuzz from career to career.

Spring fuzz was physically in the air this past week, too. I think most of it came from the buds of Aspen Trees (poplar). One morning the gravel road had collected enough fuzz in places that it looked like snow. Branches caught so much fuzz it looked like quilt batting strung up in the bushes.  My window screens (sigh) and the early cobwebs caught a lot of the fuzz, too .. creating some artistic sights (not artistic in my windows, however).

There are even some fuzzy flowers growing in the swampy areas, too.

There are many types of “fuzz” and like most things in life it can be both positive and negative.

• Fuzzy – fluffy and soft like the fur of a kitten
• Fuzzy – unclear meanings, difficult to understand, vague
• Fuzzy – not in focus
• Fuzzy – line between right and wrong
• Fuzzy – unable to think clearly; confused.
• Fuzzy Logic
• Fuzzy intentions

Personally, I find fuzz interesting but I don’t really care for it. Especially, fuzzy meanings, confusion, fuzzy pictures, fuzzy intentions, and fuzzy logic which frustrate me a lot. I am someone that needs things to be clear and when they are not, I am quite talented at straightening things out and making it clear (to at least myself). I realize that the need to know the details and understand everything is not always healthy or necessary, however, it is hard for me to shut off my mind and stop reasoning my way through things.  When it comes to understanding personal fuzziness of friends and family actions,  I have tried hard to learn to live with some vagueness.   At the same time, the problem solver and organizer in me makes that very hard to do. The personal intentions of other humans will forever be fuzzy to us. Our logic does not always match up and sometimes actions are simply not logical. Assuming things are a certain way has left most of feeling a fool at one time or another, right? I guess fuzz is something we all have to learn to accept and work with in our life.

“The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

I also do not care for this “fuzzy” creature … 😉
Yes, he is back … bigger, bolder and older … this is the beginning of Woodchuck Woes 2013!

NEW POST AT BEAR IN SIGHT (my photoblog):    SHADES OF GREEN

~ by bearyweather on June 19, 2013.