Saturday, October 07, 2006

Bits and Pieces of Life

Today I have been creating a couple of books that include what I call the "Bits and Pieces of Life." I take the little things I save from one thing or another and glue or tape them into books so I can contain them, and yet still have them to enjoy.

I've been going through a box of stuff today that used to be part of my bulliten board at the radio station, as well as tons of other things. It has been enlightening.

One thing I've learned is that I did some really good work for them. Really, really, good work. Some of the pieces I designed are really clever and nicely done. Considering the constraints we had of using one color printing, they are some high-impact pieces.

The other thing I've learned is that my life is so different now than it was less than ten years ago that I truly don't even remember some of these things. There's a program from a Dillon Lecture Series featuring Susan Stamberg on October 13, 1997 - 9 years ago next week. I saw Susan Stamberg? Yes, I did. It finally dredged up from my memory, but it took awhile. I guess that's why I need the bits and pieces of life. Yet, while I may not remember the specifics of that event, I know it adds to the tapestry of my life and who I am today. All experiences do.

There's a postcard from Anne Rice. I remember now - getting to interview her when she stopped through Hutchinson on a book tour. That was lost in my memory until the pen and ink drawing of her home showed up in this box.

There are lots of fortunes from various visits to Chinese restaurants. "The star of riches is shining on you." "Your present plans are going to succeed." I think I've had that one more than once - maybe it has come true everytime, I'm not sure. "Your love life will be happy and harmonious." Well, it certainly has been at various times. "Your happiness is intertwined with your outlook on life." That one is absolutely true at anytime. Maybe that's a "gimme" in the fortune business.

Quotes are prolific - gathered from printed pieces that crossed my desk at various times. I now work in a much less creative business, so that sort of thing doesn't appear in my mailbox much. But, I decided to go ahead and commit these to the notebook today, instead of making a new bulliten board, because they are from another time in my life - even though they are still true and things I believe.

"I can never be what I ought to be untilyou are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way the world is made." MLK

"I shall pass through this world but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do, let me do it now... for I shall not pass this way again." Etienne De Grellet

And there's the assortment of political things - it was in the Clinton-Gore era. And Habitat pieces because I was an ardent supporter of it then.

I occasionally run across, and add in, an old credit card bill. There's a 1998 May bill from First Card where I ordered something from the Barlow, Kentucky florist on May 8. I'm certain it was a corsage for my mom on Mother's Day - white roses if your mother is dead, red roses if she's living.

There is a certificate from the library for my volunteer work and some bits from a Valentine's Day bouquet Greg sent sometime in the early 90s. Old phone bills show where my loyalities were at that time, although I have no idea who I was calling repeatedly in Santa Ana, California in September of 1997. That bit of my life has faded into history.

Ironically there's also a letter from Leadership, where I was nominated in 1997 to be part of the class. I assumed my bosses would not let me go, so I didn't pursue it then. It wasn't the first time I was asked to apply, but now nearly a decade later I'm in the leadership class. And it's the way it was meant to be. The class is much different now and this style is much more suited to my learning abilities. Things work out the way they're supposed to.

Our lives change and we change along with them. Some things fade in our memory, but all are with us in some fashion. It's positive for me to bring those things to consciousness every now and again by jogging my memory with the tangible bits of life.