The Not-So-Simple Life

I know some people like to generate controversy regarding the Census, but personally, I’m just honored to be counted. (I may never make it all the way to being President, but I’ve been officially sworn in as “Resident”.)

But America’s not the only place that can call me its citizen. There are at least three other “nations” that I’ve grown to also consider home, each in their own way, and while there wasn’t room on the census form to get into it, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge their place in my personal genealogy (and my not-so-simple life):

Imagination

Imagination was my first home really, and it’s the place where I’ve found most of my ideas. One of my favorite things about it is how limitless it seems to be! I can pick almost any road there, and follow it as far as I want, turning this way and that… They have this thing there, where you can create a new road, going in whatever direction you choose, whenever you want. It can get a little crazy, but the freedom is exhilarating! And it goes without saying that it’s a beautiful place–as beautiful as you can imagine. Or as I can, at least.

Imagination has given me so much, and yet still continues to offer me more than I could possibly want or use in my lifetime. Who wouldn’t love a place like that? It’s hard to believe I could share my loyalty with imagination, but necessity forced me to hop the border. At some point, I simply had too much stuff accumulated from there, and I needed a way to process it and “get it to market”, as it were. So I found my way to the industrious land of…

Determination

I probably could have stayed in Imagination forever, but after a long while of hearing people say “you’re crazy”, I think one naturally ends up choosing a path of response. My path was a superhighway named “Oh yeah? Watch this!”, and all exits led to Determination. And I fit right in there, too. I don’t know if they treat everyone like that, but I was embraced as one of their own, and actually began to rise through the ranks before too long.

My allegiance to determination brought me accolades, jobs, leadership positions, friends…and enemies, come to think of it. More importantly, it eventually brought me many of the skills and experiences I needed to really make the most of my citizenship in Imagination. In time, I was able to more clearly see how, if I could properly combine my loyalties to both places, I might someday reach the so-far-mythical land of Success.

But there’s a small-but-powerful country nestled in between Imagination and Determination; tucked in there like a little Switzerland, and storing just about as much wealth…

Procrastination

I have so much to say about my conflicted relationship with Procrastination–a place I curse every day, and yet always return to in the end for some reason. I’ve actually got a lot of thoughts on why that is, I just haven’t gathered them all together yet. I’m going to write a book about it once I do. It’s totally on my to-do list.


This column is featured in The Simplifier #5.8.