SoCS: Choices Matter. Except When They Don’t.

February 1, 2020 by JoAnna 32 Comments

Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday was: “choices.” Base your post on the subject of making small, uneventful choices. Enjoy!

Hmmm. Are there really uneventful choices? Maybe what I eat or decide to watch on TV is relatively uneventful. But they do effect how I feel, a little or a lot. Watching Captain Phillips about the real life pirates was intense. I’m sure my blood pressure was up.  The choice to go to yoga class has become a habit that always makes me feel better.

The choice to start dating when my divorce was final almost 20 years ago seemed relatively uneventful, but it was a mistake. I was still much more vulnerable than I thought. It led to an addictive and unhealthy relationship. Is addiction a choice? Nobody, well probably nobody, starts out saying, I want to become addicted to whatever. Seemingly uneventful choices can lead to big events. Who we go to dinner with, who we text or call, what street we walk down, can lead to a chain of events that make a huge difference over time.

In 1971, my friend Caroline invited this guy from her class to Terry’s party. His name was David, and he turned out to be my first boyfriend. But his family moved back up north at the end of tenth grade, and I thought I’d never see him again. In 2011, David sat down at his computer 700 miles away from where I lived. Did he know when he found Caroline after all those years that I’d be on the top of her Facebook friends list, that he’d find me and we’d end up getting married in 2012?

Certainly he didn’t know this consciously. When we met for our second first date in July of 2011, I didn’t consciously know that saying yes to that date, or yes to his request to call me, would lead to us getting married. But we were SO excited. It was like on some level, we knew this was important. Extremely. Eventful.

Back to the prompt. Small, uneventful choices. Surely there must be some. Maybe it’s hard to think about examples because I often overthink things. I’m sure there have been many times when I stressed about a decision, and it turned out to be uneventful. And unrememberable.

Maybe singing a song would be a small choice when I find myself humming a tune without realizing it. Was that a choice? Not really, until I realize what I’m doing, then I can sing it out loud, dance in the living room like no one’s watching but the dog, but she’s probably asleep and can’t see well anyway because she’s very geriatric. Getting a dog is a choice not to be taken lightly. It’s a lifelong responsibility for the life of that dog or cat. Eventful.

Mary Moo, last of the 5 pack.

 

I’m having a hard time trying to think of uneventful choices. Maybe what color clothes I wear. If they don’t match, I don’t much care anymore – not like I used to. I’m not working in an office anymore. I’m an artist and a writer. I get to wear whatever I want. Lately it’s yoga pants and a hoodie. Even when I don’t have yoga class.

(Except it’s usually green tea for me.)

 

I like wearing what I feel like. Yeah. Life is good. Simple. Even if you’re life isn’t good or simple, look for the moments when it is. That’s a choice. Like not watching the news, or being picky about what news you choose. But that’s another post for Tuesday. 🙂

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For more choice streams of consciousness, visit Linda G. Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/31/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-1-2020/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!