A few weeks ago, I attended a book reading by Anna Quindlen. When it was time for questions, someone asked what her favorite book that she had written was.
Quindlen responded, “If the book you just wrote isn’t your favorite, you’re in trouble!”
It’s kind of like saying your wedding day was the best day of your life! Because doesn’t that really mean it’s all been downhill from there?
So as I pondered this week’s Finish the Sentence Friday prompt {“My favorite decade is…”}, I was unsure how to respond. Does it mean decade of my life — my teens versus my twenties? Or does it mean the decades I’ve lived through – the 80’s versus the 90’s? Or is it historical eras? Because the decade from 1789-1799 – what with the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon and all – was pretty cool. How could I possibly play favorites with time?
I kept coming back to Quindlen’s line – if the decade I’m in right now isn’t my favorite, I’m in trouble! Sure, there were wonderful times in the past, and there are problems in the present, but I’m thinking I can glean some wisdom from the song that has finally replaced my children’s devotion to “Let It Go” – the {clearly 80’s-inspired} “Everything is Awesome!!!”
Because there has been awesome in all the decades I’ve lived through:
- My elementary school years corresponded with the 1980s – Cabbage Patch Kids and friendship bracelets and You Can’t Do That on Television and leg warmers and “Jesse’s Girl” and big permed hair {see Exhibit A} and big bangs and The Breakfast Club … You know I won’t Forget About [You], dear eighties…
I have no words…
- My high school and college years were the 1990s – Saved By The Bell and Beverly Hills, 90210 and big flannel shirts and Nirvana and “The Rachel” hairdo {to replace the big bangs: see Exhibit B} and Alanis Morrisette … You Oughta Know those were awesome years!
Much better.
- My early career and early motherhood years took place in the “aughts,” and therefore I have no pop culture references, due to said career and motherhood. I think I may have watched some Grey’s Anatomy? It’s fuzzy … which I think is okay for a decade that we don’t really have a name for.
- My 2010’s knowledge of pop culture has reverted full circle to childhood – “Jesse’s Girl” has been replaced by Jessie and One Direction and Justice clothing and Despicable Me and Rainbow Loom and superhero toys. So I Clap Along, and Let It Go, because That’s What Makes [It] Beautiful.
My children’s latest favorite song tells me, “Everything is awesome, when we’re living our dream.”
When I think of “living the dream,” I think of Will Farrell as Frank the Tank in Old School {hey, I did see a movie in the ‘aughts!}. He describes living the dream with his exciting weekend plans:
“Um, actually [a] pretty nice little Saturday. We’re going to Home Depot. Yeah… buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed Bath and Beyond… I don’t know! I don’t know if we’ll have enough time!”
But you know what? That is a pretty nice little Saturday! A Saturday that circa 1986 and circa 1996 me would have dreaded, but that 2014 me thinks is pretty dreamy.
What does it really mean to “live the dream,” anyway? Dreams, to state the obvious, are not real, because they’re based in fantasies of perfection. I think living the dream means that we’ve discovered the awesome in the perfectly-imperfect present. Time After Time.
There’s a lot of amazing in the rightnow. I have a lot to be thankful for, without playing favorites with the decades of my life.
And on the days that don’t feel so awesome, when I feel I Still Haven’t Found (What I’m Looking For), I love to scroll through the camera roll on my iPhone, that great invention of the ‘aughts. It’s a perfect reminder of the things that make me laugh and fill me with gratitude every day, like…
… seeing the latest kid pop-culture critter stare back at me when I get my computer bag out of my car in the morning:
… discovering my son’s selfie attempts:
… drinking cocoa by the fire:
… actually having a successful evening out to dinner:
… having family game nights:
… getting flowers from my husband:
… watching the Oscars with my daughter:
… and getting new windows for my drafty house {living the dream at Home Depot!}:
Every minute of our rightnow may not be awesome, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t amazing. Through the decades, our dreams, our hairstyles, our favorite songs, and what makes us happy change. We change, as everything always does. We can find awesome, we can practice gratitude, and we can find favorites in every decade. If not, we’re in trouble.
So I refuse to play favorites with time. My favorite decade … is rightnow. Because I write The Story of My Life. When life deals me a Jagged Little Pill, I remind myself Sweet Dreams Are Made of This. Happiness is the Truth. Everything is Awesome!!!
*****
This post is part of the Finish the Sentence Friday linkup. Click the image below to read more about people’s favorite decades.
And I’d love to know… What’s YOUR awesome rightnow?
- A Mindful Approach to New Year’s Resolutions - January 13, 2020
- Just This Next Step - December 16, 2019
- WAIT: A Mindfulness Practice for Waiting in Line - December 9, 2019
