Perspective

I recently started a new job which requires my commuting from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Someone asked me if that was a pain, and ya know, it's really not. It's a quick walk to the subway, and the piece de resistance is that the train goes over the Manhattan Bridge, so every day, I get to see a view of the Manhattan skyline... and the Statue of Liberty. It's pretty incredible, and definitely puts things into perspective for me, every time I take in the view.

Now, I know that some days, the commute will seem like a pain in the ass. Why am I going FROM the city TO Brooklyn? Why does it take so long? Why can't I teleport? However, I am going to continually remind myself, if I am having a particularly bad day and feeling particularly pessimistic, to look at the skyline and reel it all in.

Perspective is a funny thing. I equate it to when your good friend is dating someone, and you sort of have to feel out what she wants to hear from you about him... like, "Oh my gosh isn't my new guy so cute!" And you respond yes. But then the next day she hasn't gotten texts back from him, so you tell her how he's a troll. Or she's really excited because he's a veterinarian. Like how adorable, treating little sick puppies! But then he dumps her, so you're like, "Ok but seriously, he was a VET. Come crying to me when the heart surgeon for real people breaks your heart." Or if he's a teacher. And you're like, "Aww, he's teaching elementary children, what a sweetheart!" But then he cheats on her so you're like, "Okay but he's a TEACHER. If he was a heart surgeon, it'd be another issue."

Obviously I would never choose a guy based solely on their career, I'm just using them for the purpose of proving my perspective point.

It can go any which way possible. It's how we spin it. Public Relations firms get paid very large sums of money to essentially spin the way something is presented in a favorable light. Or I guess sometimes they spin it unfavorably if they want crazy press? I don't know, gotta ask my friend April, she's a film PR wiz.

The fact of the matter is, I can continue looking at my commute as a valuable way to center myself and calm down before the start of the work day, or I can look at it as a schlep. I'm going to choose the former, and constantly remind myself about perception. Rose-colored glasses. Glass half full. So many sayings about looking at life optimistically represented in the form of "glass." I wonder what that's all about. I just looked up the definition of "glass" to come up with a clever way to explain why it's always a good metaphor. Nothing on that front, however, did you know that glass is made by fusing sand with soda, lime, and sometimes other ingredients?? Is there a half full glass of Diet Coke in a glass made of Diet Coke?!

See? Perspective. That'll be fun to think about next time I order a glass of Diet Coke.