Inside Ellie's Head

Missed the boat...

I missed two big ships last night in my dream. Cruise ships, I think. 

Smaller boats were going out and we were standing wondering what to do. I ask one of the small boats, Can you take us out to the ship?

No, the answer comes. Not unkind. 

Please?

No. We're not sailing in that direction. 

We continue to stand there wondering what we should do.

Then I have a thought, why not take the shuttle boat? the one that goes back and forth between the ships? It hasn't left the yet... And I wake up. 

ATTACK OF THE CRICKET!!

There is a cricket stuck in the wall right above my head screaming to be rescued. 

I'm SURE it's probably dark where it is in between the thin layers of dry wall and wood that separate me from my neighbors. I'm sure the cricket is scared out of its tiny mind! But is that enough reason to keep calling and calling... keep rubbing those thin hind legs together for hours and hours at a time... I mean, CRICKET! give it a rest! Go to sleep! Throw up your legs and RELAX! None of your friends will know how to get into the walls to get you out! And even if they found a way in, chances of them actually finding you and leading you out into safety of the outside world are extremely slim. SO STOP THE SCREAMING! Use those legs to walk not to drill sound holes into my skull! 

Some of us are trying to sleep here! 

Song in my head...

I wake up almost EVERY morning with a different song in my head... It's mostly background music to my vivid dreams and while I'm asleep, it takes over the entire space. 

We're in a store and a christmas jingle that I may have heard perhaps once or twice in real life is playing on the radio... It sounds like a recording! The real thing... I hear and understand the lyrics as I try to interact with the strange couple in the store... And I wake up with the song still blasting in my head... For several seconds it lingers as I realize that the sound has no external source. It is really just in my head. 

Quickly, I try to sing along... and there it goes. It's gone! I loose it the moment I hear my own voice. 

Robert: "What are you doing humming at the crack of dawn?"

Me: "Just trying to sing along to this song in my head..."

Impressivity

Impressivity: The state or condition of being impressive. Having the quality to impress others effortlessly OR effortfully! (Who cares how the impressing is achieved, RIGHT? as long as it IS... achieved...)

So how DOES one become impressive? Here's a little list I have compiled:

1. Do EVERYTHING you do impressively: There are several ways to do this: One way is to do what you're doing VERY VERY well! Put ALL of yourself into it. And make sure before you show it off to anyone else, it is the ABSOLUTE BEST THING you could have conjured up! 

Doing things well is NOT the only way to do them impressively. If you don't feel like shooting for perfection, you can do things differently. Creating a new way of doing something gives you a way to define what "doing it well" really means. If your way is new, cool, and IMPRESSIVE, and others are trying to do what you're doing, then you have just created a new cool way of doing something well... 

2. Be confident: All too often, impressivity is simply a byproduct of confidence. Wear a pair of patchwork red boots to a party and you might get a bunch of odd looks; put the boots together with a killer outfit and wear them to the same party like you OWN the place... Well.. Chances are you just might pull off being impressive. 

3. DON'T LINGER: I'm not sure why this is a rule... but based on my observations, people who have impressivity just don't linger. They are too busy being impressive to just stand around making non-impressive conversation. 

4. Try new things.. and then do them Impressively!  Ron Howard was a good actor... then he started to direct great movies. Impressive!

5. Be generous: It may be possible to be impressive and not be a giver... however, impressivity only has lasting power when it comes with generosity. You don't have to donate a ton of money to be a giver. Giving means, you listen when someone is speaking, you help when someone is in need, you share your know-how, and you genuinely care about the well-being and success of others... in other words, you treat people like human beings... 

Some of the MOST impressive people I know, don't think (and act as though) they're impressive at all...