3/8/12

Can of Worms


Note: As always I’m yammering at myself here. This is what I need to tell myself right now. In condensed (hah!) form, of course.

No matter how simple and straightforward a project appears to be, it almost never turns out that way.  At least, not for me. I suffer from what I call the “Can of Worms Syndrome” or COWS. Perhaps you too suffer from COWS. What is COWS? Glad you asked.

Projects, tasks, goals, or whatever-the-heck-you-end-up-pulling-out-of-the-Great-Grab-Bag-of-Life just love to disguise themselves in Simple’s Clothing. Underneath that Simple though, lurks Purely Complicated. I don’t particularly care for complicated, but I won’t run from it. I’m far too stubborn. But honestly, really, and truly I don’t actively seek it out, either. “Complicated” has a way of finding me.

Could it be my penchant for looking deeper? I rarely take things at face value. “Face value” seems meaningless to me and perhaps even unrealistic. I mean, you can slap a band-aid on anything and maybe even stop the bleeding, but what is going on underneath that band-aid? Did you clean the wound before applying the band-aid? Shouldn’t we put on some ointment, too? Isn’t healing the goal?? And crap! Does that need stitches??? Questions. I’m full of them.

I’m not saying that I don’t like to indulge in the occasional Sail Along the Surface (ahhh nice) or grab a box of mind candy (yum) once-in-awhile. Not everything has to be deep. Good grief, if that was the case I’d be a lunatic. I’ll rephrase, shall I? I’d be more of a lunatic. Look, I enjoy mind-candy just as much as the next person; however, mind candy doesn’t move me. And what is the freaking point if we’re not going to be moved, passionate, and alive? That reminds me, I believe I’ve meandered off my point. Where was I? Complicated.

I’m running my own business now. Well, “running” may be too strong of a word. More like just trying to keep it from crashing into stuff. Plus, it’s brand new so maybe it’s actually more like trying to get the engine to turn over and not really being sure if there is an engine. I probably need to build one. Crap. You see! Complicated.  In fact I’ll go as far (why not?) as to say that starting a business is just one way of shouting to the world, “I have COWS and I can’t help myself,” because a business is surrounded by cans of worms. I can’t move for stepping into another one. First it was the Creating A Fabulous (No Pressure) Website, then on to the Great Paper Dilemma, now it's the E-Store Extravaganza. It’s tiresome, annoying, scary, sometimes angrifying, and often an incredibly exhilarating ride. What’s an Opener of the Can of Worms to do?

Here's the thing: I’m not afraid of the mess that opening a can of worms is going to make. Generally there’s some dirt nearby that can use aerating. And yes, worms are wiggly and a bit strange, but then, so are some of my most favorite people. The can is not going to go away by ignoring it (damn). 

Crap and double crap. I don’t really have a choice, do I? I have to keep opening the blasted things and do my best to deal with the ensuing entanglements and sheer complicated messiness. I didn’t really think this was going to be easy, did I? Of course not.

My fellow sufferers of COWS, I suppose we could wish that those Cans of Worms don’t exist or if they do, that we simply can’t see them. Wouldn’t that be refreshing? Nah, not really. That's sort of like wishing for a lobotomy. And as much of a pain in the a*s my brain is to me (and others) at times, I really wouldn’t want to part ways with her (it?). Not yet, anyway. 


18 comments:

  1. This is a fascinating post. I think COWS can be sub-categorized, if you will, into:

    1. Useless COWS
    2. Productive COWS
    3. Self-inflicted COWS (which could be either 1 or 2).
    4. COWS through which we evolve (which could be 1 through 3).

    Which one do you think this is? I'm notorious for creating my own stress, because I think my brain is used to the fight or flight level of tension, so I'm hyper-aware (oh, the irony!) of when I do this to myself. It's something on which I'm working. Great post, IK!

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    1. LOL! You're definitely onto something with the sub-categories, RA. My COWS can and do fit into all of the above, depending on mood. I would imagine that it's the same for all of us sufferers. Whee! The combinations are endless! And don't ya just love that irony? Glad you enjoyed the post!

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  2. Your posts always make me smile! I think we have all the same quirks to our personalities, I see myself in all your posts :) I definitely have COWS, this weekend I started to organize my son's room and ended up completely redoing the entire room and spending all weekend on the project. This happened due to my over thinking of what toys my son could actually find, which led to the need to organize and so on and so forth. I can't seem to stop at one thing, I always have to make the project into a huge production :) Love this post!!

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    1. So glad I can give you a smile, Frugal! Love your story about organizing your son's room. The same type of thing happens to me all the time! We just work like that (apparently!). What to do? Embrace our COWS craziness! :)

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  3. I was taught that if I didn't ask, I would never know, so I love opening those COWS! Even though sometimes I get sidetracked and distracted!
    I updated my description exercises post, thanks to you, must have mad COW disease! haha! and shared your blog on it!

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    1. Haha! I love your twist to "mad COWS disease!" And I agree, if we don't ask we will never know. And I must know. Thanks for stopping by, Karen! :)

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  4. I love reading your posts! I can definitely relate to and suffer from this COWS syndrome! Glad to know we're not alone!

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    1. Yes, we COWS sufferers LOVE company! All the better to complicate things, the more the merrier! Glad you enjoyed! Thanks, Devin :)

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  5. Oh God, I have COWS. What a fun post Intricate and best wishes for your new venture.

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    1. Yay another COWS sufferer! Glad you enjoyed, GPD and thanks I need those best wishes! ;)

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  6. This post made me laugh out a little too loud! I love the way you think and more power to you to keep your business from crashing into things!

    Best wishes from one of your wiggly, strange friends!

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    1. You can never laugh too loud, MGG! glad I could bring you some laughter. And, yeah, I'm doing my best to not crash the business! And another hahaha you are definitely one of my favorite wiggly and strange friends! ;)

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  7. I am the Master of COWS. (That's MoCOWS, as in I have Mo COWS than that guy.) Seriously. I do eat them. Cows, not worms, I mean. Sounds kinda mean and gross when I put it that way. Maybe I should just eat plants. But, then I'd just be eating baby plants. I can't win.

    My honey cringes every time I break out my COWS. There is no job too small that doesn't benefit from my affliction with this syndrome. I over-think, over-analyze and under-plan.

    Here's an example:

    "I want a pony"... turned into One half-blind mare, her newborn colt and a horse past her prime.

    "We need a wee shelter for my ponies"... turned into 2005 ~ The year of the barn raising.

    "They're going to need pasture"... turned into fences, fertilizer, and mucho work for the entire family.

    "We need stronger fences"... turned into electricity city.

    "We've got a small drainage problem"... turned into back-breaking work in August.

    "Call the vet. They have worms again"
    "Call the vet. They won't eat."
    "Call the vet. They aren't getting along."
    "Call the vet. These ponies are broken."
    "Call the vet. This is hard."

    "... turned into, "Who's brilliant idea was it to SAVE these damn ponies?"

    ALL EYES TURN TO ME... The one with COWS.
    "Don't fret. I'll take care of EVERYTHING."
    "Don't I LOOK like I know what I'm doing?"

    *sweat rolls down the small of my back*

    Thanks for the laugh, IK!

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    1. LOL! I love this Mo COWS!! And your illustrative story is perfect. Perfect. What's really awesome is that we all somehow pull a solution out of our hats (sometimes at the last minute) to these dilemmas!

      Totally can relate to the "*sweat rolls down the small of my back*" Hah! As long as it's there and no one else knows!

      Glad you enjoyed, Scarlett x

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  8. This was awesome. Thanks for the laugh...I actually startled one of my coworkers with my outburst.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed. Thanks so much, Amberr! :)

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  9. Slapping a band aid on something to stop the bleeding works most of the time, but it's akin to turning up Ted Nugent on the radio when your car is making odd, protesting noises.

    I once jumped a barb-wired fence (meant to keep people like me from going over, I suppose) and hooked my elbow in the process. I bled worse than a B horror flick, got home and examined myself.

    As I washed away the gore, I was left with muscle thingys protruding, so being the budding physician, I simply took a pencil and jammed them back into my elbow.

    A week later I was in trouble. Not only did the area become infected and require a real doc, but my father put a size 11 in my ailing keister.

    In retrospect, I justify it because I avoided the talkative Cindy Lewis whose looks could have caused the Washington Monument to sway and, moreover, I saved 600' feet of walking. Besides, dear dad had insurance and didn't take the medical fee from my allowance.

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    1. Holy moly, Jeremy what a story! I'm cringing and laughing at the same time! Guess it all worked out okay, but I must say you were lucky. Awesome comment!! Thanks, Jeremy :)

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