I’d like to take a brief detour from my usual to write about something other than libraries, books, and librarian life. I know! Shocker! I almost feel like I’ve run out of things to talk about. (I haven’t but I’m just not in that mood today) I don’t want to be creating content just be creating content. Instead I’d like to talk about detours.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (the only Dictionary in my humble opinion)
Detour- Noun- A long or roundabout route that is taken to avoid something or to visit somewhere along the way
Detour- Verb- Take a long or roundabout route
It comes from the French détour which means “change of direction” or “turn away”.
Okay now that I’ve satisfied the English Teacher in me let’s get to the meat of this.
A Detour. A change. Things going unexpectedly. Things not going according to plan. If you are anything like me, you like plans. You like to know where you’ve started and where you are going to. I have ALWAYS liked to know what to expect. As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten better with the anticipation of the unknown. I’ve gotten better at winging it. But still, I like plans.
I get up in the morning and I have a mental list of what I want to accomplish. Laundry, Dishes, new Bulletin Board at work, finish three chapters of my book, clean my patio furniture, and make dinner. There’s my list for today. My plan. But in reality I have no idea how many patrons will come in. I may not get the bulletin board up. I may be invited to my parent’s for dinner and not need to make dinner.
But Planning! We are taught it from such a young age that we often don’t think about how harmful it can be. We can get so focused on getting something accomplished that we miss the detours. We miss the beautiful wildflowers (call them weeds if you want but I choose wildflowers) growing on the side of the road. Take a Popsicle break with a neighbor kid. Shoot some hoops by yourself. If you take more time for detours and welcome them instead of running like the plague from them, you may just discover that you enjoy your life more.
Keep Sparkling,
B
The Sparkling Librarian 