Freud and the Banana
The other morning I had a Freudian slip that got me thinking a few funny thoughts about my Main Man of Neuroses. As you might gather from this blog, I have a whole Hell of a Lot of random thoughts, including thinking up the beginnings to jokes- a HUGE time sink. As I’m sure you’ve noticed in jokes as in life, the setups come fast and easy – it’s the punchlines that are always the killer to create. When a setup does come to me, I typically go to Google Images and type in my thought. Inevitably someone – like the guy behind the above t-shirt image (That Web Design Guy) has already produced some similar take on the idea that is amusing enough to satisfy. It’s a nice quick way to process the thought so that I can move on with the important stuff in life, like penning a grocery list or picking up the dog poop, rather than sitting around for the many hours it may take to flesh out the joke.
So, back to the morning’s slip – because let’s face it, aren’t Freudian slips the ultimate punchlines? As the blip occurred, I was thinking to myself, “Already? It’s only 7:42 AM and already I’m doing this?” The trigger? A new post on Facebook from a Professor friend, Jeff Nunokowa. (*More on Jeff below) Well, Jeff was making the point that in his teaching, much of what he accomplishes is to help his students “fill in their blanks. ” But, as a mother of a son soon to start the college process, I brought a certain listening to this post and instead of their blanks, I read it as saying that he helped kids, “fill in their banks.” A Sigmund moment if ever there were one. Oh, the ever-present subconscious worry of a parent breaks through again. At 50, if there is one thing that I’ve figured out, it’s that life plays out over a lonnnnngggg time. This realization has led to my biggest concern: Have I done enough to help my children sustain their efforts, or have I been helping them train for one isolated sprint. High school to college is of course a very public sprint — one that we cannot ignore. However, as anyone out there knows who has ever run a 10K or a marathon, sprinting only takes you so far. Doing well over longer distances requires a whole different set of mental and physical skills (managing BOREDOM being one of them – more on that topic later this week.) Aware of the worry behind my mis-reading, I took consolation in my breeding retriever who does not even seem to recognize her puppies when she meets them again only weeks after they’ve left the whelping box. And I paused to ask myself, are robins at all worried when their hatchlings fledge? Certainly we have all heard that the lilies of the field don’t share our concerns. Maybe I just need to plant more lilies.
Lilies of the field
* You can read about Jeff Nunokowa in Fast Company and then buy his new and acclaimed book, entitled: Note Book* with its cornucopia of literary life lessons and philosophical insights.
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