Recently a new reader favorited “My Hyperbole of Life”. Now that the Bengals have redone their introductions it’s my turn. Many things have changed over the hill at the year and yet…
I still wear one million and one hats. I have eight million books, six thousand notebooks, and about a billion chores.
Let me explain.
Hats = roles played in life.
So maybe one million and one is a little exaggeration, but I think we’ve all been there.
Think of all the titles you have, not just a work title, but also titles of see (insert your name here), they’re the expert, your role in your family older generation and younger generation. Most of us have a role as someone’s child, sometimes labels that also include parent, cousin, aunt, uncle and all of us are some relation five times removed from our mother or father.
We have our role with friends (and once again our titles of expertise within our group).
Some of us have roles as parents, or volunteers, or community leaders, environmentalists or hobbyists, sports positions or… as you can see the list goes on and on and on.
That’s what I call a hat. If you had a hat for each role and title your closets would be brimming over with headwear.
Notebooks = Organization
Every hat you have comes with its own needs and supplies. As a writer mine usually come with a physical notebook to keep track of lessons, vocabulary, characters, etc.
If you play sports then your notebook is all the equipment required, the information about all the games and the contact info for everyone involved.
If you play an instrument then your notebook is your instrument, your sheets of music, your rehearsal time, and your schedule and contacts.
If you’re a little organizationally obsessive like me then you keep a line of notebooks ready to go for each committee or group to which you belong. A Saturday night writer’s group means: grab the blue folder on the way out the door. Or on a larger scale, going to an Anime convention means grab the yellow folder and the over-flowing garment bag packed with costumes, trinkets and smaller organizational bags.
Eight Million Books = a whole lot of books. Those I own, referenced and shelved and dusted. Sorted into read and ready to read. The eight million includes a pile of library books, recommended books, research books and loaned books.
One Billion Chores = just about everything else. With only a billion to do, I’m probably on the low end of the scale. There are always dishes to do, clothes to wash, gardens to weed, tables to dust, items like a car (or the random appliance breakdown) to fix and have serviced, carpools to drive, and papers to sort.
I’m not about to get into a contest on chores. I keep my life fairly stream-lined.
Despite all of the above, I also add lots of things in my life that don’t fall under a category of hyperbole.
I will and do write or edit two thousand words a day.
I spend at least an hour a day playing with cats. If I don’t the cats will find most vexing ways to get attention.
This year exercise is no longer allowed as a maybe. Email and social media are always checked every morning and always replied to.
I love to hear from people, to listen, and respond. Out of the trillion things above, my relationships whether person-to-person or from the ethereal internet will always gain my attention and a response.
~lisa
Today I inaugurate “
Rainbow Hill Meanders 
