How to be an interesting person.

I was contemplating my own personal life and thinking about people I know when I realized; what makes your life interesting, what makes you an interesting person is not so much what you do but the sum of what you did.

I know, it sounds weird - if not just plain obvious - but think about it for a moment. So what if you have an interesting job? Isn't it far more interesting to have had the opportunity to visit Nepal, for example? So what if your house is built using the latest methods in ‘green living’? Wouldn't it make for longer conversation if it had been built in sacred ground, next to an ancient indian cemetery or burial ground?

I might be wrong or just mistaken but I thinking an ‘easy’ life hardly makes for an interesting one. If you finished your studies, married your high school sweetheart, had a kid or two and lived happily ever after, good for you. That is a good thing, I am not saying it isn't. But… How interesting would a story of your life be if put in a book? Who would want to read about you? Where's the fun? Where's the adventure? And if you find yourself thinking back about your life, like I did, and the most exciting moment you can remember was when you bought yourself your first 0Km car… Damn, isn't that sad?

Sure we all dream with a trouble-free life but you only truly lived if you managed to survive life's tribulations and have plenty of stories to tell.

Then again, that's just me. What do I know?

WTF!?

I am getting old - I know - and that doesn't make me any more accepting of other people's flaws but sometimes I wonder whether I am getting grumpier or people are simply getting more annoying.

Take the gardeners of my village for example. We have four. Their job is to keep the condominium presentable, that is, keeping the swimming pool and roads clean, trimming and caring for the grass, flowers, trees etc and doing small repair/paint jobs when/if needed.

The guys are not bad people. Rather, simple people who actually take pride in their jobs and do it well. They are also, contrary to what some would expect, quite amiable. They, however, carry their radios with them and therein lies the problem…

Why, oh, why can't they keep the volume down so they can hear their music without forcing everyone else to do so with them? I love music too but I do not force them to listen to ‘my’ music. While it would be just awesome to be able to do so, I do not turn my volume all the way to the right when I am listening to classical pieces, let alone when I am in the mood for speed metal!

Can you really be accused of being grumpy when you can't even listen to your own TV inside your home because someone else has their radio playing whatever &$%# they want loud?

I don't know… Seriously, I think I am not asking for too much; Just a better sense of living in community.

On Mankind…

“I hate mankind, for I think of myself as one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.”

— Samuel Johnson