20 December 2008
Erase and start over...
This time of year when the days grow shorter and shorter I always seem to get a little depressed. I suspect it has something to do with the fading of the light but I sometimes think it has something to do with Christmas. Somehow Christmas never matches up to the story book dreams of my youth and it turns into a mad dash from store to store trying to divine what someone else would like to have and usually getting it wrong. It also means taking a bunch of people who don't really get along all that well much of the time and putting them all together in one place once every year in the hopes that there will be “Peace on Earth”, or at least peace around the dinner table. In any case this is usually the season when I get a bit melancholy and start philosophizing. There is a phrase often used in Mexico that goes “borrar y cuenta nueva” which basically means, "to erase and start over". That is what I would like to do with my life, erase and start over. You will see below the best picture that was ever taken of me. It was taken about sixty years ago. When I realize that today is the first day of the rest of my life and I see my reflection in the mirror I think to myself, “Who is that guy in the mirror and whatever became of that little boy in the photograph?”. I guess my mother was right when she used to tell me not to spend much time looking in the mirror or the Devil might jump out at me. On the inside I am still like that innocent little boy in the photo but on the outside I am afraid that I am in a heap of trouble.
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About Me
- Bob Mrotek
- I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. I have been living in Mexico since January 6th, 1999. I am continually studying to improve my knowledge of the Spanish language and Mexican history and culture. I am also a student of Mandarin Chinese.
5 comments:
Bob what a beautiful baby you were. How sweet. Don't be melancholy and why would you want to start over. You are a person of good character and it shows in the way you write. You can only be afraid to be in a "heap" of trouble if you did something wrong, and you by no means have done nothing that could get you in trouble. Chase the devil away. Shooo Shooo, cast those thought away and be happy as happy can be. Merry Christmas.
Bob - I'll take the contrarian viewpoint. You can let yourself feel melancholy if you want to, and I think almost all of us would admit if we had to, that Christmas does that to us. Some of the best writing, the best music, the finest art has come out of feelings of melancholy. Just don't get stuck there. Most of us shrug it off, go buy more presents or look up cookie recipes. If that sounds flippant, sorry, but I am going to be alone and probably melancholy this Christmas, and baking cookies is how I plan to deal with it. Maybe I'll eat 'em all too! Or not...
And you can start over, every day is another chance to start over as long as you are on this planet. You may not be that cute baby now, but would you really want to be?
Bob, I couldn't agree more about your first statements about what the Holidays have become. Sure do hope this is the year you can just relax and enjoy Christmas!
Bob! Not you! Yo no creo que Ud. mi querido amigo a distancia se ponga melancólico y quiera comenzar de nuevo. Aunque...penándolo bien, entiendo perfectamente. Me ha pasado a mi también y me he sentido "atrapado" conmigo mismo. La oración ayuda y la disposición a aceptar la vida como viniere también. A mi me a tocado vivir en otro país igual que a Ud. Imagínese, vivir en un lugar en el que NO queremos vivir sería un tormento. Quizá lo que Ud. debe hacer éste año es romper una piñata. Deshacerse de todos esos pensamientos rompiendo una olla repleta de frutas. Sin regalos.
Bob, que tenga Ud. y toda su familia, una muy ¡Felíz Navidad!
Do what I do. Be selfish! I enjoy myself and let others get on with whatever they want! I know, it's not a nice motto for life. But it works for me!
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