Thrifting it up a notch.

It's been quite some time since either Miriam or I posted anything on our bloggy blog, and now it's time to get cracking in earnest.

Why now? Why not? Shifting paradigms is always a good thing, and my paradigm needs to refocus itself on what's important.

And when it comes to living life fully, what's really important?

Passion.

An odd, twisty, Alice in Wonderland meets Wizard of Oz road has led me to where I am presently, which is somewhere between a paralyzing stasis and a bungee jump. And the path keeps leading to one conspicuous conclusion: I need to follow my passion.

And what's my passion?

It's definitely not working at a desk job, which is what I do now. My soul needs a nap when I think of what I do for a living. As time passes, I realize the tires are squealing near the dead end that has become my current career choice.

So it's established that my current job is definitely freakishly far from where I saw myself at this age.

But there's an upside.

I've developed this knack for finding cool stuff. So I intend to share my story, show my treasures, delve into the minutia of treasure hunting.

As for the gap between when I last posted and now, nothing's really changed in my world, save for the persistent nagging between my left brain and my right brain when it comes to following my passion.

Those two sides can be quite loud, and perhaps the right brain's pulled ahead in the race for realizing that passion is a beautiful thing. And it's even more sparkly and magical when you know what your passion is, and you decide that the trail of passion dust that kicks up under the feet of the passionate creates an infectious joy that's hard to suppress.

I have a passion for finding beauty in the discarded. I like to write. So this forum is my personal paradigm shift, and paradigm thrift, as the name of this tome would indicate. This space will be my manifesto to passion, in whatever form it takes. For me, it's discarding what's stale in my life and finding a place to rest that's a comfortable manifestation of the elements of life that I enjoy. Like finding something for a dollar that's absolutely priceless.

That happens a lot, actually.

As a case in point, my man and I visited Portland this past weekend. On our way to the coast we stopped by an indoor flea market, which was more like an indoor garage sale. Garage sales this time of year may be in short supply in Oregon, because it rains almost constantly this time of year. I found a copper statue on a table that indicated everything was a dollar. So I bought the statue. Someone painted it with layers and layers of white paint. The paint remover is at the ready, and I'll take before and after pictures that I'll post later.

Posting photos on my blog has been my nemesis, so as soon as I figure out how to do it, I'll give you a "before" shot.

The statue may really only be worth a dollar. But on that rainy Oregon afternoon, an arm's length away from the man who has my heart and surrounded by interesting people selling their discarded treasures, the statue and the memories I have from the day I found it are priceless.