2020-04-05 — 0.5 Down. 6.5 to Go

Not sure what the deal is, but I feel disproportionately tired to the day’s events.

I’m exhausted, and I haven’t really done much other than be in front of screens all day. 🙃

Brain. Not. Working.

I’m in one of those fogs where I can’t think clearly. My abstract thinking skills right now “are about as effective as bloodletting” is at curing disease.

So… please forgive me if this doesn’t make any sense at all. 🙃

Anyway, I wanted to make some progress on my autobiographical sketches here on the site, but I really couldn’t get anything going with my brain the way it is today, and it’s hard enough to put everything in those sketches in an accurate light (I probably generally come off more negative about my life than is the reality, but I don’t know).

Honestly, I might be lucky to have anything meaningful come out of this journal post today 😬.

Anyway, I’ve been sharing with some of my family members my desires to create the nonprofit organization I think I’ve mentioned that I’m gonna create (the organization whose mission is to encourage people to come together to build tighter communities and more accepting, loving relationships with people of differing beliefs by focusing on the common values we have).

So I’ve been trying to come up with a name for the organization, and I’ve been enlisting a few people to throw out suggestions. I’m wanting a name that encapsulates in the very name itself the basic premise/tenet that we are more alike than we are different.

I also want the name to provide some kind of imagery of coming together, like a handful of people standing side-by-side with their arms over each others’ shoulders–that kind of thing– something where you read the name and you understand and can visualize the mission of the organization itself.

My sister Tish (short for Letitia) has been trying to help me recently with that, and while she is still working on organization name suggestions, she pointed me in the direction of one organization (More in Common) whose philosophy and mission is pretty much identical to mine. 😀

I spent some time today going over their website and reading some of the results of their research. It seems like a great organization. It’s awesome to find other people out there actively and publicly attempting to inspire the same changes.

One thing that I would like to add to what they’re doing, however, is a greater focus on application… putting the rubber to the road. They seem to be very heavy on research. That’s fabulous, but I also want to be very heavy on application. Community events. Going to heads of organizations, religious, political, philosophical, etcetera. Inviting them to bring their followers together to participate in community learning and unifying events.

I’m just barely starting to take more serious steps toward this goal of creating this organization. Is it my dream of what I want to do in the world? Is it what I think I would be most happy doing? I don’t know.

The more important question for me, at least in my own mind, is not “What’s going to make me the happiest?” but “How can Stephen Carman maximize his benefit to the world?”

With regard to the organization name, if any of you who are reading this have any ideas, please let me know. 😀 It doesn’t matter who comes up with the name: The important thing is that the name itself be able to inspire all who hear it to contemplate the premise and mission, that just hearing the name can do that.

Well… I’m tired. Did I say (I mean write 🙃) that already?

Oh, one good thing… I think I have a buyer for the Pathfinder. I’ll call that 0.5 of my 7 cars sold. 6.5 to go.

…and 2 to buy. 😁

Oh! And since I’ve managed to turn myself into a bit of a negative thinker over the last handful of years, I’m gonna start adding some gratitude to each journal entry. I’d like to get back to being the happier more positive and optomistic person I was 4 or 5 years ago or so.

So… If you are reading my journal posts from now on, and I fail to include some gratitude bullets, feel free to remind me 😊.

So, without further ado…

1. I am grateful that I was reminded, just as I was about to wrap up this journal entry, that I want to keep a gratitude journal again.

2. I’m grateful that it looks like I have one of my seven cars on its way out the door 😊.

3. I’m grateful that my sister pointed me to that More in Common organization.

4. I’m grateful that it was a little warmer today after being so cold yesterday.

5. I’m grateful that I don’t have to stay up longer tonight, that my life and circumstances are such that I can get rest when I need it, knowing that plenty of people around the world aren’t as lucky as I.

Oh, by the way, I made the decision today to give up junk food for a week. I’ve been getting a little squishier around the midsection lately. Once upon a time I made it like eight years without eating junk food. But over the last year and a half or so, I think maybe I’ve made up for all the sugar I didn’t eat during those eight years 😬🙃

Well, folks. I hope there was something of value for you today. 😊 I’m not going to reread it before publishing it, so I’ll just cross my fingers and hope it’s at least somewhat worthy of sharing.

Loves to all.

~ s