The week that was.

Today, I get to go to another funeral. I don’t like going to these things but I heard this passage on NPR awhile back and it summed up things rather well and I think since I heard it I have tried to take those words to heart:

“Always go to the funeral” means that I have to do the right thing when I really, really don’t feel like it. I have to remind myself of it when I could make some small gesture, but I don’t really have to and I definitely don’t want to. I’m talking about those things that represent only inconvenience to me, but the world to the other guy. You know, the painfully under-attended birthday party. The hospital visit during happy hour. The Shiva call for one of my ex’s uncles. In my humdrum life, the daily battle hasn’t been good versus evil. It’s hardly so epic. Most days, my real battle is doing good versus doing nothing.

In this instance, I think it is a situation that underlines those sentiments. The person who passed was someone who I never really understood (neither of us spoke a common language) but, the family that survives is important to me. I go to try and be there for them.

It’s been a bad week in that way - I came into the week finally getting a project finished, a project that had consumed all my waking moments for the preceding several days as I tried to figure out the design problems it presented. I am happy with the end result but, after finishing one of these projects, I find it akin to eating a large meal in that I want to push myself away from the table and take a nap (even if only a figurative one) and have a day or two of getting back to normal.

I didn’t have that chance this week.

When I got into the week, already drained and found myself with committments on my time, I just wound up playing catch up over the next few days. The beginning of the week was supposed to be relagated to working on site for a long term client and as the week progressed it just didn’t happen because of one reason or another. I did wind up being there one day but, it was a brutally long day and I found myself walking back in my door after midnight.

Ah, and then there is the phantom stone. I am trying to figure if I passed a stone yesterday or if I was the recepient of some middle of the night kitty trampoline jumping. All I know is I am still sore on one side.

Still with everything that went on, the week was good. I’ve had better weeks and I’ve had worse but, I am coming to the conclusion that how I approach the world has as much to do with how bad things get as any external event.