1/12: And Now For Something Completely Different

Because this—blog, business, life—is a grand experiment, I’m trying something different for this space. At the end of 2020, I shared that I was going to take the pressure off to write a biweekly blog post and give more of my energy to other creative pursuits, and that’s what’s happening this year.

In 2021, this blog will read more like a journal: a month-end recap of what’s happened, how I’m feeling, and whatever else is in me to share. Last year taught us to let go of our expectations because anything—literally, anything—could happen. This is now a free space where expectations aren’t relevant.

So let’s get on with it, shall we?

Whenever lottery jackpots get above $100 million, I buy two tickets. It’s not that I think it particularly likely that I’d win—although it’s fun to dream about—but because it’s become somewhat of a ritual; a little thing I do as an homage to my mom, who’s the luckiest person I know. (She once won a thoroughbred horse in a raffle after buying two tickets; hence the tradition to always buy two.)

I go to the same gas station near my house to buy lottery tickets: the Nepalese proprietors are incredibly kind and patient, having to deal with the general public in various states of inebriation and adherence to the mask mandate. In the handful of years I’ve been going there for lottery tickets, gas, and random junk food, I’ve come to rely on my weekly-ish visit to that establishment as a constant, a comforting presence in a world that’s gone bananas.

Relying on trivial rituals and small comforts is getting me through the monotony and uncertainty of pandemic life, and I suspect I’m not alone. (Whatever it takes to get through, right?)

This month’s theme was ‘a shift in power’, and not just because of the obvious one that happened on the 20th: old things no longer have the same power over me they once did. A couple oddball things happened in January that shook me in a different way they might have in the past:

1) I was awarded Employee of the Month at my job; and

2) I tested for and was subsequently accepted to Mensa.

The first thing was, if I’m being totally honest, not a complete surprise. I’ve been working on some extracurricular things at work that will hopefully have a big impact, and it was nice to be recognized for it. But the second thing was more of a shock.

I like doing brain teasers and puzzles and things, and I’d done a free Mensa practice test online that suggested I might qualify, which I’m sure they tell everyone to get them to pay for the actual test. But with a dearth of activities available during quarantine, standardized testing sounded like a fun activity to me. I paid the fee, took the test on a Saturday, and the following Monday I got an email congratulating me on being accepted.

Shortly after telling a few people, a friend sent me a link to this, which both disturbed and worried me. Would my association with Mensa be perceived as a tacit endorsement of racism and misogyny?

Some friends and colleagues gave their opinions on the matter, and rather than write the whole thing off, I settled on emailing my concerns to the membership director. A day later, I got back a thoughtful response detailing the actions Mensa has taken to remove the bad elements from their organization. But as a good friend (and the membership director) said, in any large group, you’re going to have people of all stripes, and Mensa isn’t the thought police. This I could accept. I was in.

While I value the opinions of others who are close to me, they don’t have the power over me they once did. In the end, I did what I really wanted to do once all my questions were answered. And I’m happy about that.

So what’s to come for the rest of 2021? Job stuff, pandemic stuff, business stuff, personal stuff… all of it’s a wild card at this point, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.

And I’m hopeful.