You see this tree trunk…

It’s got this on the bottom…

And this on the top…

The reason this fungus is now so important to me is because when my kids noticed it at the last trip to the park, I was able to summon 7th grade natural science lessons to explain what it was doing there. Not only was I able to tell them in detail (I’m sure my three year-old caught all of it) why it was growing out of the tree, I even told them what happens when fungus and algae come together – they make lichen (Alice Algae and Freddy Fungi took a lichen to each other)! So the lesson went like this: I came off really excited about this information, my daughter was grossed out and my son kept trying to poke at it. Considering that I’m a product of under-appreciated US public schools, I think I owe many thanks to the teacher who got drilled that information into a very unscientific student.

Here’s to you, Mr. Allen!

Maybe I’m getting old, but lately I’ve been thinking a lot about where I am in my life – if that even makes sense.

So, here I am about to move for the 4th time since becoming an adult and I’m trying to figure out if I consider myself to be successful. I know that this judgment is relative to a person’s culture and experiences and only I can really know the answer, but I can’t help but to think of what my family (and friends) may have expected from me. I wrote a while ago about cultural expectations for career choices and I think that’s where this all starts.

My mom always pushed us to go far in school. Very early on she made it clear that she expected my sister and I to at least finish college. Check, so +1

Then, I made the choice to get married and start a family soon after graduating college. –1

But, then I went back to school and obtained my masters’. +1

However, I am still trying to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life. –1

Even without my very expensive education ;) , I would know that this complex equation adds up to 0. Let me also add that I know that my friends and family are extremely proud of me – it’s the successful part that makes me wonder…

One thing I know for sure is that I am happy and I wouldn’t have things any other way. I just don’t want my type A personality to look back one day and wonder if I really made use of all my talents… [-O<

How do you (or your culture) measure success?

Subscribe in a reader

Subscribe to Balanced Melting Pot by Email

Balanced Melting Pot on Facebook