Don't say journey unless you mean it

Not long ago, I wrote a post about the phrase "The new normal." I complained (surprise!) about the extreme overuse of that phrase, as well as a few others.

What I've noticed lately is that a lot of people have adopted yet another phrase to either describe the circumstances they're going through, alleviate the pain those circumstances are causing or just admit without admitting that they've let go of the reins and it's out of their control completely.

"It's a journey."

I remember years ago when Thirtysomething (a truly heinous show) was on. I was talking about it with my friend Josh, and he had a great line. I was saying what a bunch of whiners all the characters on the show were - which they were (ad people, go figure). He said, "What they call problems, our parents used to call life."

I think the same thing applies here. The new agey-ness of the word "journey" is just camouflage for a more colloquial term: "shit happens."

Don't get the wrong idea about this pet peeve of mine. I'm in favor of anything that makes it easier on people to get through tough times. Life gets more and more demanding, bad things happen. And if couching each event as a "journey" helps give you comfort or perspective, then have at it. But it really doesn't apply to everything. Really. It doesn't.

I think when it does apply, it's easy to recognize. For example my close personal friend and one time office wife Janice MacLeod decided to give up her life here, travel the world and start a new life of her own shaping. She eventually moved to Paris, met a butcher from Poland, married him, started a business that makes her happier than advertising ever did or could, and wrote a bestselling book about it.

That my friends is a journey.

Every time I hear someone use the word, it sounds like they're surprised at the "journey" they're on.

It's as if they have a naivety about what can happen in life - a lack of situational awareness about how random the world can actually be sometimes.

As anyone who's been around a few years and experienced a certain measure of life will tell you, the road we're all traveling on is not straight and smooth for anyones journey. Anyone. It never has been.

I suppose that comes as a surprise to some people.

Which always comes as a surprise to me.

Meeting the deadline

Let me apologize right up front for the New Age-iness of this post. It's very unlike me, and yet here it is.

The other day I heard someone say they were "getting close to the horizon." It was a romantic notion, a wistful way of perhaps saying they, at this point in their life, had more yesterdays than tomorrows. They were looking out to what the future holds.

I'm pretty sure it was a metaphor for dying.

My guess is they felt time was moving too fast (SPOILER ALERT: It is). And there were things they wanted to accomplish that, as they were getting "close to the horizon", realized they'd probably never get around to.

To which I say, join the club.

I don't have enough blog space to list the things I'd like to do before I go. But while I keep trying to check items off the bucket list (I know, I don't like the term either), I do try to focus every once in awhile on what I actually have done.

I posted here about my attempts to get my helicopter pilot's license. I was talking to someone about it, bitching and moaning (so unlike me) that I hadn't seen it through to the finish line. They reminded me even though I didn't get it, I did at least fly helicopters for a while. How many people can say that?

Well, I suppose every helicopter pilot can, but I choose not to think about that.

The point is to own my accomplishments instead of constantly lamenting the (yet) unfulfilled ones. I have a house, something my parents never had. I have two beautiful kids, again, something my parents never had (they just had one beautiful kid). I've met people of note, traveled places and seen and done things I've always wanted to.

I think when people start talking about approaching the horizon, it's good to keep in mind life's accomplishments aren't always marked with a bang (insert agency Christmas party joke here). Sometimes they arrive with a whisper.

The minute we're born, all of us begin our one-way trip heading closer to the horizon.

I keep reminding myself the trick is to enjoy it.