What was Jen thinking, again?

So again I am here to share the answers to questions posted to me by friend’s.

My next question is most important and one that I am sure many of you will be interested in the answer.

Question: Where is that other striped sock?

Washing is somewhat the bane of my life. It’s easy enough to do, what with automatic washing machines and powders that remove even the stains that are holding siege on the front of white shirts and such; but the constant demand for clean clothes becomes somewhat of a chore. What is more disturbing is that I have an actual bag of odd socks! This bag gets filled, then every so often I find that I can sift through it and find the long lost relative of its inhabitants. This task alone brings me much joy. But deep in the abyss of the bottom of the bag lies a few lost souls. The socks that never ever seem to find their partners, and there they sit, looking forlorn, crying out for the same colour or pattern. But they are a lost cause.

Where have the other ones gone? Why do they never turn up? I have one reasonable explanation. Something that I have proven myself. My daughter’s tend to bring down bulk loads of washing that they have gathered together. They fail to spot the lurking sock that crept behind the bed, or down the side of the bookshelf, and there they sit until I go up to blitz the room, and there I find all these cheeky runaways. Then to my joy, I have pairing socks again.

But still, the lonesome few remain in the bottom of the odd sock bag, never finding their companion.

So, I have a theory, and this will end your conquest to find the meaning of this paranormal event. Deep within the washing machine lies a dark corner, where a sock eating beast exists. It doesn’t want your jeans, as they are too tough; nor your delicates that just don’t have the right consistency,  jumpers just don’t feel right; so this beast selects socks at random, and devours them. They don’t come out in the filter, they don’t appear in an inappropriate load, they just vanish. Henceforth, I name this sock eating beast simply Bob.

Now for something completely different.

The next question is: What is the one comment/statement you have heard that stands out most to you?

This is so hard to answer. Mostly because to pin this down to one statement, could be near impossible. I’ve been pondering about it, and been thinking about significant things people have said to me, or I’ve learnt.

This could go in any direction too. And I find that things that I remember aren’t always the most profound, but all the same, something I have remembered for whatever reason. For example, when I was 23, my Father sat me in his car and taught me how the clutch works. I still remember what he said and why he was saying it. This was to help me learn to drive, and it has helped. But that can’t be the one. How the clutch works is not that profound. It was just a moment I had with my Father.

Something else that has stayed with me for many years is something my sister taught me when I was about 11 years old. I was struggling to learn the chemical symbols. My sister being the science minded person that she is, helped me. And it worked. But she said to me that she would teach me one obscure one, and she taught me that the chemical symbol for Tungsten is W. I never forgot it. But again, it’s not the one. I just remember it well.

I have watched, listened or read loads of things that are meaningful to me. Statements made by famous people, quotes from history, news stories etc. There is just too much information in my little grey cells to pull something significant out.

Some written word is most meaningful and wonderful. I adore Keats for example. I absorb books, and get lost in them. I am enthralled by TV programmes that grab my attention (few and far between), and there are some tunes that will always mean so much to me.

To finish with some conclusion here, I’m going to share with you some quotes that I have read over time that have meaning to me in some respect.

My hippy heart gives you this from Janis Joplin: “Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. There is no yesterday, no tomorrow, it’s all the same day“. From my perspective, I see this as live for today; live for yourself (although not in a selfish way). Which is profound to me in that some parts of my life I’ve compromised and put up with something, because I felt I had to. But once you change that, because it’s better for you to change it, you certainly appreciate it.

My deep heart gives you something from Marie Curie: “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained”.  

As a parent, I read these words more so with my children in mind. They falter, they worry, they struggle, but throughout it all I try to give them the advice that they are capable of so much, they just need to reach high. I think most of us are the same.

From my funny heart, I tried to find something I once read from Ellen DeGeneres. I found this instead, which is very similar. So from Ellen: “Follow your passion. Stay true to yourself. Never follow someone else’s path unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path. By all means, you should follow that”. 

For all Ellen is quirky and funny, she is pretty cool with words and getting the point across well. So yup, I can read this as funny, but I can also find meaning in it too. And I like that.

I hope this brings some sense to The World according to Jen. It’s a funny and confusing place at times, but I like to share. Feel free to let me know if you have the answers to any of these questions.