Great Expectations
Inspired by several current special events I constructed this haiku:
Anticipation;
Nostalgia for something that
Hasn’t happened yet.
When thinking about a long anticipated event one can get caught up in the possibilities without regard to reality. Everything seems to be in place to make it memorable and an experience to treasure in the future. But so much can go wrong that it’s sometimes necessary to put the brakes on anticipation and lower ones expectations a tad, just to protect oneself against unforeseen disappointments. Even some minor glitch can get blown out of proportion just because the “ideal” parade suffers a drizzle. But the mere fact of a travel snag or a weather blip doesn’t mean you have to leave the cake out in the rain. You really can make lemonade from the most mundane ingredients if you lower your expectations in advance.
It’s a warning always to be aware of. I had a glorious day at the beach ruined by the worst traffic jam of my life on the trip home (a sunburned butt didn’t help). I had the once-in-a-lifetime thrill of cruising through the Panama Canal almost smothered by a travel glitch; not of my own making but caused by some “executive” decision to delay my flight out of Acapulco and causing me to miss my connection and suffer a horrible overnight stay in a fleabag hotel in Chicago in the dead of winter. My Panama cruise will be forever made murky by the subsequent horror. I have other examples but those should suffice.
Expectations can end up being so cruel. But, damn it, anticipation can be fun. And sometimes the glitch makes the pudding. Getting trapped for an hour on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World was horrible. But the telling of it is a hoot. Which goes to prove that nostalgia can be fickle and wears a Janus mask sometimes.
Anticipation;
Nostalgia for something that
Hasn’t happened yet.
When thinking about a long anticipated event one can get caught up in the possibilities without regard to reality. Everything seems to be in place to make it memorable and an experience to treasure in the future. But so much can go wrong that it’s sometimes necessary to put the brakes on anticipation and lower ones expectations a tad, just to protect oneself against unforeseen disappointments. Even some minor glitch can get blown out of proportion just because the “ideal” parade suffers a drizzle. But the mere fact of a travel snag or a weather blip doesn’t mean you have to leave the cake out in the rain. You really can make lemonade from the most mundane ingredients if you lower your expectations in advance.
It’s a warning always to be aware of. I had a glorious day at the beach ruined by the worst traffic jam of my life on the trip home (a sunburned butt didn’t help). I had the once-in-a-lifetime thrill of cruising through the Panama Canal almost smothered by a travel glitch; not of my own making but caused by some “executive” decision to delay my flight out of Acapulco and causing me to miss my connection and suffer a horrible overnight stay in a fleabag hotel in Chicago in the dead of winter. My Panama cruise will be forever made murky by the subsequent horror. I have other examples but those should suffice.
Expectations can end up being so cruel. But, damn it, anticipation can be fun. And sometimes the glitch makes the pudding. Getting trapped for an hour on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World was horrible. But the telling of it is a hoot. Which goes to prove that nostalgia can be fickle and wears a Janus mask sometimes.
posted by peebstuff | Sunday, October 23, 2011
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