When it all comes out in the wash

"Your thoughts are your thoughts ....Give me your opinions and observations. "

If anything in life is worth watching, reading, or listening to, it's often because it stirs our souls and our passions. There is a connection. To him. To her. To the music. To the script. To the images. To a group or a team.

I was in a meeting yesterday that left me highly frustrated. I got back to the office and wrote down 12 reasons why that was.

Observation: have you noticed how when men are asked "how do you feel about that?" they will almost certainly reply along the lines of "I think that..." or "My view is..."

Opinion: I think that guys are less in touch with how they feel about stuff. Especially me.

I don't think that to say I am frustrated about 12 different things is anywhere near a true reflection of what I actually feel. I am trying to learn the process of breaking that stuff down so I can understand it. Frustration, in other words, may be resentment, disappointment, anger, fear, inaction, inappropriateness, desperation, jealousy, dread, confusion and so on, not only in units but a mixture of them?

The process of writing down my list helped my to get to grips with what I was thinking and feeling. I wrote it all in an email about 2 o'clock and decided not to send it. I felt calmer and more in control of my emotions.

A friend today pointed out that an email I sent later about 4.45 pm could have been softer, and so it could. It was another instance of frustration, entirely separate to the above, some of my earlier feelings went into the latter email. Feio!

Can observations connect? Can thoughts? Maybe. But if this blog is worth writing, if it is worth reading, it will be because it means something - to me at least. It is written by a human, not a machine, who cannot easily assign observations, thoughts, opinions and feelings to disconnected compartments.

I guess I could just have presented the above observation and opinion and then said "Discuss". But that seems pretty bland to me. So if, guys, you want my opinions and observations ONLY, it just ain't gonna happen - do you see? Anyway, if YOU have found a way to separate out then, please, tell me your secret! Chow baby. ;o)