Kidney Stones , Clients , and General Craziness

Having a kidney stone and trying to work immediately dumps a lot of life lessons your way. I learned a lot of factoids about kidney stones that I wish I never needed to know. Like how they can get stuck in your ureter (something else I never thought about). Anyways ,  mine did for 6 weeks until they had to laser it out of me last Wednesday. In the interim there was lots of time of pain , bleeding , tiredness , and other unfortunate side effects that are quite icky to hear about.

Most of the people I knew were concerned about my health , but then there were the people who just could not work their schedule around the unpredictable kidney stone spasms , and in that experience, the craziness of our society is revealed.

1.Patience- We as a society in this world of instantaneous gratification have no patience. We want to devour life like a lunch time Big Mac. It reflects in everything we do , often negatively. It interferes with getting what you really want in some cases. When we settle for what is quick , we miss out on the process of creation. We do not give an artisan the time they need to show us a custom and personalized solution to our design question.We do not even allow designers the time they need to research the best answer to our needs. We shorten the process , but cheapen the result.

2. The “I don’t want this to be happening so it isn’t” or the land of denial. When some people pretended I did not have a kidney stone or it could not be as bad as I thought , it did not keep me from falling to the floor and writhing in pain when it spasmed.  I am sure no one really wanted me at their house when that occurred , but they just weren’t thinking beyond their immediate needs. We as a society in some cases have hardened ourselves to the misfortunes of others. We shut off our concerns about those who serve us.Including their health , financial , and family crisis. We do not allow others the courtesy and recovery we would allow ourselves. And again we short change our own selves because you do not get the best out of others under duress. We reap what we sow , less than the ideal.

3. Finally I call it crazy when we do not seek the best but seek the most available. A bird in the hand does not apply to fine design. There is custom and there is convenient. And there is a big difference between the two.  You will usually pay about the same for both , so you start to throw your money away as well when you won’t wait. We used to say Patience is a virtue , it still is , and maybe even more so.

It is Wednesday , can you wait for Friday and plan a great weekend of magical moments , or do you rush forth through the day angry at whatever stands in your path? Do you resent anyone who throws off your schedule? Are you so rigid in your control that you are missing the mores and accepting the less? Watch out , life has a way of grabbing your attention and showing you who is Boss, it can be as small as a 6mm stone.

Peggy Oberlin RID4986