Charity Marie Blogs!

Total Eclipse of... Nothing?

There's been all this hype in the news about a total eclipse of the sun. It's been on the news around the US and has been the buzz around many a water cooler for the last few days. Even my small office of three, my colleagues left to go home and see the eclipse. What did their skyward eyes see here in Killeen, Texas? Nothing. The sky stayed its usual bright blue. Some shadows shifted, and a big puffy cloud obscured the sun for a few minutes. Otherwise, absolutely nothing changed. As for me, I just kept working. Why? I don't know, I guess because of all the hype.

You see, I'm hype-averse. Yep, that's a word I just made up for this instance and it means "doing everything possible to avoid the thing being over-hyped by everyone else". For some reason, while everyone else is singing the praises of XYZ show, movie, event, musician, video game, or whatever the latest craze is in the world, I'm looking the other way to avoid that. I don't know why but the more hype there is, the more I instinctively, almost compulsively need to avoid it. Does that mean I'm just internally driven to be different? Perhaps. Am I a snob? Definitely not!

Another case in point - the new movie The Dark Tower. The reviews were abysmal. My first thought? They can't possibly be right! Look at who wrote the story! Look who's in it! So my husband and I went to see it. Guess what? It is hands down one of the BEST movies I've seen in the last five years, without a doubt. So maybe I just appreciate things on a different level than everyone else? Perhaps. So remember, the next time someone is really hyping something or putting something down, do yourself a favor and make up your own mind. You might just discover something wonderful!

In whatever case, today was a bit of a disappointment in the solar eclipse department. Work was a bit tough too but there's just days like that. I am taking a New Horizons class amongst all the other craziness in my life and hoping it gets me ready to write my next children's book in 30 days. Anyone wanna NaNoWriMo with me in September?