What, you never heard that one?! Actually, I’m not surprised; it’s an old fav of mine and I often hear folks haven’t gotten to enjoy it yet. It basically means you paint up the pig however you want, but it’s still a pig. I guess there are other delicious nuances that people like my writer friend Andrea could proffer? I used to apply the expression to many tasks at a former job when “going through the motions” was just too cheery an expression.
“C’est la Vie!” Coincidentally the title of the ELP song currently playing and fittingly another one that well fits today’s theme. That’s Life! If you reflect on it, that expression also sums up a universe of feelings. It also calls out my current re-reading of Crucial Conversations, in which the author points out our own reactions to external stimuli, such as a barbed comment or perceived slight, are feelings WE create in ourselves; the other person didn’t dial up that reaction, we did. I figure applying this expression might be better than some of the previous (usually volcanic & internal) reactions I’d have to an occasional off-key remark that rubbed me wrong. My academic fellowship introduced me to this superb book (aka required reading) and I know am re-reading it for deeper insight. Try that sometime with your fav’s – others I’ve done are Gulag Archipelago, 1984, Utopia & War and Peace. C’mon, let’s start an odd book club – tell me your favorite re-readings as an adult and I’ll pass that on anonymously!
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