On Soul Searching and Stroganoff

Recently, I had a freak out. Not a large one, mind you. Call it a medium-sized existential bump in the road. It left me feeling cold, lost, and like an identical snowflake rather than a special, individual one. I started thinking about being un-extraordinary, and quickly became overwhelmed by how (gasp) normal I am. I haven't started up a company, or become famous, won awards, or made filthy amounts of money garnering me a life of leisure. So what am I doing with my life, exactly? This equated to:

My life - incredible achievements = pointless

Leave it to Steve to bring reason into my excessively emotional and hyperbolic equation.  He proved through the transitive property (remember that guy? if a=b and b=c then a=c):

If  My life = Our friends' lives

And Our friends' lives - incredible achievements = awe inspiring, important 

Then My life - incredible achievements = awe inspiring, important

It made sense. It's the transitive property for pete's sake. Even though they are (gasp) normal, my friends are incredible. They are important to me and have made a huge difference in who and what I am. They inspire me to be a better person. And we're all on our way to Somewhere. Shouldn't I grant myself the same appreciation I have for my friends? So after I finished blubbering, Steve asked "What do you want to do tonight?"

"I want to have friends over for dinner." Some friends were heading out of town the next day. They had mentioned their fridge was nearly empty in preparation for their trip. They'd be stressed from packing, and a hot, home cooked meal would probably be low on their priority list. Obvious candidates. We looked around our kitchen and that magic happened where an unplanned meal falls into place, like when clouds clear up and you see the sunset that's been hiding the whole time. Baked brie with Ficoco and crackers, salad, and mushroom stroganoff.

We had a great dinner and I once again felt comfortable with my place in life. The world felt warm and bright, and small. As though I could be friends with anyone and everyone if they would just come over for dinner.