Two Questions

The other day I stopped at my favorite yarn shop.  After purchasing a few skeins of yarn for projects that were skittering around in my brain I stopped at the counter up front to get a coffee drink to take with me.  Behind the counter was a quiet young man wearing a top hat and stripped apron.  He is the question man.

Regular or decaf, milk or soy, hot or iced, here or to go.  I thought that was the about the extent of his questions.  Then, while concocting my iced decaf latte with soy to-go he asked, "So, what have you done so far today that was fun?"  Silence.  Think, think.  Then I told him that I had just played my accordion at the nursing home for my dad.  Then I thought, did I really have fun, or was it simply on my Friday morning to-do list?  What can I do to make sure that it's fun?

He seemed satisfied with my answer and we talked about the resurgence of the accordion, and I taught him the definition of perfect pitch.  Perfect pitch is when you toss an accordion into a dumpster and it hits a banjo.  Some people actually think that that's funny.

But he wasn't finished.  Next he asked, "What do you have planned for later today that you're really excited about doing?"  I didn't have an answer.  I just never thought of planning my days with those questions in mind.  What have I done that's been fun, and what's in my plan for the rest of the day that has me excited.  It seems I've been coasting through my days guided by a to-do list.  It seems that I'm sinking into the state of becoming a human doing instead of a human being.  Silence.  More silence. 

How about if I start every day with those two questions.  Maybe check up on my progress at lunch.  I think I'll give it a shot.  I'll let you know what happens.