The eye of the beholder

[Image credit: Danilo Rizzuti]

A couple of weekends ago I learned a little about subjectivity.  Last year, my family embarked on a business venture as landlords.  When the lease was up, we decided it wasn’t for us and prepared the home for sale.  After spending hours cleaning, I realized the concept of cleanliness is subjective.  Many other things in life are reflected in shades of gray rather than black and white.  I wonder, then, who becomes the determining judge … who wins the argument.  In the case of our rental property, we expected the home to be left in the same condition it was when we rented it out.  Immaculate.  What we walked into was a year’s worth of dust covering each ceiling fan, scorched flat top glass stove, blackened baseboards, stained toilets.  It was disheartening, but a bit of a lesson.  First, it confirmed our decision to dissolve our venture and second, we realized sometimes even the little things need to be spelled out.

What is a subjective in your life?

Taking a stand … or not

[Image credit: digitalart]

Earlier this week, I asked my daughter for blog ideas.  Have you ever talked about personal beliefs? she responded.  When my immediate answer was no, she questioned if I was afraid I’d be judged for taking a stand.  I denied her suggestion, stating that I prefer to keep my topics middle-of-the-road.  After thinking about it a bit, however, I wondered if perhaps I am afraid I’ll turn off my readers … be judged.  One of my original purposes for this blog was to ramble about the topics near and dear to my heart, ones that tend to be common threads among others — hopes and dreams, disappointment, loss, grammar faux pas (of course) — whatever tickles my fancy at the moment.  Maybe I should be more open with my beliefs.  But while my core values remain the same, my viewpoints tend to be fluid, ever-changing.  I guess I just think there is a time and a place.  And for me this isn’t it.

Do you take a stand whenever possible?