Your Two Things

I haven't really gotten out of the house yet. Well, again, did the shopping, went to church once and house sat another day but haven't been able to have a fun escape. Too many things are keeping me here. 


But I still crave social interaction. With our first internet connection in the mid '90's I learned a very valuable lesson: there are people out there accessible through this machine.


At that time I was a SAHM of a bitty baby girl. We had been relocated from Chicago to a teeny tiny town in Iowa. Actually, we had been relocated three times in less than two years so the opportunities to meet people were very, very slim. I was lonely and while my Mommy Susan was flourishing, My Inner Susan was withering away.


The internet changed that for me. 


And it's what I go back to when I am stuck at home like I have been lately. Doing that today I was led by a woman that I follow on twitter, but have never met in real life, to this article:Article from a country I have never been to, brought to my attention by a woman I have never met- but one that got me thinking. 


Basically, the article is about a blog started by a man who was an economist. This economist met someone in a bar who sort of changed the way he thought. (Sounds like the beginning of a joke,"This economist walks into a bar...")

Anyway- at that meeting the new acquaintance asked him to narrow economics down to two things. Two statements. From that column (This Column Will Change Your Life, by Oliver Burkeman) in The Guardian:

" 'You know, the Two Things. For every subject, there are only two things you need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not important.' " 


 This game got the economist thinking, and really I am about as far from an economist as you can get, but it got me thinking, too. It must, therefor, be a universal thought generator. 


Think about what you do. Maybe not even what you get paid for doing, but what titles you associate with yourself. Can you narrow it down to two things?


Can I?


Let's see:


Mother:
1) Love with your heart 
2) Love with your brain


Blogger/Writer:
1)Open mind to possibilities
2)Close mind and edit


Podcaster:
1)Prepare, prepare, prepare
2)Make it sound like you didn't have to prepare




Here is a link to The Two Things Blog if you want some ideas. The economists name is Glen Whitman and it sounds like he is a former economist, current writer which sort of makes me smile. Why? Because if I had to narrow life down to two things I might say:



1) Love your choices with all you have
2) Be prepared for change


If you want to follow the bouncing red ball across the internet it looks like this: twitter led me to a website that led me to a blog that prompted me to write this blog which I will share on several social media sites. And you can, too, if it gets you thinking.


And if you want a recommendation of someone very interesting to follow on twitter: Howlinow


I know, you aren't a commenter, but I really would like to hear your Two Things.