Why is Atlas Laughing?

Where to begin?  Well, the only thing that I have been passionate about for my entire life is writing.  Yet, the only thing that I have not fully given myself to is…. wait for it…. writing.  Huh.  So, I decided that enough is enough.

Every author that I respect has been quoted saying that if you want to be a writer, you have to write every day.  I have found a million reasons to not write every day.  Well, maybe not a million, but at least fifty.  And the truth is that I’m done coming up with reasons to not do the one thing that really makes me happy.  I also felt like I didn’t have something to write about every day; so I took a look at my other goals and decided how I could incorporate them in to my writing.  Thus, I present to you my seven weekly goals and their format in my blog:

Message Mondays – I can’t promise that every Monday will be a meaningful message.  I mean, I can’t be deep and reflective all of the time.  Perhaps, on some Mondays, I will just rant about something that I feel needs to be ranted about.  We’ll see.

Try It Tuesdays – I have moved around quite a bit and I throughly enjoy the opportunity that that has given me to try many new things.  However, I feel that I have grown a little stagnant now that I have been living in the Cleveland area for almost three years.  So Tuesdays will be focused on simply trying something new be it a restaurant, DIY project, recipe, or maybe even a beer.

Weigh In Wednesdays – For starters, you are out of your freaking mind if you actually think that I will be posting my weight for all of the world to see.  That, my friends, will not be happening.  However, I would like to use this day to focus on healthier living and the struggles and triumphs of weight loss.

Thankful Thursdays – Over all, I think that I am a rather thankful person.  Over all, I think that I can afford to be more thankful.  I would like to devote this day to focusing on the things in the week that reminded me of everything that I have to be thankful for.

Finance Fridays – I am a part of the 70 billion Americans (this isn’t an actual figure but it sounds good to me!) who are in massive student loan debt.  My normal modus operandi is to simply pretend that it doesn’t exist.  Sometimes I actually like to hide the bills on myself in my two-year-old’s  mentality because if I can’t see them, they surely aren’t there.  I have come to the realization though that I can’t ignore it forever, mainly because they are so damn persistent.  If I were half as persistent as them when it comes to exercising I wouldn’t even need a “Weigh In Wednesdays” section.  So, Fridays will be focused on keeping myself on track and, hopefully, coming up with some new ideas on how to save money and make the money I have stretch.  Much like my weight though, I will not tell you how much debt I have, that’s just tacky.

Share It Saturdays – I have a great love for writing overly dramatic letters to companies telling them how I feel about their products.  I will use this day to post these letters and their subsequent responses.  And lastly,

Study Sundays – Since I often like to put the cart before the horse, I don’t actually even have my BBA yet that has caused me to amass such student loan debt.  On the bright side though, I do only have about one year left.  This is the portion to help keep me motivated and share with you some of the extreme stupidity that I have come across in academia.

In closing, you may be asking yourself, “So why is Atlas laughing?”  In Greek Mythology it is told that Zeus punished Atlas for betraying the Titans by forcing him to hold Uranus on his shoulders for all eternity.  Today it is commonly depicted as Atlas holding up the earth.  In my all time favorite book, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, it is suggested that if Atlas refused to continue to hold up the world life, as we know it, would cease to exist.  If the dreamers, thinkers, inventors, and creators all just decided to stop giving away their gift to a society that doesn’t appreciate it, where would we be?

I think it is only natural for all of us to feel like Atlas from time to time.  Perhaps we feel that we are being punished by God, or that we are punishing ourselves and so we carry the world on our shoulders.  We are terrified to make one false move because we could destroy everything.  At times I think we also feel like the characters in Atlas Shrugged who feel under appreciated and used for their minds, their hearts, and their souls.  So my question is this, we all know, or have an idea, what happens if Atlas shrugs.  But what would happen if Atlas laughed?  I’m not suggesting that we forget about our problems entirely, in many ways that would be irresponsible.  But what if, for just a moment, we allowed ourselves the freedom to laugh?  Laughter has been my saving grace on more occasions than I can count.  And that is why, rather than “shrugging” and denying the world of the gifts that God has given me to share, I am choosing to “laugh” through the burdens that sometimes seem too great.  Please feel free to laugh with me.