Karen Carpenter was singing Christmas songs to me the other night at dinner. Despite only being the 2nd day in December, the holiday music has been blaring from various sound systems I’ve encountered for the past couple of weeks.
Today, it’s snowing. Sitting here in my office on the second floor of a building and looking out my window, I think I now know what it must feel like to live in a snow globe. Not that anyone could really live in a snow globe, right?
Wrong! At least for the people who live in the Pacific Northwest. Westlake Park will be debuting their SnowGlobe Live! display alongside a lot of other holiday treats in downtown Seattle.
According to the description…
This giant inflatable snow globe allows you to step into a winter wonderland for a truly unique holiday photo experience. It can accommodate up to six people at a time, creating the perfect backdrop and space to capture a magical holiday photo with friends or family.
I find it ironic that something from Seattle would pop up at this moment. I suppose it stems mostly from a fleeting opportunity that passed in and out of my life about as quickly as the snow flying outside my peripheral view. This opportunity on paper sounded perfect. It was working for a reputable company, on a variety of different marketing initiatives, in a city I love. Well, one that at least I love visiting.
But life in a pretend snow globe can’t equal the quality of life we’ve built here in NM. And inflating a potential opportunity that I only know on “paper” (read: email) will only look great until one steps away from the backdrop and back into the bubble that is reality.
That reality makes me wonder if Karen Carpenter would have stayed true to herself had her life and career not been cut so short. Her voice was amazing, distinctive, pure. Hearing her sing “The Christmas Song” while dining on pad thai still moved me the way it did oh so many years ago. But would she have felt a need to reinvent herself? Would she have tried to be something else as she grew older, all in an attempt to stay “current”?
These days, my work life has been like a broken record, skipping over the same patch day after day. I’ve been trying to change the tune, but nothing has felt right so far.
So on this snowy Thursday, I guess it’s time to sit back and ponder if it’s time to shake things up? Or just let them settle back down in this little globe I currently call home.