Kitten At the Keyboard

If you've read this blog before, you might notice that the name has changed. It might change back to My Little Corner of the World at some point.

The reason? Well, I used the phrase in a previous post and it just struck a chord with me. I've been through a lot of changes in my life over the last 18 months, some deliberate, some not wanted at all. I'm in the process of making more changes, so I when I used the phrase, I thought, hmmm...this might be a good time for a change here, too. I might even find a cute picture of a kitten on a keyboard to use as a logo.

I'm a firm believer in the old adage that says, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I don't like change just for the sake of change. I believe in change when it's necessary, and I hope I'll never be a person who is afraid of change or can't adjust to change. I just prefer that when changes are made, it's done because it's needed, not just to "stir things up" or "because it's time". That's not necessarily a good reason for change. Don't you hate walking into a store and finding that everything has been moved around since the last time you were there? Now you have to spend time looking for what you want. That's the idea. When you are looking for that one item, you'll see dozens of things you haven't seen before and maybe will spend more money. Change in a store layout is done for a reason: to make more money.

My friend Alicia told me about a change that happened to her many years ago. She was newly married and the in-laws came to visit. While she and her husband were out, her sister-in-law rearranged her kitchen cabinets. The SIL thought she was doing a good thing by better organizing the cabinets. Well, it wasn't a change Alicia wanted made and was changed back to her arrangement about five minutes after the in-laws left. Moral of this story: don't make changes in someone else's house unless they have at least expressed the opinion that they wanted to make a change.

One thing I won't change is my reason for this blog: to express my opinion. Opinions are an interesting things. Everyone has one about everything. Some people freely express theirs, others are more reticent about expressing theirs. I retain the right to express my opinion here about anything and everything I choose to. I further retain the right to change my opinion, maybe in the middle of a sentence, if I choose to. That means that I've received further information, or while discussing a topic, realize that I now understand facts/information differently than I had previously. Sometimes change can be beneficial.

And sometimes not so much. One time I got a raise. Isn't getting a raise a good thing? It put me into a higher tax bracket and I ended up taking home five cents less than I had the week before. When I saw my boss the next day, I told him I couldn't afford to get many raises like that. He went to the company accountant and had my raise changed so that I stayed in the previous tax bracket and actually took home more money. That was a change I could live with. I couldn't do that today, as I work in the public sector, not the private and don't have any say in how much of a raise I get - or if I get one at all.

One thing you must remember about change: Be careful what you wish for. It might not be all that it's cracked up to be.