Be an Asset to the Collective

Greetings! I am excited to be guest posting here today while Kristin is living it up BlogHer '11! I'm Kathy from  Four of a Kind  (formerly Three of a kind working on a full house...) and I write about my family's five year journey through secondary infertility and loss, as well as parenting and life since then. I wish I was with Kristin and so many other awesome bloggers in San Diego right now, but since that was not to be this year, I was honored when Kristin asked me to write something here on Dragondreamer's Liar.

Last weekend I had a really bad day in my little corner of the IT world, as I shared about in this post. It took a few kind and clever guys from iYogi tech support in India, a few hours of my life and a lot of "good karma" to help me get our home computers running well again. Late last Sunday night, while I was watching one of the iYogi tech support staff work his magic, as he remotely controlled my desktop and laptop computers, I decided to see what was happening on Twitter.

As I scrolled through my Twitter-feed that night I happened to notice an interchange between Kristin (from the wonderful blog you are on right now) and Kym (from The Smartness) and decided to join their conversation... Kym was sharing about it being the last night before she returned to school (she is a teacher) and Kristin had quoted non-other than Soul II Soul's "Back to Life," taunting Kym (with love) about it being time to return to reality! Kym teased Kristin about getting that song stuck in her head and then I proceeded to share some of my favorite Soul II Soul tunes to add to the soundtrack on instant replay spinning around in Kym's head as she tried to wind down on the eve a new school year.

In our tweeting back and forth that night, I asked Kym if she knew of my favorite Soul II Soul song called "Get a Life" (see the lyrics below).

This thing called life
know what’s the meaning of the line
tell me
well it’s like dreaming of your goals , ambitions feeling free
achieve what
what’s in your minds eye
this is what you should gain
Satisfaction becomes a shinning example
a test of a sample of a new race
that has ample supply of positivity
you mean flow
well like electricity
so
you see a clear way with no ambiguity
don’t you know

Whats the meaning
whats the meaning of life
whats the meaning
whats the meaning of life
Elevate your mind
free your soul
well come on come on
feel the feeling let your body take control

Well don’t be afraid to experiment you know umm
go ahead you know and implement your ideas
your notions put them in motion
like the words the funki dreds have spoken to you
so listen up loud and clear
this is a word you must be aware of
What ya gonna do put it in your life tool

and that's the meaning of life
Whats the meaning
whats the meaning of life
whats the meaning
whats the meaning of life
whats the meaning
whats the meaning of life
whats the meaning
whats the meaning of life
And it goes on
Elevate your mind
free your soul
well come on come on
feel the feeling let your body take control

So there it is work it out for yourself
yeah , be selective be objective
be an asset to the collective
as you know you have to get a life

Whats the meaning
whats the meaning of life
whats the meaning
whats the meaning of life
whats the meaning
whats the meaning of life
whats the meaning
whats the meaning of life
elevate your mind
free your soul
well come on come on
feel the feeling let your body take control
ah yeah

Kym replied to my tweet by quoting a line from "Get a Life." Then I shared my favorite line from the song, "be selective, be objective, be an asset to the collective." I have always thought that was such an inspiring and profound statement. I have also pondered what it means for me to "be an asset to the collective."

As a blogger, especially in the Adoption, Loss and Infertility (ALI) Community, I believe that there are so many ways and opportunities for me (and all of us) to be an asset to our collective group of those who have found that our journeys to build and/or expand our families have not played out the way the hoped or dreamed that they would.

I am grateful to Kristin and so many other bloggers who have reached out to and supported me on my journey through infertility and loss over the years. Though so much of why I choose to write and share about my life and experiences on my blog is for me, I do really appreciate the chance to receive validation and feedback from others who understand and can relate to what I blog about. I also find it an honor and privilege, as a "wounded healer," to try to reach out to and support others in our "collective."

How about you? What does it mean to you "to be an asset to the collective?" How do you feel that you are an "asset" to our ALI Community and/or the other groups that you are part of and contribute your time, talent and treasure to in your life?

Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts on this post. Thanks again to Kristin for inviting me to be here today. I hope that you are having a wonderful time at BlogHer `11 and can't wait to hear (and read) all about it!

Whether or not you have been over there before, I would love for you to please visit me at my blog Four of a Kind anytime. I really appreciate your comments and feedback on what I wrote here today, as well as on my blog entries over there any day!

Did I tell you my hubby was in an accident?

I don't think I did. A week ago Monday (the 2nd), Vic was on his way home from work and was sitting at a stop light. The left turn lane started to move and the idjit behind him caught sight of the moving cars and, without looking up from his cell phone, he stepped on the gas. He then looked up and realized his lane still had a read light. His full sized pick up truck slammed into the back of my hubby's Ford Taurus. The force actually lifted the rear end of the car up. His hitch punched a hole in the bumper, totally bowed the trunk, and broke the weld on the steel plate that is the rear part of the frame. Thank God they were at a stop light because the speed wasn't high enough to hurt Vic even though his car has been officially totaled.

Once again, my family has stepped up and saved us a shitload of money. My parents have a van that they bought a number of years ago when they were helping transport a handicapped friend. When they were done using it, it went to my middle sis and her husband. Now, it is coming to Vic and me. The van needs some repairs but we should be able to complete them for less than 1/4 of the insurance money. This completely ROCKS because we will have money left to save for Christmas and other things rather than having to use it all as a down payment and end up with monthly car payments.

So...now Vic will have to change his theme song from "Up on Cripple Creek" to John Boy and Billy's "Married Man" (sung to the Spiderman music)...

lyrics transcribed from the Married Man On Mother's Day video

Married man, married man
drives around in a minivan
got a wife and some kids
his whole life's on the skids
hey there, there goes the married man

How's he feel, listen dude
this poor guy's really screwed
hanging on by a thread,
quart of milk, loaf of bread
hey there, there goes the married man

Got a big gas grill
buys his clothes at the Gap
and he's just about
had enough of this crap

Married man, married man
friendly neighborhood married man
life for him has no zing
wife won't let him do a thing
She says it's about time he grew up
wherever there's a screw up,
you'll find the married man

One thing we did learn from this escapade is keep track of your car title. Evidently, we lost our copy of Vic's car title when we moved and, in NC, it takes 15 frakking days to get a copy of a car title. So, we are having to get the insurance company to take the car rental costs for the next two weeks out of our settlement...ugh.

Oh well, at least my hubby is safe and sound.