A Message From Los Angelista

You may not have known it, but over the last few months I have been devoting a considerable amount of time to reflecting on my plans for 2008. As you know, there are so many profound considerations that must be taken into account when thinking about the future. Before committing myself to any one definite course of action, I've consulted with my family, my friends, my horoscope, and reflected on the comments left by you, my readership.

Yes, I've talked with people from around the country, surfed the blogosphere, eavesdropped in Starbucks and listened and learned about the challenges faced by every day people in America. Undeniably, you want change on an unprecedented scale. You hunger for a new spirit in this country. You want a leadership that remains unsullied by the influence of money, a leadership that will give you reasonably priced health care, an excellent education and fair cell phone billing practices.

And so it is with a careful consideration that I announce that I won't be filing papers today to create a presidential exploratory committee. My running for president right now just wouldn't be the right decision for my family or for this country.

I know those of you, especially those of you from my home state of Illinois, may be surprised by this decision. I can only encourage you to keep creating meaningful change within your personal sphere of influence. Surely, if we across this country follow your Land of Lincoln example, we can all achieve our vision of ultimate victory.

Please know, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your prayers, your warm wishes and your encouragement. I believe in you.

With warmest regards,

Los Angelista

So Many Decisions, So Little Time

How do you make decisions regarding your life? Do you mull things over or do you exist in the realm of snap decisions? I'm a thinker, an analyzer. Probably an overanalyzer. Sometimes that analysis gives me a headache...and I think it may be giving me more wrinkles on my forehead.

I've always secretly admired those individuals who operate primarily from snap decisions. As a result, I've been trying to turn over a new leaf and go with my gut more. I think I may be getting a little too good at it. I found myself deciding to do something so quickly today that the decision and the action were pretty much simultaneous.

I'm talking about really trusting your gut. More than that even, I'm talking about trusting and listening to your soul. Whatever we call it, in our everyday lives, we are taught to not trust it...after all, if we can't buy it in Walmart, it must not be real. We are taught to only see what's in front of us, to analyze the data, make a pivot table, consult others who are experts...and on and on. Do the data/chart/Excel spreadsheet thing for awhile and then try to make a decision without all that. Yes, try to make a decision based on what your soul is saying instead of what some pros vs. cons T-chart is telling you. It's hard to make that decision by listening to your soul when you're out of practice. At least, for me it is.

It reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink. His theory is that we often make our best decisions rapidly, within the blink of an eye. He has a very technical term, "rapid cognition." I suppose it's useful to remember there's a name for what I've felt when I've met someone I dislike instantaneously, or the opposite sentiment I've experienced with others with whom I've felt an immediate connection.

I'm not talking about making snap decisions like that sad girl, Jenn, on the Real World Denver. Jenn has been in a gazillion commercials for this season's show and now has the unfortunate distinction of forever being known as the girl who said, "And then I realized, Oh my God! I'm having sex!" (I wish I could tell Jenn that somebody must be pretty bad in bed if she just "realized" she was having sex...) I think we can all agree, that's just being stupid, not making a snap decision.

But what if my decision was just pure stupidity as well? What if my intuition, soul searching, gut-trusting, rapid cognition powers were being clouded by, for example, pride or anger? --Oh heck, we might as well throw all of the rest of the seven deadly sins for good measure. Any of them could have come into play...I'm definitely a skilled practioner of a few.

Yes, as refreshing as it felt to not endlessly analyze and re-analyze every scrap of information at my disposal, two hours later I started thinking, "Did I make the right decision? Did I do the right thing?"

Ultimately, I think I did. I feel a certain peace that I don't think I'd feel otherwise. I can't count or measure that feeling, but it's quite real.

I'm going to trust it.