yay me

I'm walking home from the mall yesterday and I look up at a tree (a monkey-puzzle tree) and think "wow! what ARE those round spiky things?" And my first instinct is to stand there and gaze up at it, and maybe try to get one down so that I can inspect one. The scientist in me has clearly come to the forefront! And then I think "No, must continue home so that I can see my kids".

So, why does this generate a post entitled "yay me"? Well, I'm doing a lot of reading about science and history, lately (try "A short history of nearly everything" by bill bryson) and I keep reading about whacko people who are distracted by anything that moves (or doesn't move) and can barely have normal lives because they are so focused on science. And sometimes, I envy those people. Marie Curie comes to mind; her two daughters freely admit that their mother had three children: themselves and science, and science was clearly her favourite. She was one of very few people to ever be awarded TWO Nobel Prizes (one in Physics, one in Chemistry, I believe). The problem is that everyone around these people, and often themselves, as well, can suffer because of their overwhelming focus on their passion, whatever it might be.

I like to think I have some of that passion and interest in life and the world around us but I can balance it with the requirements of REAL life as well. And because yesterday was not a particularly good day I thought I would write a post giving myself a pat on the back for it.