Abundant Bullshit

I had a couple of friends who were working on some landscaping improvements at their respective homes. They both decided awhile back that their not-so-fertile soil needed a little boost. To that end, they traveled to the outskirts of town to visit a local farmer-friend, and being the kind o’ gal who’s always up for an adventure, I decided to tag along.

The farmer-friend had a large corralled area behind his house. There, a pretty cow and her calf were spending their lazy days of summer. And sure enough, my friends found exactly what they were looking for, in abundance. The corral was indeed a veritable treasure-trove of—you guessed it—bullshit.

(Alright, alright, I know... technically, it's cowshit. But that just doesn't have the same ring to it though, does it? And besides, the term "cowshit" isn't exactly in keeping with the purpose and objectives of this particular blog entry. Heck, I'm a writer, not a ranch hand, for crimineeee sakes. So, let's just let that one go, shall we? Thanks.)

Now, if you know me at all, you know I can be somewhat of an odd-ball at times. The fact that I admit I thoroughly enjoyed myself out there on that bullshit-harvesting excursion is no doubt bona fide proof. So, okay, I know I’m weird.

But as we shoveled and sweated and loaded up the trucks with mounds of well-seasoned bullshit, I silently reflected on the meaning of it all… the profound philosophical perspective hidden at the core of the activity in which I was happily engaged. Ultimately, I arrived at the following conclusion:

In life, bullshit happens. Sometimes, in abundance.

And when it does, surprisingly, it can be either horribly unpleasant or curiously palatable. What makes the difference? Well… I think, in a big way, it depends on my own attitude. A solid sense of humor doesn’t seem to hurt, either.

Here are some of the sub-conclusions I drew as I shoveled:

• It seems that, as a general rule, what goes in must come out. It’s just nature. No use arguing with it. Might as well accept it.

• In life—as in a corral of bullshit—sometimes I have to dig a little deeper in order to get to the really good stuff.

• I should try not to be fooled by the “seemingly bad.” Something might appear to be just downright shitty. But I should give it a little time. I should try to look at it from a new angle. I might discover that what seemed bad can actually serve a valuable purpose in life.

• It’s best not to go shooting off my mouth and taking credit for the origin of anything. There’s a darn good possibility that someone or something else came along before me and played an important role.

• There’s nothing wrong with being a very dirty girl once in awhile.

• Proper aging fosters value and nurtures perfection.

• Some—not all, but some bullshit on this planet is free for the taking.

And last but not least…

• If it looks like bullshit, and it smells like bullshit, and most of my closest, most trusted friends agree that it’s bullshit, then I probably shouldn’t second-guess it. It’s probably bullshit.

Karen