by Susan Artabasy

Created on: March 05, 2009

Playing Brick Breaker While the World Is Falling Down Around Me

Those of you who own a Blackberry know what Brick Breaker is.
It is a mindless game that resembles a modern day Pong. It takes just enough attention to play that it distracts you from the noise of your mind, but not so much skill that you have to try too hard to become an adequate player. It distracts your attention much like staring into a fire can hypnotize you.

When I was very young, I swore I would never work in an office.
In my high school years, I enjoyed creativity through writing and performing skits for a TV production class, as well as, a local comedy troupe. I played bass guitar (very poorly) and somehow always envisioned myself doing these types of activities all my life. For my physical exercise, nature was my playground. I rode horses, skated, hiked and even played "house" outside by a creek. One side of the creek was home, the other side was work, travel was swinging across on a vine. We never considered this exercise, we were just having fun. It never occurred to me that I would not be a break out, female bass player, comedy actress (I so cracked myself up) or that life could take me in a different direction. The banality of office life just wasn't for me. It never occurred to me that the people who worked in that type of career didn't choose that direction, it chose them.

By the time I was old enough to know I had to pay bills, I amended my proclamation from " I will never work in an office" to "I will never be that person who sits in an airport with a notebook computer and cell phone simultaneously connected to some appendage of my body." Of course, I amended my original proclamation because I did indeed now work in office. Complete with my generic cubicle, boring call center job and office politics. I liked my call center job for about two months, but unfortunately ended up staying for nine years. I soon began yearning for the coveted outside sale position to get me out of the office.

While I was sitting on the floor of an airport, typing away on my notebook computer and talking to my boss on my cell phone, I amended my current proclamation from " I will never be that person who sits in an airport with a notebook computer and cell phone simultaneously connected to some appendage of my body" to "I will never be that person that carries a Blackberry so the world can have access to my tired self 24 x 7." I mean, I was already working 60-80 hours per week and that was where I was drawing

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