Thunderstorms ruined my evening run. While I normally I enjoy running in the rain, thunder and lightning and hail and tornadoes keep me inside. Then I watch my all-time favorite rainy day movie: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Today I pondered the life lessons contained in that classic work of comedic gold.
16. Approach unfamiliar animals with caution.
I worked in an animal shelter for six years. Trust me, rabies shots hurt less as a preventative than as a cure. Beware the biting moose and rabbits with vicious streaks a mile wide. Seriously, rabbit bites hurt. I’m not kidding. Really.
15. Don’t judge a book by its cover.
I assume you know what they say about assume. In judging too quickly, we miss out on surprising experiences. Llamas prove excellent producers/directors, a hamster and an elderberry-scented man produced King Arthur, and Tims everywhere can achieved greatness as enchanters. So go out and try something new, like cooking potatoes in a rice cooker or drinking iced coffee mixed with Dr. Pepper.
14. Choose your occupation wisely.
Everyone wants students to succeed. Unfortunately, success isn’t always defined the same way. I want them to meet their full potential; parents may want them to become rich, famous, or both; the government wants superior test scores. As a whole, society measures success by our jobs. If you value safety and boredom (but not necessarily job security), then write subtitles. After all, English majors have to do something. At the very least, they can join POEM. On the other hand, historians live in constant peril of death via ancient weaponry. Not something you’d normally associate with books, lecture halls, and the occasional History Channel misinformation documentary but that’s life for you.
(My apologies if I chose the wrong language.)
13. Make do with what you have.
There was a saying during The Depression: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” That attitude persists; if you don’t believe me, just check out Pinterest. Without Monty Python and the Holy Grail, we might never know that coconuts are an acceptable substitute for horses, that some people use the plague as an excuse to get rid of unwanted relatives, and that the French use body odor as a defensive weapon. All this time we thought they were unhygienic . . .
For what it’s worth, the French think Americans stink, too.
At least, the ones I overheard at Disney did.
I guess that makes us even?
12. Government doesn’t always make sense.
Leaders gain power through one of three ways: family, force, or farce elections . Having gained power, leaders attempt to keep it by distracting their people with wars or trivial yet highly politicized matters. Wherever you happen to fall on the political spectrum, I think we can agree that “strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.”
Running In My Head 
That’s getting shot out of a cannon and scrambling to survive.
It was you – then that moment, but you’ve dug deeper ( landing in soft ground from cannon shot will do that. ) and rolled on. Fun, right?
Just write. And keep rollin’
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I appreciate your reflections on finding your voice and the time and experienced it requires. It’s good for a new blogger to hear.
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