a cog.
July 7, 2008
We went to a provincial park this weekend to visit some friends, just for the day. The children were very excited to go, not only to see their friends, but because they knew they’d be playing at the beach all day long, and that we would have dinner by the water.
Last year we decided to buy a portable barbecue for beach days. Though we could have purchased any style we wanted, we decided to get an old-fashioned hibachi. My wife and I both have fond memories of our parents cooking out with these, and we wanted to pass this on to our children.
We had picked up a very nice cut of prime rib from our local butcher. The meat is sourced locally – free-range organic beef. I had purchased a nice bottle of wine the day before, and I packed two wine glasses with it. Hey, it might be grilling on the beach, but we can have some class, right?
One of our friends was poking fun at us for using the hibachi, because it was “slow and old-fashioned”. Never mind that we cooked our meal, ate it, and cleaned up before they even started to eat… they were so busy with all of the preparation for their meal. Salad, appetizers, and so forth. Too much.
Oh well, to each their own.
It really gave me pause to think, and to reflect. After dinner, I was playing with my kids in the water. We were throwing driftwood sticks back into the river, and the warm sun rays were reflecting off the water in that way that makes you feel alive. I had a song playing in my head at that moment, and I felt that everything was right.
If you have been reading along with me the last few months, you’ve noticed that a lot of what I write is about life change, following your dreams and so forth, and also that the undertone to a lot of it is simplifying things. Only going after that which is important to you.
I really thought about what was important to me, as that song played in my head. And on our drive home, my wife and I talked about it. We really connected that day, and it was something special. We are summer people for sure, and will chase that part of our dreams together. If nothing else, we just want to go to the beach every weekend.
And today, back to work. I did not stop to think about work until I sat down to write this, and that was when I took a line from the song as the title to my post.
Though you may feel like “a cog in something turning round and round”, you can change – you don’t have to be part of a particular machine, if you don’t like that machine. We all have a place here in this world, like a cog, but it is up to us to make sure that we are part of the right machine – the one that feels right to us.
Here is the song that was in my head.
(Yes, I’m a closet hippie.)
My friend is making good progress towards change – he received some positive feedback from a couple of contacts. Meanwhile, I continue to write – 3359 words last week. I did not run, rather, I worked with my kettle bells again. I will run this week.
Brett,
Darlin’, we are all cogs. That’s the truth. (If you’ve never seen it, find a copy of Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times to watch. Gives “cogs” a whole new meaning.)
If I may continue the cog metaphor for a second: there’s more than one machine your cog is running at any time.
The beauty of it is you are an essential part of making each one run, in the way they are today. If you get out of one machine and IF they find a way to replace you, it won’t run the same way, no matter how many procedures they have in place. Your positive, post-hippie ways (ditto—1969 babies) make even the machines that drive you crazy work in a very special way. Without Brett, it’s a different machine.
Then of course, there are the machines where you couldn’t be replaced, like friends, family… 6 Weeks…
Those machines would be broken, for some time or forever, by losing your cog.
Everybody’s a cog in some good machines and some bad ones. You’re here, and you make things work they way they do.
Love this post. I think being a cog is all right.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..6 Signs That Mean Your Business Is Going to Have to Try Harder
Brett, I know that many of your readers feel the same way, but I’ll chime in anyway to say that it feels like you are speaking directly to me. Thanks!
cool dad’s last blog post..I’m back and I’m sore
Yes, you are right – we are all cogs, in many different machines – and as you say, we make our own special contributions.
(You hear that, employers? We can’t be replaced, at least, not in exactly the same way!)
Thank you, my cog-friend. Being a cog is an okay place to be…
^ ^
. .
^
o
@cool dad,
Thank you, my friend – that you feel that way, tells me that I was able to convey what I was, and am, feeling
Ah, I loved this post! You made me feel all sorts of things at once: nostalgia, for one (we hibachied a LOT when I was growing up and spent a lot of time on beaches, dad oiling up with the baby oil, us digging holes and swimming and making castles in the sand, the intoxicating smell of charcoal brickettes, late afternoon sun on the water, like in your beautiful photo). We are summer people too. Your description of everything, of talking and connecting with your wife, was beautiful. I love how reflective you are, too. As cool dad said, I feel as though you were speaking directly to me. To my heart, actually, as most of the time.
Thank you for your words of wisdom. They really are freeing. Thank you for being you.
steph’s last blog post..Weekend Warrior
You are welcome, my friend – and – wow – thank you for saying that. It means a lot to me, to hear that.
We are stardust…that is in the song too….I say we twinkle and shine for those around our little “coggasphere” … And the little ducklettes , wifelettes, friendlettes, and strangers, too. A day on the water is made for reflection…knowing what to do with it…well, there it is, isn’t it?
If your book about your wife includes those lovely small moments of reflection and simple days at the beach with the little ones, I think in a way, each chapter will be a stop in your own Magic Bus. Cogs and stars and full hearts onboard.
Run, write, splash, or just love, you’re driving a mighty fine bus, Brett.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post..Seneca, A New Bar of Soap, and Dreams of Barcelona
whoa, just sitting there listening and wathcing that brought up some very powerful memories. No, I wasn’t there, but…still those were the days my friend…
Joni Mitchell. Yeah, now I’m going to be listening to her all day long.
Glad you had a great weekend!
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post..Wanting to Belong
Your themes of life change and being in the moment of course resonate with me fully (being some of the themes of my own blog hehehe).
So often we get caught up in getting the machine moving that we forget that a cog exists in its own right and we forget to savour our cogness. Glad you found a weekend to do so! I hope you have many more!
Cheers,
Alex
Alex Fayle’s last blog post..Out of Context
I’d rather think of myself as the grit that gets into the cogs, and grinds the machine to a screeching halt…!
(You know the machine I’m talking about…!)
Friar’s last blog post..Travels with the Bear: On the Island
I almost used that as the title for this post… I thought of stardust when I looked at that picture. One of my little stardust men
Yes, it does – we have had many of those moments, and I am trying to capture as many of them as I can. You know, on my list of “things to do”, I have one that is “purchase a Magic Bus”… and they are getting cheaper
@Wendi,
Yes, those were the days. I was just a baby then
oh well – no reason we can’t enjoy it still, the spirit lives on in many of us.
@Alex,
Thank you my friend – likewise, you write very well, and I have been going back through your work – very enjoyable indeed. I like that – savour our cogness.
@Friar,
Yes, you are a three-percent cog LOL (I should talk, eh?) but as Kelly said above, if you were not there, the place would be different in a bad way.
Seriously, if only they would realize that…
Brett,
Darn straight. If somebody told me I might end up near cogs like you and Friar, I’d have become a nookular engineer. Take you all out of that machine and it’ll be a different place for sure.
This extended cog metaphor really works for me. Turning a negative connotaion on its ear.
Gotta go make some machines work. I love that.
Later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..6 Signs That Mean Your Business Is Going to Have to Try Harder
You’d be more than welcome to hang out with us too, as you “get it”… they have nuke plants where you live, maybe we come and visit you permanently
As you say, gotta go make some machines work.
-Brett
I gotta go makes some machines convert useful energy into waste heat…and thus increase the over-all entropy of the Universe
I don’t mean an actual Nukular Plant, though.
I’m just talking about the office.
Friar’s last blog post..More Things Old People Like
No shortage of that here. You could put turbines up at the exits of the buildings to generate electricity from all the hot air.
Brett,
Oh, yes. We have nukes. I wonder sometimes whether it’s your place or the industry, which must be regulation hell. I kinda think things might be entirely different someplace else. My Dad worked for a division of a mega-corp that did business almost solely with the government, and when he switched area offices, he did find an entirely different atmosphere, even with all the same regs in place.
Ellen says if you run fast you can get across the border without a passport.
Friar,
Can you increase entropy? Am I finally forgetting all that science knowledge I have no use for?
Later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Let’s Go Out and Not Come Back Tonight
(I’ve checked, so I knew the answer too!) I’ve mentioned to you before (and also Ellen) that “my friend” has some feelers out in your country. The regulations will always be there, but a power plant is much simpler than where my friend works. So my friend may end up closer to you than he is now. He won’t even have to run, as he has a current passport
You’re in NRC Region I, which is the one that I, er, my friend is interested in…
-Brett
@Kelly
Yes…in a closed system, entropy increases. ALWAYS.
(That’s my science-geek trivia for the day).
Now back to trying to take down The Machine from within…!!
Friar’s last blog post..More Things Old People Like
Brett,
Yes, we’ve spoken on this before. Heaven forbid you jump out of the frying pan and into the fire, though just jumping out of the pan might cool you off enough that it’s years before you realize it…
There ought to be a secret network, so you could go read blogs about other engineers’ “friends,” and see if their friends are any happier (more productive, more involved, at least) than your friend.
“NRC Region I” makes the mid-Atlantic sound much better than “Hell,” which is how I (lovingly?) refer to the region. I can say that on your blog.
If your friend is lucky, we’re talking northeast, too, so you don’t have to be roasted like we are. Though I think your friend’s wife doesn’t mind the heat?
Heat. Yeah, we got that.
Later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Let’s Go Out and Not Come Back Tonight
Friar,
This means I am finally letting go of Useless Scientific Trivia! I hope I fill the gaps with much more handy stuff, like Things Old People Like and what city Burger King’s European ad agency is in.
Uh-oh…
Kelly’s last blog post..Let’s Go Out and Not Come Back Tonight
Brett, thank you for sharing your journey with us, and allowing us to grow and learn with you. I am celebrating with your friend, for I know his dreams grow closer to being realized with each day.
Can and Will my kilted wonder friend!
@Kelly
Stupid blog comments like the ones I made here are the only outlet for my Science-Geek persona.
Otherwise, I never get to use my brain.
I hereby renounce my engineering degree. I’ve become a full-time paper-pusher.
It’s more fun to write about Things Old People Like and Burger King, anyway!
Friar’s last blog post..More Things Old People Like
My friend has talked to a few folks in the industry, and his company is definitely unique. Whilst all companies have their issues, some are better than others. And if he targets plants in specific areas that are good for living, all the better, right?
(Such as the northeast.)
@Karen,
Yes, can and will – thank you! Though I’ve not commented (yet) on your sales and selling series, they will come in handy with some of the things I and my friend have in the works.
Hmmm…the NorthEast.
Big mountains….great skiing. Within Spitting distance to Canada.
Worth thinking about, eh?
Friar’s last blog post..More Things Old People Like
Exactly. You could always talk to “my friend”, he’s spent a lot of time researching it
(only a 4-5 hour drive to visit your family from a lot of the plants)
Friar,
Don’t renounce totally. UST keeps me from getting too arTEESTic. I love science geeks, like my parents (of course, they have renounced, but get my Mom watching Nova ScienceNow or my Dad watching Jeopardy and it’s hard to tell that they’ve forsaken geekdom…).
Brett,
The great northeast. Highly recommended.
Later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Let’s Go Out and Not Come Back Tonight
Brett et el:
Fantastic dialog! Thanks to you-all for a fantastic read. Interesting stuff about change and cogs. Same for the hippy movement way back when. I got too close to that myself and it took many years to make up for it. I too know about being a cog in a large machine. Sort of a fact of life. Also this is a time of great changes for me. And, for the most part, I’m loving it!
Beach with the family. Great. Some of my best memories of my children growing up, were there.
Brett: again, I’m late getting back. I love “listening” to you guys chat…
And you’re so very welcome. As I’ve said before, I mean every word.
steph’s last blog post..Getting There
I hear you… nice places to live in that area.
@Ed,
Glad you stopped in to say hello – I agree, lots of good conversation (so, thank you everyone). You are right, we are all cogs in some way, playing an important role – it is up to us to figure out if we like it or not.
I was tempted to use my image editor to make the picture look “aged”, like one I did a while back. This photo could have come from any time period. Kids, beaches, sunshine and barbecues never go out of fashion.
Maybe that’s why the show “The Wonder Years” was popular. It makes us remember good times.
@steph,
You’re never late, always welcome. I’ve been enjoying the chat over at your place today too – glad to be a part of it all.
Beautiful Post Brett!
I need some time like that, I just can’t seem to get it scheduled! This has motivated me to keep trying though!
Jenny’s last blog post..Unintentionally Hurt
Your example of people being cogs is so nicely said. In some ways we are all cogs who fit into the universe. If we are tuned into each other, live is great and things move in magical ways, just what happened to you on the weekend.
It’s when the cogwheels get bent out of shape that we get thrown out of balance.
Lovely post my friend. Glad you had a great time at the beach.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..How To Develop A Mind Set For Writing
Thank you very much! You know, the strange thing about this was that we didn’t even schedule the time, not formally anyway. It just sort of happened. Then again, the way we schedule our weekends is to totally shut off “work”. My cell phone stays at home. And I never do “work” work on my non-work computers. My work laptop stays at work generally… and then, we just ask the kids what they want to do, and follow them!
@Monika,
Thanks, my friend – I know what you mean too, about the cogs being bent – that does happen sometimes. We are more interesting than mere machines, fortunately, in that we have some self-healing capabilities – if we let them do their work.
(raises a flat white to Monika!)
I live less than 5 miles from the beach and it’s been MONTHS since I’ve been there. I’ve been so involved in my cog duties, that I have forgotten that cogs need maintenance. Machines need oil but I need the ocean. It’s why I moved here… yet somehow, I’ve lost the habit. Thanks Brett for the reminder!
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@ Brett: ah buddy, I’ve been missing your flat whites for a while. I guess its thanks to those cogs that kept me from visiting your blog.
It’s amazing what we can do with those self healing powers too don’t you think? I always say, what doesn’t kill us makes us way stronger.
@ Virtual Impax: LOL Kathy, I’m about as bad as you and I don’t even live 5 miles from the beach, I live right by it, or close to anyway. We get so caught up in our everyday life that we forget to smell the flowers (or the ocean in this case).
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..Write Distraction Free With Q10
It is so easy to do that. We long for the ocean so much that we sometimes overlook what we *do* have right in front of us. It may not be the ocean, but it is nice. It was a reminder for us as well.
@Monika,
I know how you feel – some of the cogs in my life have distracted me from other more important things. But I think I’ve readjusted again and I’m powering the right machines.
@Virtual Impax
For God’s sakes…GO to the beach. Just GO!!!
Even if it’s 11:00 PM….even if it’s only for 10 minutes. Even if it’s raining outside.
Just go..and stick your toes in the water.
It will make you feel so much better (as opposed to not going at all).
You’ll feel so much better. I guarantee.
Friar’s last blog post..More Things Old People Like
Hi Brett – it sounds like you had the perfect day. But what on earth is an habachi?
I’m guessing that the weather in New Zealand will enable you to go to the beach more.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Is Your Soul Damaged?
Oh, that’s a little portable charcoal grill / barbecue made of cast iron. They cost about 20 dollars and do a very nice job. Slow-cooked to perfection!
There have been a few strange days here this summer – they resembled the winter days we had in New Zealand last year
No snow would ensure we could go to the beach more often – even in the rain!
What a hopeful post! When I go into work tonight, I’ll be able to remember that I won’t always have to be a tool to the Man
r.l.david02 – TKD Happiness’s last blog post..Why can’t I gain belt rank? (part 2)
Thank you my friend. We don’t have to be tools forever… that is our choice.
We are stardust…
And this wine tastes good… almost as good as it did on the weekend
@brett and RLD
I think you have it the other way around.
It’s “The Man” that’s the TOOL.
.
Friar’s last blog post..Office Haiku
[...] you are an owner or a manager, or even a cog, watch for these folks. Listen intently, and learn. See their problem as your [...]
Such a nice post, Brett, thank you! I remember working for the Second Stupidest CEO in the History of Everything, and he once told me, “Don’t get me wrong, you’re a very valuable cog here.” I laugh now, but it made me pretty cranky then.
Neat point, though, that you can choose to be a part of a machine you actually care about and find interesting.
Sonia Simone’s last blog post..A Favor to Ask of You
Thank you so much for saying that – it still makes me think, even though a little time has passed since I wrote this. I’m still part of the wrong machine, but I’m progressing towards being part of the right machine.
One step at a time.
I can’t believe the Second Stupidest CEO actually called you a cog!