Saturday, October 6, 2012

The Terrible Trivium

I think I've been trapped by the Terrible Trivium! I'm always busy but some of the really important things I want to accomplish never quite get done; and some of the really important people in my life don't get visited! If you've read The Phantom Tollbooth, you know what a demon the Terrible Trivium can be. If you haven't read the classic by Norton Juster, then let me share this part from the book so you know what I'm talking about:


     "All I meant was that perhaps it isn't too important," Milo repeated, trying not to be impolite.
     "Of course it's not important," he snarled angrily. "I wouldn't have asked you to do it if I thought it was important." And now, as he turned to face them, he didn't seem quite so pleasant.
     "Then why bother?" asked Tock, whose alarm suddenly began to ring.
     "Because, my young friends," he muttered sourly, "what could be more important than doing unimportant things? If you stop to do enough of them, you'll never get to where you're going." He punctuated his last remark with a villainous laugh.
     "Then you must----" gasped Milo.
     "Quite correct!" he shrieked triumphantly. "I am the Terrible Trivium, demon of petty tasks and worthless jobs, ogre of wasted effort, and monster of habit."

Time to run away from the Terrible Trivium and find joy in the things I love to do and the people I love. (That book again--my all time favorite--is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. And don't watch the movie that was made years ago; it ruins the book.)

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