My dream shower scenario.
Whenever I take a shower, I put on my shampoo, which then seems to form some sort of thinking cap, because all my bitterly terrible ideas start flowing out. All the ideas sound brilliant at the time, but then as soon as I dry off or start writing them down, start not making sense anymore. Yesterday, in the shower, I was pretty far down the rabbit hole, thinking about the environment, time and space and all kinds of other things I probably have stopped right away with. It was not safe down there and is almost as boring as Arbor Day.
While I was down in the basement of my mind, I kept wondering which environment my mind thrived in. Do I live in Order Universe or do I exist more in the Chaos Realm?
Let’s take a look at an example of the big haps around here today. The Super Bowl is taking over America (while the rest of the world is awaiting the next big futbol match). So is the Super Bowl Order or Chaos? Here’s what I see.
Despite all your planning, a Left Shark can bring chaos to the mix.
Control – Ever since last year’s Super Bowl, someone has been planning the festivities from the food to the seat planning, to the prop bets, to the amount of money they will overcharge for everything including, especially the ads.
Control – I’m guessing that no matter how hard the people planned things, there are things that will go differently than planned. Different teams than expected are there. Parties break out, and when that happens, there is no way they can control what happens. And the bettors can simulate the game 10,000 times or a billion times, there is no way they can predict everything that happens.
How about my beloved video games?
Chaos – The best ones are expensive and as such take years of planning and executing to get all the great features, make sure that every pixel is in place, and every T is slain and every I is full of revenge. But as soon as the game comes out, every kind of possibility the game makers could possibly think of, is blown up, turned upside down, and tossed into the abyss the moment people start to playing it. Patches are needed, updates happen and DLC is thrown in the mix. As I watch my son play right now, I think nothing but chaos is ensuing. People running everywhere, people shooting, environments being torn to shreds. There is no way the game makers could have anticipated every one of a trillions of scenarios that are happening just in this one game he is playing.
Chaos ensues.
How about me? Which environment do I live in? At first I figured I operated in the Chaos Realm.
Chaos – I don’t like planning, or organizing or going to meetings. I don’t have spreadsheets tracking where my money goes, or enjoy doing taxes or paying bills. I don’t watch the news or follow politics or care what every celebrity is eating for breakfast this morning. I only know that I’m hungry and need breakfast this morning. Yep, I’m a wild and crazy guy.
Control – But then again, I’ve worked in same place for the last 14 years. I take the same route every day to work. Every Tuesday I go to Scouts. Every Saturday, I lay on the couch. Every Friday, I do Bitter Friday Giftures, and get pizza. Every Sunday, I look for the paper outside. Everytime my gas gets low, I try to find a gas station. So am I a Chaos Chump, or a Control Chap?
What about all of you? Which realm do you exist in? Which one of these wins the cage match in your life?
ARRRGGGGGGHHHHH
Bitter Chaos Ben
Ben's Bitter Blog 
I think good ideas flow in the shower because we cannot write them down. It happens on walks too, whenever I have taken no paper and pen with me.
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You are probably right. Which is why mine happen in my dreams too. Because I forget them almost immediately.
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Controlled chaos seems about right to describe my approach …
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I think a lot of people meet there somewhere in the middle.
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Presumably: The paycheck necessitates coming to work. The Scouts create the meeting schedule. The car tells you when it needs gas, Bitter Friday gifs won’t gifture themselves. Pizza demands to be eaten. Paper delivery person hides the paper for you to find…Do you actually control the control in your life?
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That sounds like a deep Matrix type question. Like do the machines need us or do we need them?
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In case the revolution comes, I’m going to say we need them.
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Yeah, if they do in fact take over someday, we want to be on their good side.
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Totally chaos champ..always forget books at class..then forget to bring back home..but again when gas runs out …find a gas station ..so somewhat bitter control champe
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I think I do plan things, but mostly in my head. And I don’t really have a plan for how I’m going to achieve stuff.
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Same here..blind walking
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It just so much less boring walking around and winging it.
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I’m all for controlled chaos, Ben. Plan carefully. Plan to be in control of everything. But in case everything goes kaput (as many things will), have a Plan B, a Plan C, and maybe even a Plan D. But above all, I believe in staying on control of myself. If I can maintain self-control in all things, then chaos will never feel like chaos.
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That sounds like too much work. I barely have time for a plan A, how would I have time for a Plan C?
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Can one be a Chaos Controlling Chap?
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I guess but I’m not sure what that would look like. I assume it would be someone that fought with themselves constantly?
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I remember something about Chaos Theory, that said there is actually a great deal of control and order in what on the surface seems chaotic. I think I heard that on Jurassic Park, you know the character Jeff Goldblum plays.
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There probably is. I think when there is chaos at my house, there is a headache below the surface.
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Oh you are so right about that. I am surrounded by teenaged boys I my house with frequent testosterone induced tizzy fits. All this banging and muttering makes me hypertensive.
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That sounds so chaotic. We only have two legally, but just this week, my wife has taken two different sets of two for babysitting jobs along with our regular 1 and my 8 year old son also is the neighborhood pied piper so he brings his three friends and we can have as many as 10 kids at our house at one time. It’s always my favorite thing to come home to all these kids messing our house up.
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Get used to it. Once your house becomes the gathering place, there is no getting rid of them. At least you will know where your children are. Mine are 17 and 19 and we still are the house of gathering – countless numbers of boys sitting around staring at their cellphones, not a word being muttered. It is quiet that way, but kind of creepy!
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It might happen forever, but I don’t have to ever get used to it. My wife and I have both talked about moving being the only way out of our current situation, but even if we moved my son would just find new friends to populate our house. Which I would almost be okay with if our house was a little bigger or more suited to having kids go away and leave me alone.
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I think I have a healthy mix of both chaos and order in my life. Generally, my life is in order until my husband comes in like a whirlwind and creates all kinds of mess! Gah! He loves those ‘shooty’ games, too! Must be a man thing! 😂
And what’s it with thinking and showers?! I come up with all my ideas in the shower.
Not sure about eating pizza in one though. I’m not keen on soggy foods!
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I’m the one that brings the Chaos too. Must be a man thing. Maybe that can be a passive aggressive way to tell someone to take a shower. “Hey, you really need to come up with some new ideas!” Pew!
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Haha. Very true. I didn’t think about that!
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Yeah, my problem is that I think too much about that, and not enough about important things.
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All about chaos here; never know what’s coming next at home, at work, in my dreams.
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Yep, I always take a deep breath before I walk into work/home because I never know how bitter the co-workers/kids and boss/wife are going to throw at me next.
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