The other day I had the chance to be in the audience for the Mike and Mike in the Morning show at Disney’s Boardwalk. In the course of the show, Mike Greenberg mentioned how he got to experience Disney’s Magic Kingdom for the first time through the eyes of his kids. Specifically, his four year-old Stevie. This made me think about the numerous times I had been to Disney and how it all changed the first time I went with my kids. It truly is a different experience.
Seeing things again for the first time is one of the many benefits and joys of being a parent. It’s a subtle reminder of the everyday items we tend to take for granted. As an IT professional, my days are filled with e-mails, instant messages, text messages and the occasional page (yes, I still carry a pager). So it was almost second nature when I took my Nintendo DS and showed my daughter that with it I can connect to her Nintendo DS and we could IM each other. She thought it was neat, but my son Daniel thought it was the next best thing to oxygen!
So I sit here pecking away at the keys on my laptop watching my two kids revel in the magic and mystery that is Nintendo’s PictoChat program. At first I had to explain to Daniel that typing a message on his DS, sending it, then running over to his sister to tell her what his message is defeats the purpose of the whole thing. Nevertheless, it is still cool to feel a newfound appreciation for a technology that to me seems so commonplace.
Of course the vicarious euphoria is not limited to gizmos and gadgets. Every time we go somewhere where there is a person in costume, Daniel’s smile stretches from ear to ear. I don’t know what his affinity is to mascots and other costumed characters, but it’s clear to see he truly enjoys it and as a result so do I.
It’s been a while since I have gone to Disney World with my kids. After seeing them just work away with their DS’s and go back and forth and back and forth, I am thinking a trip to visit Mickey won’t be too far away. Besides, I haven’t been to Disney with Lee, and the only thing that compares to seeing things through the eyes of your child is sharing a wonderful experience with the person you love!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Attitude of Gratitude
I first began blogging just over 27 months ago. I can’t say there was one particular reason as to why I started writing. Rather, I think it was a myriad of reasons and circumstances which compelled me to click away at my keyboard. And in these past 27 months I’ve written about so many things. Kids and cars, love and lust, failure and forgiveness. It’s all there. My life for the world to see.
Over the past several months, however, I’ve been asked by several friends why I don’t write as often as I used to. I would post 3–4 times per week. And not just 2 paragraph ramblings. I’m talking about 500–700 word rants and soliloquies about what was happening in my life. For me, it was my therapy. It’s how I dealt with the pain of losing my dad. It’s how I coped with the fact I left my wife. It’s how I healed after my heart was crushed. It’s how I rejoiced after my life was saved.
So here I sit looking back at what can only be described as a tempest of time. A whirlwind of emotions and experiences that brought me to where I am today. The father of two wonderful and beautiful children. The boyfriend of a woman who is true, endearing and so amazing that I am often rendered speechless. The member of a community that is so loving and embracing, it’s hard to imagine a life without it. All those dominoes that fell, all those ripples that floated outward, all those breezes that were born into gusts that begat changes in direction, perspective and understanding; they all brought me to where I am today.
And where I am today is a wonderful and remarkable place. I am a couple of chapters into the new book that is my life. My new life, where the rear view mirror is no longer haunting and the horizon is something to be embraced and no longer feared. It’s a life in which my daily battle is to temper my desire to floor it because I know the future has so many more wonderful events in store, yet I want to pace myself and be able to thoroughly enjoy the here and now.
I used to write to dull the pain. I used to write to justify the course of my actions and the decisions I made. I used to write because I hoped that someone reading would empathize and understand. We all know that misery loves company and I was miserable. Even though I never really was, I felt alone. I felt in despair and the only thing keeping me together was the ability to click a button that reads “Post to Blog.”
I have to admit, it’s much more of a challenge to write now. Just like crawling into a bottle or laying in bed for days upon days, it’s so easy to write when you’re sad and depressed. I have so much for which to be thankful, that I just want to shout it out to the world (hence this entry). Yet I find myself too busy enjoying life that I don’t make the time to sit down and write. And sometimes, that’s alright with me.
Over the past several months, however, I’ve been asked by several friends why I don’t write as often as I used to. I would post 3–4 times per week. And not just 2 paragraph ramblings. I’m talking about 500–700 word rants and soliloquies about what was happening in my life. For me, it was my therapy. It’s how I dealt with the pain of losing my dad. It’s how I coped with the fact I left my wife. It’s how I healed after my heart was crushed. It’s how I rejoiced after my life was saved.
So here I sit looking back at what can only be described as a tempest of time. A whirlwind of emotions and experiences that brought me to where I am today. The father of two wonderful and beautiful children. The boyfriend of a woman who is true, endearing and so amazing that I am often rendered speechless. The member of a community that is so loving and embracing, it’s hard to imagine a life without it. All those dominoes that fell, all those ripples that floated outward, all those breezes that were born into gusts that begat changes in direction, perspective and understanding; they all brought me to where I am today.
And where I am today is a wonderful and remarkable place. I am a couple of chapters into the new book that is my life. My new life, where the rear view mirror is no longer haunting and the horizon is something to be embraced and no longer feared. It’s a life in which my daily battle is to temper my desire to floor it because I know the future has so many more wonderful events in store, yet I want to pace myself and be able to thoroughly enjoy the here and now.
I used to write to dull the pain. I used to write to justify the course of my actions and the decisions I made. I used to write because I hoped that someone reading would empathize and understand. We all know that misery loves company and I was miserable. Even though I never really was, I felt alone. I felt in despair and the only thing keeping me together was the ability to click a button that reads “Post to Blog.”
I have to admit, it’s much more of a challenge to write now. Just like crawling into a bottle or laying in bed for days upon days, it’s so easy to write when you’re sad and depressed. I have so much for which to be thankful, that I just want to shout it out to the world (hence this entry). Yet I find myself too busy enjoying life that I don’t make the time to sit down and write. And sometimes, that’s alright with me.
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