Evolving Perspective

So it feels like months have passed since I last blogged from my hotel room in Kingston, New York. It’s been a whirlwind three weeks since I came back from work stoppage duty in upstate New York, and I honestly don’t even know where to begin.

I surprised my daughter by picking her up at school (I had not told her I was coming back), then Lee and I took the next day off work and spent some serious time catching up (yes, that IS what the kids are calling it these days), and then it was back to the ‘real world’ and easing back into my daily work routine.

There’s been soccer practices and helping the kids with their homework. There’s been catching up on all work projects that were on hold because of the work stoppage. There have been get-togethers at our friends’ house for football, BBQ, and beer. Football season is once again upon us, and it feels so good to have that diversion back in my life every weekend.

It’s all starting to feel normal again.

But this past weekend has challenged my perception and understanding of what normal is. This past weekend reminded me of the burning ideas and passions inside of me, and that greatness is oftentimes not found in normalcy.

I had the extraordinary privilege of taking part in a three day brainstorming session for Epic Change. It was an experience that left me inspired to say the least, and got the creative juices flowing in terms of what we can do to affect positive change in the world. Yes, the world. Not just my neighborhood, not just my city, not just my state; but rather this nice little place we call planet Earth.

Although both big ideas and even bigger challenges came out of our summit meeting, so did the reminder that through love just about anything is possible. That got me thinking of what it is that truly geeks me out (or more eloquently stated, gets me off). The reality is the answer to that question is not found in the 8 – 5 mundane world of my current professional career. So much so that I had a conversation with my boss today about how I don’t see myself in my current role long term. As much as I would like to stay with my current employer, for both financial and logistical reasons, I can hear the grumblings inside my head telling me it’s time for a change.

Of course, these grumblings don’t pay the rent, don’t provide the health insurance, and don’t grant me the flexibility to work from home. Making a change, as enticing an idea as that is right now, can also be overwhelming given the state of our current economy, not to mention my current debt to income situation.

So I am resolved to make the best of the situation and try to change the world – or at the least play my small part in doing so – one action at a time. Through service to others, through the donation of my writing talents, through the giving of my time and resources; it all begins with love and the burning desire to make better that which is in front of us.

Over the course of the next several months, you may see a varying array of blog posts from me on this site. It’s all part of a journey I have decided to take with my friends as we set out to generate love and make a difference in the lives of others. I invite you to come along for the ride. Be careful, however. It’s my understanding inspiration can be quite contagious.

Turn the M Upside Down

To me, writing is a lot like exercising. I may not necessarily enjoy the physical act of writing, but I do feel a huge sense of accomplishment once I’m done. It’s the satisfaction of having written that I find gratifying. The process of writing, by contrast, can be arduous and even grueling at times.

Just like when you’re in the middle of sit-ups or on mile four of a six mile run - neither of which, by the way, I’ve done since college - there is a sense of despair that can sneak into your thought process once you begin writing. “Should I keep going? Should I quit? Does it matter?” It’s a mental poison that clouds the vision of the goal and can make gravity feel a thousand times more powerful than it is.

Still, through it all, we press on; one more crunch, one more step, one more word.

I miss writing. I wish I had a routine by which I could sit down and just write every day. I am not sure that will happen anytime soon, but I do wish I could drive myself to write with more frequency. I casually call myself a ‘blogger’, yet one post a month does not a blogger make. Bloggers write with regularity. They are timely and current. They generate readership by providing new content. I’m not a blogger, I’m a glorified hack.

As I look back, however, as to why I haven’t written much lately, it turns out I actually have. I just haven’t written much for myself. Most of my recent writing has been within the scope of extracurricular projects. I’ve volunteered my time for a charity organization and event, and I’ve poured much of my imaginative process into that effort. That’s left little time and creative juice for my personal writing. As it turns out, though, that’s quite fine with me.

I’ve come to learn if there’s one thing more rewarding than writing for me it’s writing for others. Being a contributor to this charity effort has not only provided me with a new level of satisfaction as a writer, it has also opened doors and created new opportunities I’d never previously considered. As the title of this post suggests, it’s allowed for my writing to go from being about ‘me’ to being about ‘we’. It’s also served as a microcosm of what I want my life to be as a whole, where my actions are more about giving and less about taking, where my focus is more about seeing others than looking at myself.

Don’t get me wrong. I still aspire to one day make writing my day job, and I still get a thrill when I am able to produce a piece that provides me with the ego stroke I oftentimes crave. I still plan on writing that next short-novel, and I understand there is a certain aspect of ‘look at me’ in the process of marketing oneself as a wordsmith. That being said, I feel less of a rush to make all that happen and more a desire to lend a helping hand, even though that help may come one keystroke at a time.

Just like that upside-down ‘M’, a change in perspective can make all the difference.