Head-dibs

  I need a time out. I’ve gone days without reading or writing a single line. Might not seem like a “thing” to you, but if you know me, that might be cause for investigation. So investigate, I did. Some soul-searching revealed a few factors. Most notably, I’ve experienced a significant job change and not only that, a significant schedule change. I no longer work a standard workday. I am now in a management position at a local hotel, and hotels never close. So in a matter of speaking, I have been working around the clock and that kind of schedule is not typical to me, so I’m learning. And I’m tired. Another aspect is really twofold. First, I have “super sized” my way through my reading regimen. By this I mean to reference Morgan Spurlocks experimental documentary where he ate nothing but McDonald’s food for a month and how sick he got from eating a limited menu. In a manner of speaking I’ve been doing the same thing by reading bite-sized morsels from a small selection of writers. Second

  Get all your writing gear together. Find a comfortable writing spot. Put pen to paper and start writing. Write anything that comes to mind even if it’s nonsensical or gibberish later on. Your goal is to write, not edit.  Use creative writing exercises like top 10 lists, or writing only questions. As you write, look for themes, and focus on those. If more than one come to the surface make note of them and come back to them later. Write for you and you alone.  Take a reader on a virtual tour of what’s around you. Be as descriptive as possible. Write a letter to someone. Write about your day but instead of using “I” or “me”, write using “you” as if someone else were telling you what was going on. Example: “You could tell she was a Karen before she placed her coffee order but you already made up your mind that you were going to make her day.”

 

 

  Years ago I worked for a man who modeled an excellent response to frustration. He would return from a meeting or a business errand, go to his office, sit motionless for a few minutes (eyes closed, most likely praying). Then he would stand up and say, “there are some things I just don’t understand,” laugh a little, then go about his day. Here are 10 things “I just don’t understand.” How forgiveness can be restorationless. How restoration can be directionless. How help is available to those who can afford it. How “we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.” (Marcus Aurelius) How there are some who think that if they can’t win, it’s ok to change the rules.  If “that made me mad” or “that made me happy,” then “that” can make anyone do anything.  How “all roads lead to God,” yet each road has disagreeable distinctives concerning God.  How people can blatantly do evil while simultaneously deny responsibility for their actions.  How is it o

  “A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition.” ( Henry Miller, The Books in My Life) “anteambulo ” (Latin) - walk before. Think: the person who clears the path controls the direction.  “When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own—not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me.” (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 2.1) “Many words have been spoken by Plato, Zeno, Chrysippus, Posidonius, and by a whole host of equally excellent Stoics. I’ll tell you how people can prove their words to be their own—by putting into practice what they’ve been preaching.” (Seneca, Moral Letters, 108.35; 38) “When you do things for people, rath

  “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville “Undaunted Courage” by Stephen Ambrose “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens The Collected Works of Edgar Allen Poe “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius  “Enchiridion” by Epictetus “Moral Letters”by Seneca “The Republic” by Plato Anything by John Steinbeck Anything by Ray Bradbury

  I’d love to wake up one day and not know what day it was, but on purpose.

  When you make a mistake, forgive yourself. When others make a mistake. When you discern between blatant deception and human error. When you have the opportunity to teach, addressing ignorance with humility. When you find the same offense (or worse) in yourself.  When someone offends in a way you have already been forgiven. When someone confesses wrongdoing against you, showing remorse. When you are ready to give up your rights, jealousy and/or criticism. When you can restore broken relationships. When the painful season of punishment is over. “The essence of man is imperfection.” (Norman Cousins)

 

  “To Build A Fire” by Jack London “Country of the Blind” by HG Wells “The Egg” by Sherwood Anderson “Kaleidoscope” by Ray Bradbury “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe  “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel García Márquez “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” By Leo Tolstoy “The Fisherman and His Wife” by Brothers Grimm “A Scandal in Bohemia” by Arthur Conan Doyle “All Gold Canyon” by Jack London

  Practice makes perfect. If you don’t have it, don’t spend it. Be quick to say “I’m sorry” Play with children while you are able. The truth is easiest to tell. Be quick to say, “I love you” If you don’t love it, don’t do it. Cheerfulness is shallow, joy runs deep. Be quick to say, “will you forgive me?” Look both ways before crossing the street. It’s too far to go around.

  Here are 10 waves that have crashed into my life. They are significant because they are points I thought all hope was lost in one way or another, but I came burbling and sputtering up on the other side. IYKYK Nearly swept out to sea, twice Consequences of youthful indiscretion  Drug abuse Losing loved ones, alive and dead Sticking to my convictions  Near fatal car accident  Relationships Change in career Change in academic direction Training and retraining

  My Father, who formed in me the discipline of organization.  One former boss (who shall remain unnamed), who was the text-book anti-model of leadership. John Maxwell, positive leadership influencer. John Michael Talbot. Monk, musician. Shepherd. His music calmed my soul. Dr. and Mrs. Wilson, ( my Grandparents) who showed me there’s a bigger world out there with people who need love, help. They modeled consistency. Mrs. Llewelyn, who nurtured my love for music by making me mixed tapes of music to study over summer breaks. Those pieces have become my favorites. My Step-mother. She got me to all my private lessons and rooted for my success—even when I didn’t know it. Rick, who introduced me to CrossFit. I bless him and curse him. Edgar Allan Poe. Rewarding the hours and hours of reading with questions and goosebumps.  Marcus Aurelius, by leaving himself notes and reminders to be wise, strong, just, and courageous.

  “Myself” Overwork Under pay Unbalanced teamwork  Lack of direction  Lack of Leadership Lack of priority  Lack of resources, support  Lack of training  Lack of appreciation

“Everyone can be in a bad mood except for me.”  “I can quit any time.” No better time than the present! “Nobody’s going to know.”  “Nobody understands.”    You’re not alone on this planet. “I can’t do this anymore.”  “If I ignore it, it will go away.”  “I’m not the one responsible.”  “____ made me angry (happy, sad, etc)” Nobody made you choose your emotions. “I have no self control.” Which is why you spontaneously break out masturbating, overeating, gambling, etc. no matter where you are, what you are doing or who you are with. “I’ll do it later.” Just get it done, free up future time.

  Weakness does not imply uselessness. The strong, dominant side needs the weaker, secondary side. Ask a musician. Or a lumberjack. I bow my cello with my dominant right hand, but it’s my weaker left that makes the music. My right hand can only play four “open” notes, but my weaker hand can play all the notes. I can split a log but need the left hand as a guide. Even a one-handed person requires balance, it just comes from somewhere else.  What weaknesses  need to be strengthened? Focus. Constantly review your “one thing” for the day.  Slow down. Respond, don’t react.  Listen before talking. Be of few words. Push, don’t be pulled. Get physically active, even if it’s yoga.  Stop looking back. Lead, don’t just work. Do a daily review.  Observe.

“ A  Song Composed In August” By Robert Burns (1883) Now westlin winds and slaught'ring guns  Bring Autumn's pleasant weather;  The moorcock springs on whirring wings  Amang the blooming heather:  Now waving grain, wide o'er the plain,  Delights the weary farmer;  And the moon shines bright, when I rove at night,  To muse upon my charmer.  The partridge loves the fruitful fells,  The plover loves the mountains;  The woodcock haunts the lonely dells,  The soaring hern the fountains:  Thro' lofty groves the cushat roves,  The path of man to shun it;  The hazel bush o'erhangs the thrush,  The spreading thorn the linnet.  Thus ev'ry kind their pleasure find,  The savage and the tender;  Some social join, and leagues combine,  Some solitary wander:  Avaunt, away! the cruel sway,  Tyrannic man's dominion;  The sportsman's joy, the murd'ring cry,  The flutt'ring, gory pinion!  But, Peggy dear, the ev'ning's clear,  Thick flies the skimming swall