Tuesday

How To Retake The Day

On Sunday, a boy who might as well have been my own son, Bobby Tillman, was beaten to death for no reason.
Yesterday, I had the honor of being filmed as a part of a documentary covering the subject of "real" manhood. I'll let you know more as soon as I know more.
Since the release of the movie For Colored Girls, the perpetual and almost pointless men vs. women debate has recycled itself yet again. The dissonance continues with no resolution in sight.
Personally, I'm fighting to keep it together as the holiday season approaches, relatives are passing away and taking ill and a huge chunk of money I'm owed has yet to show up in my mailbox.
And so much more, but I'm a guy and guys don't share, right?

In a nutshell, I don't have the head for blogging. It happens from time to time. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow. But in the meantime, I can offer up an old cup of advice from a post I wrote during the Spring of 2008. It's advice on how to take control of your day in the midst of life appearing to be completely out of control:

This morning, I had an orthodontist’s appointment in Queens, coincidentally located in the shopping district of my old neighborhood --- where I settled down after settling down in New York from Chicago. Since becoming an acolyte of Invisalign, I’ve gone to each of my check-up appointments expecting the worst, only to be in and out (less a couple hundred bucks) in twenty minutes or so.

Before hopping back on the train to go into the beast that is Manhattan, I remembered I was starving. I couldn’t find anything I wanted to eat so I settled on a nice hot cup of coffee from an Asian deli off 71st & Continental Avenue. I was getting ready to go underground onto the subway platform when I saw a nice little stretch of park off Queens Boulevard (the Boulevard of Death). I abandoned my thought, found a bench and sat down to enjoy my coffee. I didn’t put on my iPod, I didn’t start texting everyone I know. I just sat down and enjoyed the cool breeze, the sounds of the city and the sun overhead.

It may sound corny, I don’t know, but it was a nice fifteen minute reprieve from being underutilized at work, playing project manager/manservant/dad to the kids, and never-enough husband (I’m joking, sort of). For fifteen minutes I just got to be me, without distraction or interruption. And I basked in it.

Even if it’s only five minutes, a walk during lunch, some reflective time spent staring out a window, everyone should take a moment to themselves in each day. It makes the daily grind a bit more manageable.

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On Sunday, a boy who might as well have been my own son, Bobby Tillman, was beaten to death for no reason.
Yesterday, I had the honor of being filmed as a part of a documentary covering the subject of "real" manhood. I'll let you know more as soon as I know more.
Since the release of the movie For Colored Girls, the perpetual and almost pointless men vs. women debate has recycled itself yet again. The dissonance continues with no resolution in sight.
Personally, I'm fighting to keep it together as the holiday season approaches, relatives are passing away and taking ill and a huge chunk of money I'm owed has yet to show up in my mailbox.
And so much more, but I'm a guy and guys don't share, right?

This morning, I had an orthodontist’s appointment in Queens, coincidentally located in the shopping district of my old neighborhood --- where I settled down after settling down in New York from Chicago. Since becoming an acolyte of Invisalign, I’ve gone to each of my check-up appointments expecting the worst, only to be in and out (less a couple hundred bucks) in twenty minutes or so.

Before hopping back on the train to go into the beast that is Manhattan, I remembered I was starving. I couldn’t find anything I wanted to eat so I settled on a nice hot cup of coffee from an Asian deli off 71st & Continental Avenue. I was getting ready to go underground onto the subway platform when I saw a nice little stretch of park off Queens Boulevard (the Boulevard of Death). I abandoned my thought, found a bench and sat down to enjoy my coffee. I didn’t put on my iPod, I didn’t start texting everyone I know. I just sat down and enjoyed the cool breeze, the sounds of the city and the sun overhead.

It may sound corny, I don’t know, but it was a nice fifteen minute reprieve from being underutilized at work, playing project manager/manservant/dad to the kids, and never-enough husband (I’m joking, sort of). For fifteen minutes I just got to be me, without distraction or interruption. And I basked in it.

Even if it’s only five minutes, a walk during lunch, some reflective time spent staring out a window, everyone should take a moment to themselves in each day. It makes the daily grind a bit more manageable.

Have You Subscribed Yet? * Are You On Facebook? * Do You Tweet?