Today I started work in earnest on the backyard. When the wifey and the kids come home they might notice it. They might not. I’m sure someone in the family will say, “Did you even do anything?” and I’ll bite back the momentary frustration, retreating into my zen and thinking that what I did, though a small visible change, is an enormous change. If you look at my 5 yr old and consider the enormity of his transformation from 4.5 to 5, it looks like nothing changed at all, but the change is real. It is evident to those who were around him to help his emotional and mental growth. Likewise, the change in the yard is minor to outside forces, but having initiated it, and seeing my attitude towards the space shift monumentally, I recognize how much work I put into the start of something new and something great.
Activation energy is a miracle. It can be something as minor as finally picking up a weight or walking for twenty minutes or doing your first chore. It can be something epic like finally jumping into the pool and trying to swim or finally picking up the pen to write that novel. The pendulum of success swings on intention. I feel good to have finally harnessed enough intention to pick up the tools and start creating a space I want to spend the best Arizona months in. I have a sick long way to go, but even that excites me. For the first time in a while I recognize that I’m going to grow, and learn, and prosper from the journey, while the destination is merely a direction in which I head.
Some Thoughts:
- Respect to Royal Pains for successfully depicting personality through how different doctors deal with medical procedures. The show centers on Hank Lawson, a medical MacGyver, and his HankMed Concierge medical practice. Hank is not the only doctor on staff. He has another doctor working with him named Dr. Sakani. Where Hank is brash and creative, Sakani is, well, Spock. The drama is light and scripting is average but every so often the show puts out a gem.
- Adding the interview element to the Novel Writing class. In the past I’ve force fed the classes writers and never actually let them find their own authors to talk to. I believe in the idea of a community of writers, so I will make sure my students access that community by interviewing a published author about their craft and their process.
- In addition to authors, students will be thinking deeply about characters. Each student will do a character analysis and character arc analysis on a different character from the same book and come together for a discussion on how they interact and the role that interaction plays in driving the story and their personal story arcs.
- I’m a dude, which means I tend to ignore instructions. At the same time I’m constantly telling my children and my students to read the instructions. Again, my hypocrisy goes only so far. I’m going to start reading the instructions. Maybe, one day, I’ll even read those ridiculous statements I agree to every time Apple updates their software. Last day of football tryouts for the middle school flag team and I’m hoping m 9 yr old shows something this time. He’s claiming to be more comfortable, but that has to carry over to action, aggressiveness, and speed.
- Johnny Football is grossly overrated. Quit acting like Jesus Shuttlesworth just showed up in a Browns uniform and let this kid learn the pro game.