Doc surprised me and agreed to see me on Monday for something I have been dragging my feet about for longer than I should have.
Blame it on a combination of it being one of the few things that gives me anxiety and a very high threshold for certain kinds of pain.
Go back to the five year-old Josh who got tired of telling his folks he would take this potch and throw it away and instead challenged his father to a fight.
Don’t mistake that to mean that I was beaten as a kid because I wasn’t but I earned a few of the potches I received.
When June Comes Back is probably going to be one of those posts I look back upon years from now for a host of reasons.
Texted my baby girl a picture of a duck and she gave it a heart and said it is really cute and smiled.
Inside my head I hear Captain Kirk narrating the opening of Star Trek and the Enterprise’s five year mission of exploring strange new worlds.
Daughter is having a blast so far and it makes my heart sing and I hope it all continues along this path though undoubtedly there will be some rough spots.
That is ok, it is life and you don’t grow without experiences that test you. If you can’t say something destroyed you and that you rose back up have you really lived.
I See Through You
I remember someone saying “I see through you” and responding “give me a chance and I’ll open your eyes.”
Some people really do see you and some think they do but never recognize the real you. Got to look for those who see you and help bring the best out of you as opposed to the edge.
Or should I say they ought to be able to see the hard and the rough edges but not because you are constantly applying it to them.
Kindness and compassion are worth something and if that is what you share most often it is worth paying attention to.
Got to listen to the Dead and roll away the dew, start fresh each day and make things happen for time is short.
Applying my foot to the acceleration pedal because I have another week in a particular race and though I have a significant lead I am not prepared to take a chance on losing it.
There is a time for complacency and a time for unleashing the competitive edge and I smell blood in the water.
Memories of my high school swim team coach float through my head about the dark horse in the far lane taking the race because those in the center lanes didn’t bother to pay attention.
And now the dark horse bolted from the gates and hasn’t ever let up and intends to run hard and run fast until he can’t run anymore.
Some of the young bucks forget or never understood that being able to pump hard and deep isn’t enough, you have to sustain your effort.
Got to pick your moments and I have. I watched and waited knowing the opportunity would come and promised myself I wouldn’t miss it.
Won’t be long before the phone rings.
Blocked Like Your Mind
Got blocked by a couple of people on Facebook who don’t realize that we leave digital footprints all over the place.
Not bothered by being blocked especially when I see them come visit so I’ll offer them a moment of anonymous fame.
It is very telling when you are so bothered by facts that dispute your provincial view of the world that you need to blot them out.
It must be hard to live in a world that requires no challenge of thoughts, ideas and opinions. Must be hard to live in a world in which you are convinced that science is a lie and that up is down.
Must be especially hard to tell everyone you believe in freedom while trying to dictate what people can read, what medical treatment fits your narrow faith and what thoughts are ok to be discussed.
If you can’t prove it to be wrong better to blot it out than consider if maybe it is time to change your thought.
But hey, if I am sitting on a hot stove and recognize it is burning my butt I will get up and move rather than lie and say the fire everyone sees coming from my pants is fake.
Anyhoo…
*****
Picture above was taken about five years ago at sunset in a park near my old apartment. I used to walk through it daily.
It was where I did some of my best thinking and where I figured out the answers to some very difficult problems.
Feels like a lifetime ago and a different world but that describes so much in my life today.
Sometimes that is what happens when you open your eyes.
Lots of things here, but I’ll tackle the last one. It’s been a year and a half since I had to either block someone or unfriend them and move on; that was the few days after January 6th… you know… The thing is, it’s possible I had a few people block me in 2020 once I started writing, then sharing, videos of my opinion on the Black Lives Matter movement… being a black person and all. No one would have been stupid enough to counter anything I had to say on my page, but if they were so inclined they could unfriend me and move on with their lives… which I wouldn’t have missed anyway, but I’d have been shocked because except for some relatives everyone I’m connected to there I know, and all my relatives are black (well, the ones I know anyway lol).
Not much surprises me anymore. I have had non Jews try to tell me what is or is not antisemitic and why I should or should not be offended.
Hasn’t occurred to them they are out of their depth on that one.
The unfriending and blocking doesn’t happen very often now. People know who I am and if they don’t I probably took a minute to see who they are before I agreed to connect with them.
I try not to live in a complete bubble and echo chamber. Respectful disagreement works for me on most things, there are a few where it doesn’t but that is a topic for a different day.
I generally figure they