Month: August 2012

“All things truly wicke…

"All things truly wicked start from innocence." Ernest Hemingway

Innocence is a precious commodity. Innocence is a gift you receive when you are young. Innocence, once lost, is irreplaceable. It cannot be replaced. It cannot be bought. It cannot be bartered for. It is the most wonderful thing in the world that you cannot fully appreciate until it is gone...

How did you lose your innocence? Perhaps the question assumes to much in very it's asking but perhaps not. How you lost your innocence is full dependent on your definition since there are many ways to 'lose it.' A few examples include being sexually active for the first time, the loss of a loved one, the failed realization of a life's dream, getting older and discovering how jaded and imperfect our elders were are, broken promises or that moment when you learn that you aren't indestructible, invincible or untouchable---based on your definition, can you pinpoint yours?

My proverbial 'cherry' was popped a few years ago when I was mugged in the Baltimore projects on a Sunday, yes Sunday, morning. My wallet was emptied, my phone stolen and face punched multiple times but all that still pales in comparison to what I actually lost--my innocence.

By nature, I am very trusting and I have always tended to expect the best out of people which, yes, is quite naive but that is the beauty and gift of innocence. Like a child, I was innocent, naive and trusting because I had no reason not to be. Having lived all over the world, including east coast cities like Atlanta, I never thought anything 'terrible' could happen to me.

Anxiety is the beginning of conscience, which is the parent of the soul but is not compatible with innocence. - Angela Carter

At least for me, the loss of innocence has been replaced by the naughty charcoal that is anxiety.  Once you are less trusting and naive, you begin to expect 'bad' or undesirable things to happen (to you) and you might feel anxious in new situations. Sadly, losing innocence in any capacity seems to require it to be filled by something else. Like Rand Robert R. Jordan's Eye of the World series, you are tainted. Agony and ecstasy become more interchangeable. Life, as you knew it, has been ever-so-slighlty tilted.

Thankfully, there is hope in the perpetual healer that is 'time.' Past woes diminish in importance and future happiness is there for the taking. With age comes the loss of youthful innocence but it brings with it wisdom and understanding. If you think I am just waxing poetic, don't. Last week I moved to inner city Boston to being graduate school and I am willing, and excited, to live in a city. I'm sure to have anxious moments here and there, both for myself and my wife, but, as Kurt Vonnegut says, "so it goes."

Exercise log:
Time? - 3 mile run (with A.R.M.)

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Road Work Ahead!?!

It's 2am, you're driving home after catching a late flight and your GPS is hemorrhaging minutes as you speed home on an empty highway, high-fiving yourself the whole way for having the for fore site to drive home at this hour. How smart you are! Up ahead, you notice an orange sign with a few... Continue Reading →

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Moonrise Kingdom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MemkzzlQJ6Y

Dear Wes Anderson, It is, as always, a great treat to be invited into the inner workings of your mind. The magical worlds that you allow me to traverse are continually intriguing and always diverse. By transporting me to 'foreign' places through eras long forgotten, you continue to give me the wonderful gift of true escapism while offering me a different lens through which to view things. On top of that, you spoil me by introducing me countless interesting characters that have ridiculous flaws, superficial depth and so so SO many crushing secrets-delightful. In your most recent delight, Moonrise Kingdom, you have done it again and for that I thank you. I must also thank you for the wonderful cast that surprised and amused me to no end. I may have laughed louder than others through out the entire film while in the theater but how could I not? The subtle humor in every scene, be it in the dialogue, carefully set-up scenery or the score, kept a continual smirk on my face that just returned. In a word, your '60s island world was enchanting. So in conclusion, thank you. I doubt any film you make can top 'The Royal Tenenbaums,' my personal favorite, but you approach it every time I can't wait until for the next adventure you'll take me on. Until next time, Michael

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“Not all those who wand…

“Not all those who wander are lost.” J.R.R. Tolkien

When was the last time you lived a nomadic lifestyle where you were constantly on the move with scarcely a moment to rest your head in the increasingly familiar place you fondly referred to as home? A good guess would likely revolve around the last time you moved from one place to another. Perhaps it was moving out of your parent's house when you left for college or when you finished college and moved based on a (hopefully) a great job. Or, if you have no roots, maybe you ARE a nomad and you call is your home!

Whether you are a nomad or a not, the key is to be content with the lifestyle you lead. If you are always living out of a suitcase as you hop from place to place out of necessity, and not choice, you are likely to feel unhappy and continually uprooted. Of course if you choose to be a nomad and staying in one place for too long feels icy hands around your neck that slowly squeeze the life out of you well that is equally discomforting as being an forced nomad.

Living the good life, however you define it, needs to revolve around choice. All of us are conditioned to want control over our own lives and being able to have it allows us freedom--why else did you rebel against your parents? It isn't always easy to be in full command since love, family, friends, jobs (ahem, MONEY) and other desires/circumstances impact your life's direction but what is? Seize control, wield the power whenever you have it since you never know when, or for how long, you'll be somewhere.

If you're like me, you want the best of both worlds so hopefully you have opportunities to be a temporary nomad while always having a home to go back to---if you're lucky. I think Tolkien understands me but if you're like my wife, who does not prefer the nomadic life, you'll probably connect more with following sentiments:

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

Be you Kwai Chang Caine or Mr. Rogers, all the best on your journey!

 

Exercise log:
6:30am - 5.25 mile run with Lex (downtown Hburg)

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Olympic Inspiration

It is hard not to watch the Olympics without being impressed by the sheer passion and athleticism that each athlete brings to their respective sports. The ability to excel in a specialized event on a global stage while representing your country must truly be a special, indescribable feeling. Giving your all in precious few moments... Continue Reading →

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The Best You!

Are you currently the best you that you've ever been? Take a minute, or more, to think about it since it is a loaded question but an important one to ponder nonetheless. If you answered yes, think about why? Are you wiser, smarter, holier, wealthier, healthier, better-looking or better off than ever before? And/or do... Continue Reading →

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Highway Fraudery?

Have you ever read or at least seen the cover of the popular magazine Runner's World? I am not currently a subscriber but I have leafed through multiple issues and I am fully aware that it is a well edited, thoroughly intriguing magazine that covers a plethora of running-related issues in interesting fashion. And yet,... Continue Reading →

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I Screen, You Screen, We All Screen for SUNscreen!

Everyone loves to spend time in the sun, especially when at the beach, but NOT everyone likes to get burned by it hence the Lord invented sunscreen. Whether you choose Banana Boat or Coppertone, SP30 or Bronzer, it is important to put on the 'screen to protect your skin. The potential for skin cancer awaits... Continue Reading →

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Rain, Rain.

"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow." Gilbert K. Chesterton

Is there anything more depressing than rain? Like bullets dropping from the sky, rain just blows in and snuffs out the sun leaving behind a darker world. The sun has retreated in defeat while the rain marches on crushing the spirits of beach-goers, drivers, hikers and bikers alike in prolonged victory. If you look closely, you can hear the rain rub it in as it tap tap taps on the windows of your covered fortress as it mocks you incessantly. Rain 1, your world 0.

It is possible that a beautiful rainbow might emerge but it won't bring a pot of gold with it that gives you back the outdoor time you lost. Your day is dreary, your mood is foul and your possessions are wet yet a rainbow will make it all better? Try band-aiding a broken bone and see if that helps (it won't) or other such futile endeavors that will leave you broken and depressed. To be blunt, rain sucks.

And yet, does it really? I have always been enamored with rain because of the wonderful gift it gives me: time! Rain creates little pockets of precious time that helps with productivity, relaxation and indoor comfort. Gone are the expectations to go for a run, mow the lawn, run errands or work in the garden or any such thing. In it's place you'll find that moment to read, write, drink tea, cook and on and on and on....

There is no perfect reaction to rain since the often incorrectly predicted action can come at inopportune moments but remember that the live-giving substance gives you the ability to react as you like so take full advantage and embrace it (not literally though that would be funny). Enjoy your parade as best you can and, like with Skittles, taste your rainbow!

Rain, rain, don't  go away...

 

Exercise log:
? - Insanity

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