I Have This Other Life I Live
April 30th, 2012 § 2 Comments
I have this other life I live
One that is a polar opposite
From the one most people see
Instead of a balding middle aged working stiff
Living a conservative middle class existence
I’m a young bohemian
Living in the Hotel Chelsea when
Ginsburg and Keroac where there
I’d watch Jack type furiously while Ginsburg Howled
Then I’d head over to the Haight
And see Hendrix and Joplin play little clubs
Before they burned out their lights
And maybe I’d strip naked
And make love in the green grass
Behind the stadium
With a brown eyed girl
And we’d get slowly stoned while watching
The sun set
And make love again and again
Until that light burned out too.
Crawling Across The Finish Line
December 6th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
It seems like we often find inspirational events in sports. For what ever reason, we can relate to the the struggles of an athlete during competition. I found one of those stories in a NY Times article about a high school cross country team coach who was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS).
The cross country team was competing in a state championship meet when one of the team collapsed.
Within two or three yards of the finish line, Reynolds collapsed, and a race official was at her side within seconds. He told her he could not touch her or help her, but to avoid disqualification, she would have to get over the finish line.
“I said, ‘Are you O.K., and do you want to finish?’ ” said Brian Weaver, the official. “She said ‘Yes,’ and I said, ‘O.K., all you have to do is get your foot across the line, and you don’t have to get up, it’s O.K. if you crawl.’ ”
Reynolds started crawling.
“I was encouraging her,” Weaver said. “I said, ‘You can do this.’ She was nodding her head and crawling, and I was saying, ‘Nice and easy, don’t force it.’ ”
Tracy said, “It took over 20 seconds for her to crawl two yards.”
Reynolds said she did not remember collapsing but did remember crawling: “All I knew was that I had to cross the line.”
She finished in 37th place, with a time of 20 minutes 15 seconds, giving University the title it would not have won without her struggle over the line.
I think part of the reason we identify with the struggles of an athlete is that the athletic contest is a microcosm of the struggles we all face in life. We find ourself pulling for the athlete who struggles through a contest to set foot over the finish line because we hope to reach the tape in our own struggles.
The struggles of an athlete in a contest are also much simpler than the struggles we face in life. There are fewer complications in those events. If only the struggles of life could be reduced to crossing a finish line.
May we all have the pluck to crawl across the finish line, whatever the struggle we face.
Sharpening Iron
October 21st, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Donald Miller has a good post up about editing your life. In writing, an editor is the one who helps the writer cut out the unnecessary cruft and corrects the writer’s mistakes. Miller makes the analogy between a writer’s editor and persons who can help us to sharpen our lives.
Miller has four tips for this life editing process:
- Ask for criticism from people who care about you and love you.
- If you are sensitive about some criticism that has been thrown at you, there’s a good chance some of it is true. Analyze that, separate it from the messenger who may not have your best interests at heart, and work on that area of your life.
- If you suspect a friend is competitive with you or controlling, don’t include them in your circle of editors. They aren’t going to be able to give you objective advice.
- Don’t get into an editing relationship with a person who can’t see their own faults, or admit to their mistakes. These people are usually the fastest to offer criticism of you, but it’s not objective or helpful criticism.
What are you doing to edit your life? Do you have someone who loves you enough to be your editor?
