Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Being Thankful

I thank God for my mentor.

It's during my darkest times that it seems like he's always there with the perfect thing to say without even knowing what's going on with me.

I sent him an email on Father's Day. He's probably the closest thing I've got. Once again, he found a way to turn it around and make me feel good.

I don't know where I'm going with this. I guess I just wanted to say I'm thankful for him. He didn't have to be the influence he has been in my life, but he chose to be. I can only hope I act on the same opportunity if it's presented to me.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

behind the curtains

Hello all (2 of you).

I'm siting here in my empty apartment with a glass of cheap Caberney beside me trying out something new.

A friend of mine, the illustrious Miss Johnica Reed (who is a pretty good writer, btw), did enough cajoling to get me to try to start writing more consistently.

"When I mention you to people, I tell them you're a writer."

I certainly live like a writer, as my singular chair sitting in the middle of a blank apartment can attest. I live check to check and still feel the stressors of my childhood, which I believed a college diploma and steady job immediately out of school could at least stay if not prevent. I have a t.v. which only works with a trusty digital conversion box attached to it like an I.V. drip. One of the boxes I used to transport my stuff from one side of the country to another is my endtable while most of the rest sit in my breakfast nook, waiting for the joy of getting some fresh Midwest air. I guess I'm somewhat the same way.

So far, living here has been interesting. Not interesting haha or interesting weird, but interesting like a Sidney Pollock painting. Everything has been thrown at me all at once and I'm still trying to figure out what means what. Is that splash of green over in the corner supposed to spell my longterm happiness? What about the little dots in all those colors down at the bottom? Is that representing all the new friends I've made or, rather, the ones I left behind even as they voiced their displeasure that I was actually leaving?

No doubt, my life feels a bit like an unfinished mosaic right now and all the pieces look way more daunting to put together than just watch them as they are. The good thing, though, is that I'm confident in God's plan for my life. I know without that, I'd be lost. When I think back over the last 16 months of my life, I can't imagine where I'd be without a Fatherly influence. It'd be bad for business, without a doubt. He is faithful.

It is that which I lean upon that gives me comfort in these uncertain times. The future is a blank canvas, waiting for me to start painting...better yet, an art show I've yet to see, unsure of the beautiful work the Artist has done.

A few months in, it still feels like the curtains are drawn.
I can't wait for the unveiling.
Should be awesome.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Drats

So, I'd told myself that once I actually got a chance to write, that I'd make sure it was worth it. I'd planned to talk about how much has changed in these last three months since I've moved from suburban L.A. to suburban Chicago.

So, of course, once that moment arrives, allowing me to spew eloquence, to flow forth with nothing but text gold...I come up with nothing. Nada.

One thin I do have going for me is that work is starting to feel less and less foreign, which is good. I've always been a quick learner, but for whatever reason it's felt so sloooooow this time. I don't know, maybe I'm just expecting too much out of myself, not cutting myself any slack. All I know is that it feels good to be getting things down.