Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
To my Unknown Friend: Greeting and health.
The world seems to have gone mad. Seriously mad.
And yet I continue to have that weird “fear of missing out” of the world around me no matter how mad it gets. I sit out on my front porch in the swing, and I look around at the empty streets, wondering, will life ever be the same again. I can hope that it isn’t, that life doesn’t return to the same old parlor tricks of the past, that somehow life will find a way to rise up out of the pandemic with something new.
I’ve told this story before, I know.
I once set out to build a personal library. I would take any book I could find, but I was especially interested in books that could be used to teach others in some way. The books didn’t necessarily need to be educational books exactly, but they did need to be good books in my own estimation. Of course, I lost my way in that endeavor and it became a numbers game. How many books could I amass? Quality gave way to quantity.
Eventually I came to my senses and shed many of those books that didn’t serve the original purpose of my library. But I kept those that held either personal, collectible, or pedagogical interest to me. I do, in fact, have enough books in my collection that I could start a fairly decent, albeit imperfect, school in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse—or something similar.
Teaching has become everything to me. I love it. I am living my dream. Or at least part of it. The biggest part of it. I love the life that I have made for myself. I love the life that I have. In a few months, I start the second part of my dream, heading for the a completion of everything I’ve ever wanted out of life insofar as my career and passions are concerned. There are a few more items on my bucket list toward will I continue to reach in the end. Some I’ll manage to check off. Some I won’t. Time will tell, of course.
I’d like to work on my writing. That’s important to me. As I move into the next phase of my life, I’d like to focus on that again. I know that I say that quite a bit and it comes and goes. I’m getting older. I don’t think I have a lot of time to get this shit out of my head. It needs to happen. The fantasy of having some kind of personal assistant that will be able to translate what it in my head onto paper is blown away like dust. It’s gone. People don’t do that anymore these days.
However, given that it looks like I’ll only be working during the Fall and Spring semesters, having the Summer off, I can work on my writing then. Seems like a plan. If I can get myself motivated and I don’t return to the same old parlor tricks that I’ve been doing myself. Life has to change. This is the opportunity, right now, to change. The universe has paused the world, in a certain way, and let some of us have a break to think, breath, and assess where we are in life. Now is the time to evaluate the direction we’re headed, adjust if needed, and be prepared for the next jolt that is going to propel us forward again.
I’ve got my compass. I’m ready. I know what I need to do. I have a whole new deck of cards to take with me too. No old tricks here this time.
Love is the law, love under will.
B∴