Category: commentary

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30 Promises: Day 15

Day 15: I promise to be more adventurous.

Ireland Pictures 034

When I was younger I did more things. I was often out and about. But as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten more sedentary, preferring to bunker down at home instead of venturing forth into the great wild yonder. Well, I’m not saying I want to go into the wilderness or anything, but I need to make more connections, to get out and do things with actual people sometime.

Sometimes I feel like I’m turning into a statue who goes to work, who ferries the kids places, and who writes. That’s not me. I want to be no man’s statue, not even my own. So this summer I promise to travel places, to do things I haven’t ever done, or that I haven’t done in a good long while. No one’s getting any younger. I guess I’m feeling like carpeing the shit out of the diem, seizing the damn day and shaking it like a rag doll.

The other day I was at a restaurant / bar with some friends. It felt weird, but cool at the same time. I didn’t know the etiquette of how to order and pay for a drink so I watched other people for a while to try and get the hang of it. People kept asking me if I wanted a drink because they were headed to the bar, but I never quite figured out the intricacies of all of that. So I said no. Continue reading “30 Promises: Day 15”

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Parenting For Tomorrow

“Be the parent today that you want your kids to remember tomorrow.” ~Anonymous

We hear all this talk about living for today, about being in the moment, about doing what we want right now because tomorrow is never promised to us. But, as a parent that’s not quite the way I view life. For me it’s about making sure the future is as hospitable place for my children as it can be, and that my children are as prepared to survive in that future as they can be.

I’m what you might call an “involved” parent. I’m the one who is at the school whenever there is a small issue, whenever there is a big issue, or just because it’s a Tuesday sometimes. I’ve been known to bring another sandwich because I was worried the first sandwich wasn’t as fresh by lunch time as it should have been.

But I don’t think I’m an overly involved parent. I don’t take my children to school because I don’t trust the bus system, or anything like that. I’m a concerned parent because I know that what happens to my children right now can have a huge effect on how they envision their own future, and on how the world sees them. I believe in the “teach a kid to fish” philosophy. Continue reading “Parenting For Tomorrow”

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30 Promises: Day 9

Day 9: I promise to complain less.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to find excuses to complain about things instead of just chilling out. Case in point — yesterday’s post. Yes, I know I should expect a sense of order from those delivering or offering services to my house, but why take up my own valuable time complaining about it? Especially when I know nothing will get done on it unless they decide to change the system.

That’s how it is with most things I complain about, in that complaining isn’t constructive. Talking things out and figuring out quality solutions to problems that I can actually change, well, that’s constructive. My dad always said that “God sorts out those kinds of things,” as if there’s this divine being who wants me to sit back passively and wait for things to happen around me. That’s how I always interpreted it. But maybe he meant that there’s no use fighting against things that aren’t ours to fight. Continue reading “30 Promises: Day 9”

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Stranger Danger

My mom told me everything I needed to know about strangers when I was little. “Don’t get into their cars, no matter who they say they are, or what they promise you,” she said to me, hands on my shoulders, looking me straight in the eyes. “That’s how they get you, and you don’t want … Continue reading Stranger Danger

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I Am My Own Uncle

My uncle used to swing me onto his shoulders and fly me around the sidewalk like I was an airplane. It wasn’t piggyback for us. It was real aeronautics, complete with propeller sound effects and a touchdown landing when we were done. I remember giggling for days over something so silly, my imagination ran wild … Continue reading I Am My Own Uncle