Looking back, my life seems like one long obstacle race, with me as the chief obstacle
– American comedian, author and talk show host Jack Paar was born on this day in 1918 (died 2004)
It’s telework Friday again and I have a full weekend of activities.
Among them will not be brushing up on my Spanish, practicing that concerto, or finishing the novel.
Of the three, I can promise that the novel is the one that will be happening. Eventually.
The other two could have been happening. If I hadn’t been in the way.
At closer to 57 than 56 I can agree with Paar. I look back and see that a lot of things got in the way of what I wanted. Most often, that was me.
But no regrets, right? All it really means is that I have less time to actually finish the bucket list.
So, with the weekend, and the first day of May, comes another round of reorganizing and recalculating.
Sort the projects. Pick the priorities. Make the plan.
Nobody is standing in my way but me. Nothing is anybody else’s fault.
Well, except Baltimore. That’s everyone’s fault.
Oh, he went there.
What is everyone’s fault is that everyone is judging, taking sides, giving solutions and a very, very, very small percentage of us know and understand what’s really happening.
Please tell me you don’t believe the media.
What I know is that I believe rioting and looting doesn’t solve anything.
What I also know is that I have no idea what it is like to be suspected by the police just because of the color of my skin.
And what I also know is that if I deny that is happening, then my eyes are closed.
Well…that was a road I didn’t plan to go down.
I can’t fix Baltimore. I wish I could.
What I can do instead is make the world around me a little better place. I try to do that through theater and my writing, and a little bit of art.
And I try to do it by respecting those around me. Even when we disagree.
No. Especially when we disagree.
Let’s agree that it’s the weekend and that we all can do our part to make this world a better place. One person at a time.
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