Pizza Break

"It's too early." Said my friend Jordan as I was texting him about Christmas decor.  It is only October 20th, but I love this time of year. I love the next even more. To me, Christmas time should be a last-quarter-of-the-year event. The time of Jesus's birth should be most of the year, but I have limits. Also, as much fun as Jordan makes fun of me, I counted, and there are only 66 days until Christmas.  Everybody wants to wait, yet then they all talk about how much scrambling they end up doing at the end. Why not take advantage of the nice days and unpack the Christmas stuff now? Of course, I am not going to turn them on, just unpack, make an inventory of what I need. After all, the stores already have their Christmas stuff up, so why not us?  As I notice a break in our conversation, I put my phone in my pocket and continue exploring the goods. I unpack some garland, some Christmas pillows, even a random stocking. As I piled the stuff on the side, I wondered...

When I first decided to get my foot in the door of a mental health profession, my years of nutrition and supplement sales didn’t provide much background. Well, as any resume building youngster knows, sometimes you take a position that isn’t exactly a dream job, but it gives that much-needed experience. My first job in the field was working with adolescents who struggled in life. The struggle could have been legal, family, even as insignificant as truancy. So, some legal entity decided that a “group home” would be the best place for them. Unfortunately, what happened was that a bunch of kids, ages 11-18 were put together in a house-like facility, and other inexperienced people like myself were placed in charge. During the day there were the clinical staff, the counselors, even a doctor, however after hours, the place was ran by 2-3 staff of similar capabilities.   One particular evening a young gentleman whom had lived there for a while, was being more “defian...

When you write, your natural tendencies come out. Some good, some bad, some you didn’t even know existed and wouldn’t until someone else pointed them out. I have noticed in my own therapy, ahem, writing I meant, that an easy go-to for me is negative. I’ve seen it all throughout. Originally, I thought I went negative because it was easy to knock on unhealthy, processed foods and their parent companies than it was to be nice about it. After all, being negative sells and we tend to remember what didn’t work better than what did. I’ve never been bitten by a snake, but you better believe the one time I saw one in the tall grass is the memory I recall versus the thousands of time I didn’t. Well, naturally, I guess negativity comes out which then begs the question, “Am I a negative person?” My wife would say yes I think, though to her I justify it as “realistic.” Anyone else, I try to present as the positive, or at least understanding one. Though, I am easily to see the negative ...

"Duh," a word, yes it is an official word, means to comment on an action perceived as foolish or stupid, a statement perceived as obvious. In other words, duh, assumes that there is a standard we are all on board with that someone may not have understood fully, therefore the only way to sum up the ridiculousness of it is in three letters, "duh." Example: So, if it's going to be cold at the pumpkin patch, should we bring our coats? Duh. So, if you guys are bringing the pizza, are we eating at your house then? Duh. How come when I put too many towels in the dryer at once, they take forever to dry? Duh. The "duh," isn't as much necessary as is the gap in time for the other person to recognize that what they just said is a lot more obvious than they thought. The "duh" is there to trigger the person to recall what they just said, and if they missed something, or the words themselves didn't come out right to reiterate. ...

When one falls, they all fall. Besides the game, dominoes represent how things start and inevitably end, unless of course you interfere. Pain can be a catalyst, causing someone to lose hope, give up. Though it can also be a catalyst for good. One thing about dominoes is that when one falls, the impact on the last domino is unknown by the first. In human terms, it means that one occurrence can have a domino effect for change that no human could ever connect or the initial person ever know. The first affects the second and so on, until the change at the end. The most recent church shooting, or a suicide, or a loss of a small child, all things encountered over the last few days, all having meaning, somewhere. No, the meaning isn’t always directly connected with the initial act, such as gun control due to another “mass shooting,” but can come about by changes in individuals effected lives. From here on out, a catalyst to inspire change, a certain determination or grit which onl...

Just one question needs to be asked, “Is he there God?” For the answer to that question needs no more explanation. If he is there, in heaven, then all worries and concerns for him are no more. He is not “resting at peace” as we say here on Earth, he is higher than we can comprehend, more joyous than a human mind is capable of, more elated, relaxed, pleasured all at the same time, than our neurons could process. Though we might miss him here, with us, he does not, he is happier where he is, what he is doing, and time and sadness no longer make any sense to him. Any sentiments are our worldly bodies talking. Just like a room we have never been in, we cannot fathom what it is like. Yes, we could compare it to other rooms, similar rooms, make inferences, but we will not in fact know the actual room. Though, Heaven isn’t a room, nor a place like we imagine here on Earth, it is better and therefore unfathomable. God is not another person either, he is supernatural in all of us, in-between us...

No, not this guy, but you get the idea. "Good morning sir." Says I.   "Good morning." Says the gentleman much older than I.   "It's a cold one out there." Continues the elderly man.   "Yes it is. Have to work at staying warm today." I respond.   "How you doing today? " Responds the man.   "I'm good. (pause) So far anyway. (slight chuckle)." Says I heading away from the conversation at this point.   "Ha ha so far anyway? Maybe we better just stop here. (slight chuckle)." Says the gentleman one last time as I head on my way.   The conversation was nothing more than that. A straight-forward representation of a typical "old man conversation," as I like to depict it. These conversations are typical in my life and pleasant. There is no obligation for anything more than the here and now. The conversations state the obvious without any insight or analysis expec...