Oh, look out you rock 'n rollers
Pretty soon you're gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
- David Bowie, Changes
I've started this post a number of times but I've never quite put together what the focus should be. I seem to be surrounded (in blog land) by others who have no end of interesting, humorous, insightful, and silly things to post on their blogs. A number of you have subtly, and not so subtly, nagged encouraged me to update my blog. So here goes...
I'm a grandiose dreamer. I'm a complex thinker. I'm an introspective writer. I'm an amateur theologian/philosopher. I'm a musician, a thespian, a comedian, and an engineer. I am also my own worst critic. Some would call me a pessimist. A teacher once called me a cynic. I've often called myself a realist. I like to think of myself as a guarded optimist. Can you see a pattern here?
I started acting at age six. My first gig was a serendipitous speaking/singing role in a community production of Babes in Toyland. A speaking part in a professional theater production of Hans Christian Andersen followed shortly thereafter. I had a string of comedic roles in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade school plays and musicals and gave my last performance in the 10th grade production of Bye, Bye, Birdie. I 'retired' from acting at the ripe old age of 15. I've played piano, saxophone, guitar and bass; I even played the bassoon for about six months. I've sung in a Barbershop Quartet, a large amateur choir, a small professional choir and even been a part of several commercial recordings. I'm not trying to brag or construct a curriculum vitae. I'm trying to illustrate a life-long tendency to shift focus to other interesting things; a poor-man's Attention Deficit Disorder, if you will. A spiritual leader once told me to not be narrow in my educational pursuits because I would have the opportunity to pursue many different paths in life. Whether from inspired insight or personal experience his counsel has proved to be prophetic.
If you're still with me here, you may ask yourself, "What's with this introspective blog post?" I kindly refer you to the third sentence in paragraph two. October was a pretty good month. I took a WoodBadge course to augment my training as a Scout leader. My wife, Jennifer's two-year volunteer stint as campaign manager for Jason Chaffetz was nearing Election Day. The company I was working at, S5 Wireless, had some meetings with some "big name" companies that might be interested in investing. Sure there were news stories about economic downturn, credit freezes, and bailouts, but that all seemed to be happening elsewhere. Then, some butterfly flapped its wings...
- Halloween, October 31 - We were given notice that my company would "hibernate" and that I was out of a job. The economic problems had created too much insecurity in the venture capital market and we couldn't raise the money we needed.
- Election Day, November 4th - Jason Chaffetz won the election. Talks started with Jennifer about a possible position on his staff. Looks like she now has an opportunity to get paid for her talents and skills.
- Sunday, November 9th - My dad is admitted to the hospital with signs of possible stroke and/or blood clots. Turns out it was a medication imbalance and fortunately he avoided any serious complications. However, he can no longer care for my mom and the kids are stepping in to cover things for a while.
A trifecta of changes all in the same week. Halloween of 2008 will be one of those inflection points on my path through history; My life will never be the same. However, this time, it doesn't feel like a catastrophe. I'm not in a panic. I don't even feel much stress. I don't know what the future holds but it doesn't bother me. I've been through changes before.
I am a provider. I am a caregiver. I am a husband. I am a father. I am a son.
I am a guarded optimist.
