I have reflected back on my life at several different times. Taking an honest look at yourself is scary and sometimes dangerous. As a young kid I often wanted to be anybody else but me. I saw my friends on the block and was envious for all kinds of reasons. Stephen and Brian across the street had wealthy parents, Bruce up the block had cool parents, much younger than mine, Adele’s dad was a doctor and I could find a million reasons to be envious. As I matured that envy morphed from wishing I were them into wishing I could be more like them. This one was 6 feet tall and athletic, this friend was kind and thoughtful. I wanted to be more like them, a more realistic and mature approach than wishing I were them.
High school and college went by and I was comfortable for a long while pretending I was like everybody else but that pretense had a price attached to it. I knew I was different and thought I was the only one. I pretended way up til my 40’s. The toll it took was enormous and as the marriage fell apart once again I had to reflect, consider and accept the truth. I came out at 46 after months of considering and reflecting. Knowing full well that if I came out it would have to be all the way out- to friends, fellow workers, my school district, my kids and they would have to find out from me personally. It was a tough time, consequences were difficult but surprisingly not overwhelming. Most people said they were wondering when I was going to tell them. My best friend, over a drink at the Woodstock Pub, asked me when I was going to tell him about my alternative life style. So I did!
Reflecting has always been significant for me! Just as an aside, to those people who think being gay is a life choice please let me assure you no one would CHOOSE a life style of pretense and denial if there was a choice! Honest! People of my generation didn’t have a choice!
In spite of all this I have been fortunate. I had two wonderful careers that I loved, a family to love, I traveled all over Europe, I have had a good life. I always gave everything I had to my jobs and was rewarded for it. For that I am truly grateful. Fast forward 15 or so years and along comes Covid 19. With so much time on my hands, another opportunity to reflect on my life has arisen. This time it is coming toward the end of my span and with new appreciation for what I have experienced and what I have become as well as with a realistic recognition of how this could be my very last reflection period.
At this reflection point reality has imposed its heavy hand on an unedited evaluation of a life lived. No more self deception, no more rationalization, just pure and simple honesty. And surprisingly I have learned some things about myself that surprised me. As Wally and Henry will tell you, as can just about anyone who is close to me, I am a glass half empty kind of a guy. That was self defense as a kid and served me well for years to cope with life. Breaking a life habit that was a shield for years is difficult. But I don’t need that anymore. I have to stop now before I react to anything and consider how I want to perceive things. I indeed have a choice! Yell at me if you catch me falling back. Life is generally good and before Covid my life was comfortable and fun. I have also been quick to judge and not very forgiving but I have noticed in roads in these categories as well- unless you hurt an animal or a child and then you are dead meat to me. But probably the most unrecognizable feature I have noticed in me is patience. I miss being with people in person. I miss shaking hands, hugging, patting on the back, kissing on the cheek. No Zoom meeting can replace that. I miss sharing meals with friends, and I miss laughter. LAUGHTER! Living alone I realize that sharing something amusing or comical with another person makes it funnier, and I guess that is true of a lot of things, like seeing a beautiful sunset, or a parade passing by with another person makes it more beautiful or more patriotic. But what I realize now, is that I can wait for a better time when I once again can shake a hand, share a secret, giggle over some silly thing and the joy that it will bring me will be intensified because of the void we have been forced to experience. I will be a better person for it….I will feel more compassion, more empathy, more alive because these things have been denied me for almost a year now. Reflecting is hard work! It makes us accept our shortcomings and file away our accomplishments. Life will be so much richer when this is over! Patience……
Could sure use a hug now!
2020 Hindsight
George challenged us to write about what we learned about ourselves in 2020 – and here I’ll include the horrific events of Dec 37th. Each of us wrote without seeing the others’ responses. It will be interesting to see if our thoughts intersect.
I worked at my son’s restaurant most of the year – thirty hours a week washing dishes and scouring pots and another six doing accounts payable/bookkeeping operations. Last year, via a dozen webinars, I learned to talk PPP, EIDL, and PPE grant language. From this experience, I determined that I have a strong aversion to filling out government forms – but that’s neither original nor meaningful.
Instead, I’d like to share three conclusions about myself that became clear during the time of COVID:
1. My color is now gray. Once, my color might have been wide-open blue or deep green the shade of the holly leaf. Gradually it had morphed into a warm chestnut brown – at times even a burnt orange. But now it’s gray. Johannes Itten, the Bauhouse color theorist, said that in equilibrium, our brains resolve the sum of all colors to gray. Gray is peaceful and soothing.
This has been a tough year. While trying to keep a heartbeat going in our business, my wife Linda almost relinquished hers. We’ve lost more friends this year (although not to COVID) than would have been imagined. It’s almost as if this past year offered incentives to give up the ghost.
Now, entering a new year, I don’t feel isolated, lonely, or depressed; just beat-up. I need healing and the soothing power of gray.
2. I have stopped taking things for granted. This year banged hard on the reset button. COVID pressure per square inch has squirted excess emotion in unpredictable directions. Imagine people being murdered for requesting facemask usage; police stations burned; swarming the capital of the US. We’ve witnessed a storm surge of acting out. Not to mention that it was a bad year to be a statue.
It’s doubtful the social environment will simply revert to what it had been pre-COVID. Competing ideas always result in a new thought profile. Can’t un-ring the bell. That’s dialectic, baby! We synthesize and move on. Now is not a time to take anything for granted.
In a way, this is healthy. We have the freedom to rethink… which leads to my last conclusion.
3. I need to empty and refill my cup: The question is not whether the cup is half empty or half full – or even whether the cup is overflowing. The question is what is in the cup. I have come to appreciate that I have spent a lifetime both fashioning my cup and refining my drink. It’s time to analyze how I take nourishment.
My cup often contained a measure of anger and judgment when life didn’t offer me what I wanted. A dose of entitlement, preconditions, and control confused a clean aftertaste. While I won’t completely eliminate those ingredients, I intend to add a bit more acceptance, humor, love, and gratitude in the mix. I’m also looking for that small bottle of wonder that used to provide the high notes.
In order to do this, I need to empty my cup, so that it may be filled once again.
Reflections During COVID-19 Restrictions
Many of us are living in the great “Pause.” For me this means an interruption in the everyday, automatic, often, unconscious way of going about our daily lives. George encouraged us to take advantage of this shift and to consider what we’ve learned about ourselves.
In some cases it is more of an affirmation of what I thought I knew about myself rather than a wide-eyed epiphany. I’ve always loved spending time in nature, especially in the woods. Given that I spent more time there this year than in my last ten years, I can verify that, yes indeed, I love the serenity, exercise, and fresh air it provides for me. Encore!
I also reaffirmed how important family and good friends are to me. It has given me the impetus to make time to be even closer to them.
I learned that I could do without much of what I thought was necessary and still be in a positive and often happy state of mind. As I continue to discard items from my closets, basement, and garage, I realize that I no longer need what I felt was important. Lightening the load helps me feel freer.
I’ve learned that more time at home provides me with opportunities for developing new habits. I have gone from occasional grilling to preparing relatively sophisticated meals in ten months. I went from finding any meal preparation a burden to looking forward to cooking dinner. I’m surprised but happy to realize that I still have the capacity to make significant changes in my outlook on things I believed would never change.
I’ve also learned to develop a more critical eye when listening to the news. The inherent bias of most major television news networks rings loud and clear. Having time to really listen and think about what was reported has given me some pause to consider whether I am as open as I thought I was. Now that I can more easily separate out judgmental comments and derogatory remarks made by newscasters who promote my viewpoint, I can better monitor my own dialogue.
Finally, I can say that I’ve discovered my capacity for greater patience. Now, I’m not saying I’m a patient man. However, I am more patient than I was last year. The question remains, will I maintain this more desired state, or will I relapse when the more rapid and busy pace of life returns?
Overall I’ve learned that I can have a smile on my face and in my heart whether I’m out and about or in isolation. So far, I’ve been able to accept what is and still be content. Knowing that this is temporary helps. I prefer to look at this year of pandemic restrictions as a test that I’ve been studying for my whole life. Luckily, I’m the only one who decides how I did. And then I can begin preparing for whatever next test comes along.
Three Old Guys Walked Into A Bar 