25 days and a wake up before I walk out the door. To finish that statement with “and never look back” would not be accurate. How does a person go thru this experience and not look back? I will never forget my time at Camp Cumberland and this will go down as a snap shot where I learned more about life, culture and appreciation than any other single time period ever. I hope you understand the magnitude of that statement.
I attended a mandatory Reentry Preparation Class yesterday which is kind of funny, at least to me. It was filled with practical information but that was not the funny part. You see, I have been preparing to leave here before I walked thru the door. To assume that I was waiting till less than a month before departure to start thinking, dreaming, strategizing, networking, growing and planning my life or waiting for someone to tell me to do so could be perceived as insulting to my intelligence if I let it. The term “reentry” is also funny because I never really left mentally. Some people, especially those who were handed a long sentence tend to focus on the here and now and forget about the outside. Not surprising when the time comes to leave they are often ill prepared, have little to show for their time and scant resources waiting for them.
For me its not reentry but resuming only on a much higher and deeper level. Yes, there were set backs financial and otherwise and No my life will not be challenge free. However I control that, it does not control me. It was a great mental exercise to right down 100 things I’m thankful on Thanksgiving day. You can view that list on one of my previous journal entries. I hope you take the time to write down what you are thankful for and read it,then read it again and reread what you just read. We all have a lot to be thankful for.
There is a place outside of Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA called the Lizard Lounge that has hosted an underground Poetry Slam for many years on Sunday nights. If you have never been to a “Slam”, I highly recommend you find one and attend. It is a place where philosophers, the eccentric, critical thinkers, outcasts, artists, professors, poets and misfits gather in an almost beatnik atmosphere to articulate pop culture, the human condition, political and social views and everything you can think of in a very profound manner. To that effect, I have made time while here to write enough poetry to publish a book. I organized a weekly meeting for the enlightened and the Dead Poets Society, an open discussion group, just ended its several month run. It was great to get together with like minded people who were not afraid to be vulnerable and express themselves with the written word. Others would simply share what was on their heart and in their head. For me, this group was great therapy and something I will miss. You can check my postings for a sample of my poems as I do occasionally share them in this journal Here is one I wrote entitled:
One thing, Everything.
The Sum of your being, the measure of a man,
Look into your soul, try to understand.
If you help someone out, it’s not counted as less.
The widow, the orphan and those in distress.
Life’s a short journey we are not here that long.
Some remain weak, while others grow strong.
Your neighbors, your friends and those in your orbit,
Do unto others until they absorb it.
The pains of life leave a terrible sting,
so lend them a hand, allow them to sing.
Compassion’s a must, our DNA is in giving.
To share what you have is a life well worth living.
