Life Through Writing

What has been on my mind over this last week? All sorts of things, but one of the things that I've always thought about is being selfish. I touched on this a little bit last week, about being selfish but not for the reason of being a bad person. Selfishness and being a person you can't be proud of aren't mutually exclusive. And, I know that narcissism and selfishness aren't the same thing, but on some level, isn't everything connected? I've always loved the Greek myth of Narcissus. I've always loved Greek mythology to begin with, but Narcissus' tale has always had a twinge of humour to it. A sense of karma, if you will. That the man who was so in love with himself eventually got what was coming to him. Tricked by Nemesis (the goddess of revenge) he's lured to a pool of water and falls in love with his own reflection, not realising that it is himself. In an attempt to be one with the reflection, he drowns, when he tries to embrace this figment. Of ...

The realities of emotion (and the healing process) are, generally, worlds different between men and women. Insomnia at 3 AM with somber Jazz flowing through a pair of headphones, staring upward at my ceiling – such is how I spent my first few months’ worth of nights post-relationship. This isn’t the platform for slander (I'd much prefer respect), but even if it were, I’m never into giving the gossip rags much of my time; with that said, the sudden end to a relationship that I’d started with someone I considered my best friend, someone I'd let so close to my heart, felt like a hot-cold amalgam of a fierce, prolonged inner-chest burn and a specialist's bad news after a bone break. It felt like a death. I didn't see it coming. On all fronts, the expectation was that I would  be a man , be understanding, and be over it before long. That’s a hell of a lot to  be , for someone who’s just been hurt in such an unsuspecting manner. It’s akin to being blindsided on the ...

Ever since I decided to start up a new blog, I've been running through ideas in my head--trying to decide what would be the best first post to represent what this blog will be about; but to also represent what's been on my mind, a true reflection, if you will (if such a thing is even possible). I started drafts and only wrote a couple of sentences before abandoning them. I spoke at length to the co-author (Asante) about what would be a good post, and we yo-yo'ed ideas back and forth, different avenues and ideas, but nothing felt right. And, the funny thing is, the idea came to yesterday at work, as I was waiting for the kettle to boil. I wouldn't be able to tell you what my thought process was or how I got to 'growth' as a concept, but here we are. I'm sitting here on a Tuesday morning, listening to Real Friends and having a mug of coffee as I try and tame my thoughts into some modicum of sense. In fact, this is a good starting point; Real Friends. As...