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Michael McLeod
a virtual bear hug to all, along with my regrets for not flying up to the reunion. I hereby promise to come up for the next one.
we are all, all of us, so fortunate to have shared that spendid time and place and overall orientation to this beautiful existence we were born into. Let's make the most of it in the time we have left. I made a decision just recently to prioritize the needs of others around me. Sounds simple enough but I Feel rather humbled and selfish and clueless that, caught up by my ego and the pressures of my career, I haven't thought to do that before. Basically I took a look in the mirror recently and called myself a selfish prick. Not entirely but enough of one to have deserved a pointed talking-to. We'll see what I can do from here on out with the insights the moment provided. Yeah I know this is a bit more, what, personal and self-revealing than my usual posts. Just be grateful that I didn't get drunk and and blubber it all out at the reunion, eeuu!
I really am serious about it, though, and a bit shamefaced that it's just now occurring to me. When I was writing for the Orlando Sentinel I had a weekly column about men and men's issues - it came out one day of the week, and a woman who was a colleague of mine in the features department had a column about women and women's issue on another day of the week. I learned a lot talking to various experts when I had that column, and looking back now I wish I had gone on to develop more expertise in gender studies. It certainly left an imprint on me about how men are raised differently than women, and how that mutes certain characteristics. It's subtle and complex. I spoke to a lot of experts about it but believe me I don't consider myself anything other than a working class journalist in my understanding of such things. On the otheer hand, obviously, even in retirement, that part of my writing career has left an imprint, hopefully a good one, on me and the way I approach my own life and my own relationships. Now, in my retirement, I'm trying to apply it to my own strenghts and weaknesses, and become a better person as a result. Looking back now I realize writing that column was the bargain of my life. I got paid to talk to therapists and psychologists who would have charged me hundreds and hundreds had I been talking to them as a client. Didn't appreciate it in the pressurized blur of producing copy for the newspaper but now I've got the time on my hands to look back and absorb it for myself.
OK long-winded post over and thanks for listening. I promise to refrain from further longwinded tirades. Actually that's the wrong word. A tirade is a heated, accusatory piece of writing. This was -- this was meant, at least, as a self reflection. I looked at myself in the mirror and said well now that you're just you and not a Dude Who Tells Stories For A Living why don't you spend the rest of your life paying more attention to the needs of others, particularly those who are close to you, rather than your own.
So that's my new, self imposed job description. I don't want to sound grandiose. So let's just call it a hobby.
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