Time

I haven’t written in a while. Fact of the matter is I took on some new work and my time has massively dwindled down to a paltry amount. I still haven’t figure out how to balance out everything I have going on. It’s a bit overwhelming at times and even now as I’m writing this I’m thinking of all the things I need to get done.

At one point in life I worked five days a week with 3.5 hours of commuting each day and I felt like I didn’t have enough time but I could manage things. I technically have more free time than before but I got used to that space in the middle where I was working from home with no commute.

I often mention the shape of water. Water will fill any container you put it in. Often I feel the same way with everything I am working on. I will fill the space entirely. When the space get constricted there’s an adjustment period but evetually it all evens out again.

I know I’ll get there – I just need to give it time.

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Ring Ring

I may be one of the few people I know that still has land line in their homes. Every time we discuss potentially getting rid of it I ask my wife “Do you want to give out your cell number whenever someone asks for it?” The answer is obviously “no” as there are already enough spam and robocalls coming in and we don’t needs any more.

Today the landline rang and I thought about the fact that there was a period in time where when the phone rang you would actually run to answer it and there would be an actual person on the other end who specifically called to talk to you.

My things have changed.

Age Defining

When we’re younger we have a very definite idea of what being old(er) looks like. We are so far removed from it that it seems alien to us and that it’s a person we could never be.  As I got closer to turning 50 I was determined to redefine what that meant and looked like. It wasn’t going be the same image from my youth. 

The reality of it is my perception of age was flawed when I was younger. My father was still a vibrant man at 50 even though as a teenager we were always at odds with one another and I viewed him as “out of touch” with the times.

So now that I have hit this milestone I realize there is no need to redefine anything. Who would I be redefining it for? Myself? You? Who gave me the authority to even do that?

I think the best we can do is be comfortable in our own skin at whatever age we are. I have redefine 50 for myself only because every day is a new chapter in my life that hadn’t previously been defined.

Alignment

Good morning and welcome to Monday.

Have you ever felt like you were out of alignment whether it be physically, mentally, spiritually or your goals in life? It happens. It’s very easy to get off track on what your original intentions were on things.

I think about the analogy of the ship out on the ocean. If you’re off by only 1° when you start if you go far enough you can end up way of course. Periodically we need to stop and check in with ourselves and re-evaluate where we are at with what we’re doing. Perhaps we need a re-alignment with what our goals or what our values are and where we want to be.

That’s what I’m looking at this week because I feel like I’ve gotten to a point where my original intentions may have gotten sidetracked and I’ve begun to put more focus on other things. I’m looking at re-aligning all the things I’m working again and going back to see where things got of off track.

That’s my topic for this week. I’m gonna be working on this for myself and the Thursday Klatch is going to be about re-alignment in regards to our values and our goals and also mentally which is this something that I think a lot of us could do particularly during everything that’s been going on in the past 12 months.

If you’re available on Thursday morning drop into the Klatch, otherwise have a great week and I will talk to you soon.

Originally posted on meatitate.com

Teflon Walls

When we are trying out something new we might “throw everything against the wall and see what sticks.” Unfortunately sometimes it may seem like the walls are made of teflon and nothing is sticking.

During times like these it can be easy to get discouraged. Don’t. Stop and look at what you’ve tried and try to understand why it didn’t work. There may not be a good answer. The trick is to keep motivated.

There are many variables as to why things work of don’t work or work for one person and not the other. The one sure fire way of not succeeding is by giving up.

Originally published on meatitate.com

Disparity

“And while some Republicans support increasing the federal minimum wage, few wish it to be as high as $15.”

$15 x 40 hrs x 52 weeks = $31,200

Average Senate Salary = $174,000

Perhaps we should pay politicians the current federal minimum wage.

February 1st

Good morning and welcome to Monday. It’s very snowy Monday morning here in the Northeast of the United States. I just finished doing my shoveling so this is this is the best I look right now and that’s fine. I was thinking about my intentions for the week, what I will be thinking about for the week, what the Klatch is gonna be about for the week. I recorded a video message a little over a week ago about how we project ourselves to others in regard to being compared by others and how we really shouldn’t compare ourselves to others and I’m thinking about the concept a lot more lately and I’m looking at it from all angles. I like to play devils advocate a lot so I’m looking at what’s the positive benefits of comparing ourselves to others. We always talk about the negative benefits so I’m looking at it from all aspects. So that’s what I’m going to be working on this week and we’ll see where it takes us. If you’re around on Thursday morning, come and do the Thursday Klatch with us and have this discussion. I hope you have a wonderful day and I’ll talk to you soon.

This is a transcription from a video post which can be found on my @meatitate social media sites.

Behind The Curtain

I was thinking about the concept of comparing ourselves to others. Everyone will tell you that you shouldn’t compare yourself to other people. You don’t have to be like everybody else, you can do your own thing. I think that’s great. Whether we’re looking at it from a health perspective, or about our bodies, or what we do life; I agree that we shouldn’t be comparing ourselves. 

Then I started thinking about the flip-side and the responsibility that maybe we all have in regard to the image that we project outward.

I’m in my studio right now. This is where I do a lot of my photo and video work. I always try make sure that my hair looks great, and that my shirts are okay and and the lighting and audio are good. But do you know the reality is? This is just a persona. This is who I’m putting out. An air of professionalism if you will. So let’s take a look at what life is really like.

Normally I wouldn’t have a dress shirt on. I spend a lot of time in a t-shirt and a hoodie. The reality is I haven’t had a haircut in almost a year at this point. If I haven’t showered I look like that mugshot of Nick Nolte. That’s why I wear hats – a lot.

And if we’re talking about the studio it’s really all held together with the with clips. We have some really good lighting going on but if we look behind it this is just my attic. There’s stuff hanging up and boxes all over the place. If we literally look behind the curtain, there’s a luchador mask with a sombrero, Halloween decorations and boxes of old cassette tapes I can’t seem to part with. It’s not very glamorous. 

Think about the image that you’re putting out to everybody. We’re always trying to put out the best possible images of ourselves but also keep in mind that people are watching you and that they might be comparing themselves to you. If you’re putting out nothing but a fabrication of your real self all the time maybe think about that and maybe think about sometimes putting something out that’s a little bit flawed and letting people see the real you. I think they would appreciate that, I know I would. 

Enjoy the rest your day. I’ll talk to you all soon. 

January 18th

Good morning everybody. It is Monday morning. It’s Martin Luther King Jr. day. The sun is out, the sky is blue, I was outside with the dogs and the temperature wasn’t bad. For all intents and purposes a very fine morning but I’m uneasy this week. I feel uneasy this week with everything that’s been going on. Politically this is inauguration week and I’m nervous about this week and I can openly admit that and understand that this is how I’m feeling and just need to acknowledge that and figure how to get through that. I feel like maybe after the 20th I might be a little bit better. It’s been my benchmark date for really long time so we’ll have to see what happens.

I decided that I’m going to start doing a quick little recording on Monday mornings, kind of like a weekly intentions type video, just to announce what I’m working on this week and what my theme for the week is. It usually revolves around the Thursday Klatches which if you never participated in those they’re just a free 45-minute discussion about different topics. This week I decided I wanted to talk about moderation because it’s a very interesting topic for me because once you mentioned the word moderation the first thing that pops into peoples minds is drinking, you know alcohol not coffee, although it could be, and then second it goes to food. But for me, I think looking at things on a wider spectrum is more interesting and so that’s what I’m gonna be trying to do for myself this week while I look at the topic of moderation. Limiting the amount of time I spend looking at the news, limiting anything that is not productive and doesn’t serve me well.

So that’s my intention to the week is try to be more moderate with everything that I’m doing. We’ll have to see how that works out. Join me on Thursday at 8:30 AM or 5:30 PM for a Klatch and now we can we discuss more about that.

I hope you have a fantastic week. I want everybody to be kind to one another and be kind to yourselves. If your feeling the way that I’m feeling now definitely behind yourself and I will talk to you soon. 

This is a transcription from a video post which can be found on my social media sites.

Get Yourself Comfortable

I used to donate platelets on a consistent basis. I would aim for about once a month on average. Then the New Jersey Blood Center by my house closed and it became incredibly inconvenient. There were no centers near me. They finally opened one about a half an hour drive away from my house a little over a year ago. Not as close as before but manageable. I got there once before the pandemic changed everything.

Yesterday I got back and donated platelets again. It was the first time in about a year. I felt guilty this entire time for not donating as I knew there was such a demand. I would wage a war with myself with every email I received asking for donations. In the end, I just didn’t feel comfortable.

It doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing – you need to feel comfortable with what you’re doing. Don’t let anyone pressure you into anything even if that person is yourself.