Tag: Personal Growth

  • Cleaning is a hard, dirty business

    For the last few days, I’ve spent at least four hours each day cleaning my apartment. If I’m being honest, I don’t mind a bit of mess. In fact, a little bit of mess lets me know that I’m accomplishing something else. I get a bit uncomfortable when things are spotless. I can put on…

  • Summer Sixteen

    Let me start by apologising for the reference to Drake with the title. It’s catchy and rhythmic, though. He must have good writers.

  • The Past Month or So Has Me Confused

    As I sit down to write this tonight, I keep thinking that everything that I want to write about, I already have. This is how much of my life has felt for the past month or so. Maybe even the last few months.

  • …always without applause.

    I don’t consider myself to be someone who is often inspired by quotations. Sure, I like them, but I don’t feel the need to bring my lunch to work in a Lulu Lemon reusable bag, or put up posters in my apartment to remind me that the Buddha said many uplifting things. I do like…

  • March Break?

    I feel out of touch with the world. I spend my time worrying about how I’m going to live my life instead of experiencing it. I don’t understand, or share, most of the concerns of the people who I spend most of my time interacting with. My notion of reality – the “real world” –…

  • A Healthy Social Life Alone?

    A Healthy Social Life Alone?

    It hit me last night when I caught myself looking at pictures of ex-girlfriends. As if remembering the tragedy of failed relationships will somehow bring my current outlook on life into sharper focus, I turn to the photos of smiling women who I once thought of spending my future with. Maybe it’s the memory of…

  • Cigarettes and Leather Jackets

    Other than wearing a stylish leather jacket since junior high, smoking is probably the coolest looking thing that I’ve ever done. Smoking, unlike leather jackets, is terrible for your health. It’s hard to compare the two – leather jackets and cigarettes – but I can unequivocally state that smoking cigarettes is far worse for your…

  • It’s Only Lonely Once Everybody Has Left

    It’s Only Lonely Once Everybody Has Left

    My aunt died at her ex-husband’s funeral, just over a week ago. I don’t know many of the details, but I gather that she suffered a heart attack while at the funeral. It happened on a Saturday afternoon, and by Sunday evening my immediate family was gathered in my one-bedroom apartment.

  • Thoughts About My Teaching Career, So Far

    I’ve been thinking about what it means for me to pursue a teaching career. I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m not one of the luckiest ones, but I’m one of the lucky ones. I’ve been very fortunate to have other teachers and school administrators enjoy working with me and having me in their schools.…

  • Holy F*ck, It’s Already Thursday

    I’ve been effectively avoiding my coursework for about three hours now. I worked on a rudimentary budget, watered my plants, did some filing, put away some of the recycling, and planned my day for tomorrow. Now, I’m writing this post.

  • Staring at Summer

    Downtime is the greatest type of time. Ideally, there’s nothing to do. Nobody ever talks about “uptime”. Curious, isn’t it?

  • A Decade-long Memory of What Happened Changed in One Extra Second

    Yesterday, June 30, 2015, an extra second was added to our clocks. I have no real idea why exactly, but it’s probably similar to why we have leap years. I’m not sure if it was because of that extra second, but I’ve nothing else to blame it on: I learned something about my past that…