Introducing....

Coming up later this week: I'll finally finish writing 2 posts I was trying to finish for this week: one on religion in politics sparked by a Lou Dobbs op-ed piece, the other a sequel to the Dea(r)th of Comedy which I wrote a little while back, and of course movie Saturday (could be The Departed, could be something throwback...could be both). Now on to today.

Today I introduce a guest contributor, who could become a regular, weekly contributor, Mr. Jimmy Blanks.
For those unfamiliar, Jimmy is a fellow Fresno native and is currently an MFA student at the University of Montana in Fiction Writing. I've known him since we were in 2nd grade and consider him more of a brother than a friend at this point.
Rather than gushing over his abilities, I'll allow his writing to speak for itself. So without further adieu, here's part one of his first offering, the second part will be up on Wednesday. I should preface it by saying this was initially written as an e-mail and has been edited for length and content.


I'm tired of dreaming. I'm tired of resting on my own talents, and not risking failure. I'm beginning to see that these other MFA students are satisfied to sit passively in these workshops and think abstractly about that "great book" they want to write. I don't want to do this. I want to write something and get it out there; that is why I left Fresno in the first place. It would have been much easier to stay in Fresno and postpone my professional life for another 2-3 years. I can't do that anymore. I want more. I want to start taking those chances and making serious decisions instead of saying, "someday, I'd like to publish something." There are too many vague terms in that dream. There is too much wiggle room.

People seem to put too much pressure on themselves because they believe that "one decision will ruin them forever." What they don't realize is that there are no bad decisions. Let me clarify that slightly. There are no bad decisions within reason. We are going to assume for this argument that the decisions aren't criminal or suicidal.

An example: I decided to go to Montana instead of staying in Fresno. Now, I could have agonized over that, and I can still spend my life agonizing over what a horrible decision I've made. But the truth is, I didn't make a bad decision at all. I made A decision. You don't make a decision and then finish. You make one, then you make another, and so on until you've filled this big broad timeline you call a life. (I find myself using the "you" pronoun a lot, so I apologize if this sounds like I'm addressing you personally. In my mind I imagine I'm addressing a group of directionless youth.)

I can make this work. I could have made Fresno work. I could have moved to Europe and made that work too. There are going to be problems here, and in Europe (namely, missing Fresno and my friends and family). But, there would be problems with Fresno (never knowing what's "outside" [a ‘Pleasantville’ complex], feeling trapped and limited in my hometown, possible feelings of guilt about not making a big leap and testing myself.).
There are problems everywhere, and there are possibilities everywhere, and if you cut yourself off (if you just say, "Well, I've just ruined my life, I can't possibly come out of this") then you'll never give yourself a chance to grow, a chance to find happiness and success and love and all that great stuff that is promised to us as children.

And another thing. George Eliot said, "It is never too late to be what you might have been." It is never too late to change course, and it is never too late to try for something on which you've previously given up. I want to be a writer. But a couple years ago, I really wanted to be a chef. I still do, in some ways. I still hold onto that small dream, and I've never ruled out the possibility of doing both.

People, young people I think, feel confined to one path or another. I don't think there is any real path. People feel their lives slipping, and they say something like, "I've strayed from the path," or "Somewhere I moved off the path and now I don't know what to do." What they don't see is that THERE IS NO PATH. Assuming a path assumes that everything is pre-determined, that there is nothing you can do and that you're simply on autopilot. Even assuming something like God deciding our lives for us doesn't allow for this lack of choice. Even people who say our lives are decided will be quick to point out that God doesn't show people how their lives will turn out. So, let's say you feel yourself slipping. Couldn't THIS just be a part of the path?

I'm always amazed when people lament that their lives have somehow veered horribly off course and now they're worried about finding the right way again.

Why worry? There is always time to do what you want, and to find what you're seeking. Don't let yourself become paralyzed by anxiety or fear that you've made a wrong turn somewhere. Every turn is just a turn.

Also, I have an idea about love that sort of fits with this rant, but I should probably save that... Ah, heck. Here it is...

You'll have to come back tomorrow for that one.