Well, now that I’m done with the BTP (Behind The Pen) segment of my primary release of my Short Story Project, I can get back to my regularly scheduled blogging. I am glad to do this, too, because so many things have changed throughout my life. Not just mine, either; my friends were dealing with the same thing…
Leon: Justin, your book is out.
Me: Short story.
Leon: Point being, you need to celebrate. You deserve to celebrate.
There’s a certain level of madness that comes with a work that has been released. A few years ago, I released my first literary work “Dimensions: The College Years” to mediocre success. And, all the way, I took part in a lot of mistakes and missteps which made me a better writer and a smarter businessman. Now, I can take the knowledge I’ve acquired and put it into the future work.
Life doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints. It’s takes and takes and takes.
– Aaron Burr, Hamilton, “Wait for It”
Learning that I’m not as spry as I use to be is a reality that I’m slowly coming to grips with. For the third in my life, I got sent home due to a medical inconveniences. First time was when I was a stocker for the Burlington Coat Factory warehouse when I had an ingrown hair that became a painful nuisance. Then, I got my wisdom teeth pulled due to its growing danger. Now, I had to deal this pesky discomfort in my throat that’s preventing me from teaching. The latter is something that got me really thinking about it.
My brother and one of my closest friends had a field day at my expense after what happened a week ago. Long story short, I didn’t learn from my lesson from a few months ago and tried to do so many things at once. So, yeah, I almost had a fainting episode in front of my students and I got send home because of it. It was an unsettling feeling but I should provide some backstory to this one.
“Anyone who says writing is easy isn’t doing it right.”
― Amy Joy
This past month has been quite the rollercoaster. For starters, I finished all my short stories and t got them all typed up and ready to be edited. But that only made the next steps that much more crazy because, now, I’m on Phase Two which works back and forth with Phase Three. And, even funnier, that’s not the only thing that I have to endure.
There is so much work that I have completed for my pending release of my SS Project and my teaching responsibilities is actually stabilizing it now that the summer vacation is coming to an end. So, I go back to having two days off a week and I think I can get all of this short stories typed up and send off to editors before the end of the month. But that’s a story for another time. Right now, I want to get into the second part of what I happened to me.
I had a good cry, as of recently. It was a momentary break that was needed. I was told that I was misinformed about my status a man. Moreover, I was enlightened by the fact that I deserve to have a cry every now and again because of my “unique” status as an “outsider waving through a window”. I had my friend, Levana and Bernard, to remind me of that.
I’m two stories away from completing the drafts of the 45 short stories. I still have to type them all up before declaring Phase 1 being complete. Nonetheless, I know what’s going to be happen for me is going to be similar to that of a wicked whirlwind. But, right now, I’m just staring into the eye of the hurricane with a smile on my face. I can’t wait to take it on.
My brother and I have been talking about my writing and compared me to a particular unsung Founding Father. I found it flattering but inaccurate. See, contrary to his popular belief of me, I do take breaks, especially after my mental exhaustion. But, he did make one thing clear. I do, in fact, work like I’m “running out of time”.
With everything that has happened in my home country regarding police brutality towards people of color, I thought it was time to put my two cents in on the topic. My brother advised against it because of my lack of negative interaction with law enforcement. However, I have to disagree. I think it’s because of my lack of interaction with the blue blood community is precisely why I can talk about it. So, allow me to express my opinion on the topic at hand.