Monday, June 18, 2012

My exile is over

This Wednesday I head to New York to attend my daughter's high school graduation, have a little fun with friends, and then..."Escape from New York Part II."

20 months ago I headed to Texas and left my wife and daughter in NY so my daughter could stay in school there, sell our house, etc.  It's been a LONG time.  I've jokingly called it my 20 month exile, but that's over.

It's been a huge monetary and personal sacrifice having to maintain two households 1,800 miles apart, but it was worth it for all of us.  My daughter begins school this August at the University of Texas at San Antonio's Honors College as a Biology major.

I look forward to our new life and all the opportunities, adventure, and fun ahead.

Escape from New York courtesy of AVCO Embassy Pictures

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Let the river flow

In the July 2012 issue of Cowboys & Indians, Kevin Costner shared his approach to prioritizing his time between his two professions - movies and music.  

"I just have to let things in my life work organically. If they expand, then they expand for the right reasons."

I love the simplicity of this philosophy; do what you're passionate about, put in your time where it has the most value, and things will naturally take a course that they're meant to.  Like a river, the course may not be the shortest, but it will be the most elegant and efficient.  

Kevin Costner doesn't let the end game drive his creativity; he lets it go where it naturally wants to go.  He doesn't write a song and then visit every radio station to push his song up the charts, he lets it, as he says, grow organically.  There is some planning, or better yet, scoping.  He knows that he can't tour 200 dates a year; he tours when it fits his schedule.

I don't know if it's the wisdom and maturity that comes with age (doubtful in my case), but my philosophy mirrors Costner's.  I simply don't know where my PhD studies and my eventual degree will take me, I have a rough idea, especially with regard to what I don't want to do; however, my passion will take its natural course and I'm very much OK with that.


Photo courtesy of Michal Marcol.