Wednesday, March 21, 2012

World Poetry Day

According to the United Nations, today is World Poetry Day. As a sometimes-poet, and a huge Poetry fan – I decided to jump on the bandwagon. I took a few minutes (probably should have taken longer) and wrote a poem for my employees. It really wasn’t very good, but it was funny – and I’m hoping “it’s the thought that counts” is how it was received. It was a clear demonstration of why I had better not give up my Day job!

Continuing in the Poetry-Day spirit, for my lunch I decided to take a few minutes to go for a walk outside and think on one of my favorite poems, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. I’ve had it memorized for years, so I just walked through the Gardens and enjoyed the beautiful Spring day, thought about this poem – and reflected on my life.

A few months ago, I came to my personal Fork in the Road. I was the traveler, standing at the fork and looking down each road as far as I could – and having to decide which road to take. And I am now quite a distance down that path. Certainly too far to turn around (which I don’t want to do anyway), but still wondering what is ahead of me on this road. Certainly there are grassy spots, and no doubt there will be fallen trees and other obstacles. But this is the Road that I have chosen, and I am happy to be moving forward along it.

And most of all, somewhere ages and ages hence, I will look back on this Road of Life and will be proud of this journey. It’s not always easy, but it is certainly always worth it.

[If you’d like to read Robert Frost: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-road-not-taken/]

Saturday, March 10, 2012

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Last night I had a dream! That may not seem so phenomenal to most people, but dreams are incredibly rare for me.

For most of my adult life I have suffered from extreme insomnia. For the past few years I have been averaging about 4-4½ hours each night. I’d been to doctors, a Sleep Clinic, but nothing seemed to help.

Then last fall things digressed to where I was only getting 4-4½ hours 2 or 3 days a week, only 2-3 hours 2 or 3 days each week, and one night each week I didn’t get any sleep at all – and all of that only when taking Ambien CR and 9 mg Melatonin. So I decided to try more radical measures. I went to a hypnotherapist, a Naturopathic Nutritionist, and consulted with an ENT doctor. The doctor recommended surgery, so even I had some pretty intense sinus surgery in December.

A few weeks ago I had my first dream in years. It was very short, but in it I was with both of my parents (who have both passed away) – and I woke up with this wonderful feeling afterward. Not only had the surgery worked and I had finally been able to sleep deep enough to dream, but I had gotten to see my parents again.

Little by little over the past few weeks I have had a few more dreams. None of them very long, but each one always leaving me with a euphoric feeling. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed dreaming until I finally got it back. I may still only be getting 4-4½ hours each night, but at least I can now do that without any pills at all. And there is the hope that I may catch a glimpse of a dream – and that is absolutely a dream in and of itself.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Defend Yourself

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to BYU as my niece Defended her Thesis. As a Grad Student, she has spent the past 6 months focused on a Research Project and documenting the benefits of using a new technology to assess language acquisition. OK, it was really more interesting than I am making it sound.

While we were waiting for one of the professors to Skype in, we were all just chatting – and the topic turned to “Defending” the Thesis. It would seem that if the student has to “Defend” then the professors must be “Assaulting” or “Attacking” the students. But then, I doubt that BYU would be OK with professors “Assaulting Students” or “Attacking Students.”

For those of you that don’t know, “Defending Your Thesis” really is kindof defending your whole project. A panel of professors gets together and asks questions and pokes holes in your theory. I’m assuming that the purpose of this is to strengthen the work so that it holds up to scrutiny when published – but it really is a rather nerve-wracking process.

Why don’t they call it “Thesis Review” or “Thesis Support” or even “Thesis Help Panel”? Wouldn’t it be great if, after the months you spend working on it, it ended with a “Thesis Hug”? OK, so maybe we don’t want professors going around hugging students, but it would sure feel less threatening than having to “Defend Your Thesis.”

After thinking about it, I guess it really is part of preparing students for real life. Over the years in my career I have had to “Defend” an idea, project, job position. I have had to clearly state perfectly plausible reasoning behind my philosophy and “Sell” it to a boss. I have had to “Fight” to have a new position created. And I have even had to “Attack” problems on many occasions.

And lately I feel like I have had to “Defend Myself” – or maybe, better said, “Stand Up for Myself.” In relationships it is just as important, maybe even more so. Keeping balance in a relationship is a delicate thing, and when things get too out of balance the whole relationship suffers – sometime irreparably.

So, be prepared to “Defend Yourself” – whether at the end of your Master’s Program, taking a fencing class, or just heading out into the real world. Know what you really want and believe, and always be prepared to “Defend Yourself” against anything and anyone that “Attacks” it. Today’s Quote: “Where there is no struggle there is no strength.” And it’s really true. My niece has a better Thesis for having “Defended” it, and I am stronger for having “Defended Myself” too.