All That Glitters....

I started writing this blog two weeks shy of seventeen years ago and missed exactly one day of posting in all that time. I have now lived here longer than anywhere else I have ever been and there are days I'm not happy about it and this, surprise!, is one of those days.

I love The Mountain by Laura Ding-Edwards. When I'm in need of inspiration or hope, I scan it again and savor every word.  I especially enjoy the couplet, "A day is not a lifetime. A rest is not defeat." I've been reading it a lot recently, practically wearing out my glasses.

I live in Norwich,  a small city in Southeastern Connecticut, and have since I returned to the United States, very much against my will, almost thirty-three years ago. If we had a spirit animal it would be Eeyore because lifelong residents, and there are many, are forever waiting for something awful to happen around here even when good things are happening all the time. 

Apparently, there's nothing quite as satisfying as slowly shaking your head and saying 'I knew it, I just knew it,' when something goes sideways. Too often too many are so busy tsk-tsking and shaking their heads they can't be bothered to roll up a sleeve or take some initiative. 

They see themselves as realists; that's as may be. I think of them as assholes. As you may have already surmised I don't have a lot of friends here despite all the years of residency not that I miss the company but it does get old to be in a perpetual foot race with people who when you have an idea, race to come up with reasons for why it can never work. Discouraged experts are just the worst kind of people to share a city with.   

Last week had some great news about funding two projects that, quite frankly, deserved support long ago but we had more will than wallet. That's now changed, but the same hand-wringers and woe-is-me folks are still waiting for a stumble so they can have their gotcha moment. 

All you can do, as a person, as a parent, as a leader in any capacity is try. And try again. If you fail, still try again and fail better. Eventually, if you want it badly enough you'll find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse. I, for one, have had it with excuses, maybe you should try that mindset too. 

I'm thinking about some folks in New York City, and NOT in Manhattan, who had a very small something and have made it a whole lot more than the sum of their aspirations and dreams. So when someone tells you that there's nothing one person can do, tell them to Go Fish.
-bill kenny