It’s been a good week. Though it’s only part-way over and there’s still plenty of time for Chekhov’s hammer to wreak havoc:
Every happy man should have some one with a little hammer at his door to knock and remind him that there are unhappy people, and that, however happy he may be, life will sooner or later show its claws, and some misfortune will befall him — illness, poverty, loss, and then no one will see or hear him, just as he now neither sees nor hears others. But there is no man with a hammer, and the happy go on living, just a little fluttered with the petty cares of every day, like an aspen-tree in the wind — and everything is all right.
Anton Chekhov
…but for now, no hammer and the happy go on living.
It’s been a good week because I secured $30k in recurring, annual operating funds for my organization. For two years I’ve been looking for ways to diversify our revenue. For two years I’ve been fighting off losses with small, one-time gains. Finally, curiosity, research, and patience have paid off and I’m glad I was able to accomplish this in my short tenure.
It’s been a good week because today I got my very first poetry acceptance. A poem I’ve been experimenting with – inspired by song lyrics from the band Soul Coughing was accepted at an online literary journal. They have a decent following and have published some writers whose work I’ve enjoyed. When I started this blog, I initially shared the first dozen or two poems that I had written. I took them down because I decided I wanted to try to get them published (maybe). While this poem wasn’t in that grouping, I mention the early efforts because I seldom write about my poetry or how much or often I write. I don’t know what counts as “good” production, but I probably write 30 – 40 new poems a year. I submit poetry for publication infrequently. Most of the time, the effort of writing brings me joy and I don’t care about being published… but every so often the need for validation creeps in… every so often I begin to feel like a fraud. How could I consider myself a writer or a poet if I’ve never been published (other than on this blog). This acceptance puts some of that self-doubt to rest, if only temporarily.
It’s been a good week because I’ve finally committed to taking some time off. For several years (since 2019), California has been at the top of my list of places to move, with San Diego and San Francisco at the top of that list. I was out in San Diego a few years ago and loved it. In fact Facebook reminded me of that by sharing the “memory” of the picture from when I got engaged out there (thanks FB). It’s been more than a minute since I’ve been to San Francisco. At the end of the month, I’m planning on visiting San Fran for a week. I have no agenda other than to walk around and explore the city. If I can line up a job interview or two while I’m there, I will, but I’m primarily going on a scouting mission. I may even hit up one or two of the women I’ve met online out there to see if they’d want to grab drinks or show me around. When I told a co-worker I was taking a trip, she remarked at how much I was smiling. Travel is something I love to do and for a lot of reasons haven’t been able to find the time or resources. I haven’t done an extended solo trip since I road-tripped through North Carolina in 2019. I’m looking forward to this.
It’s been a good week – now if I can just keep the men with hammers at bay.