Where's Your Spot?

I was in Blacksburg this past weekend to see one of my previous roommates get married. The wedding was great as was the time I got to spend with a number of friends I don't get to see very often. But as much fun as I had with that, there was something else that stuck out to me. On Sunday morning, I woke up somewhat early - at least before all the other guys in my old place were awake - so I decided to walk downtown and get a cup of coffee at Bollo's and then walk around a little. I looked around downtown to see what stores have come and gone and then walked through campus and I ended up at War Memorial Chapel. War Memorial was one of my favorite spots on campus when I was at Virginia Tech. I loved to sit on top of the Memorial against the pylons looking out across the drillfield. I remember many of times just sitting there for hours watching thousands of students walk to and from campus and thinking about the potential of each person I saw. It's pretty awe inspiring actually. You sit on top looking out at the future in the students, but at the same time, you are immersed in the past as you look across the many names etched in the stone pylons around you. Those names, of course, are those of alums who have died while serving our country.

I then ventured to the lower level and spent some time in the chapel itself. The chapel isn't anything great - but it's quiet and peaceful. And of course, there is that grand piano that sits to the left of the alter. I was thankful the chapel was empty on this particular Sunday morning as I played a few songs that I used to enjoy singing in that very space.

War Memorial Chapel was very much one of "my spots" on campus. These spots were the places I would go when I needed to be alone or if I wanted to reflect on life or just pray. I reflect on this because I haven't found "my spot" here in Richmond yet. I've gone to a few different places, but I'm still looking for that place of peace to calm my soul now and again.

I'm here to entertain

So a friend and I went out to the driving range for the first time this year. Now, I should qualify this post. I do not consider myself to be a golfer. Nor do I pretend that I can even play golf. I do, however, like to get out to the driving range once in a while with the hope that someday I might actually be able to hit the ball without injuring someone around me. So today, we went out to The First Tee Richmond to knock around a few balls. I have no doubt that I provided entertainment to the other 20 people who were there - including the pro who was trying to teach a guy how to hit with a pitching wedge. I am proud to say that everything I hit did go forward - even if it was only 1 yard. I actually had about 2 1/2 really good hits out of 55. So, at that rate - I'll be ready to go in about 5 years. I think I'm going to shell out some money soon to actually take a few lessons and then get out to the range a least once a week. But then again, I said that last summer.

Joy

Joy in Blue Originally Uploaded by Your Guide


Joy is always something that I can never really put my finger on - yet it is something that I've always longed for. I have always wanted to live a joyous life, but I'm been thinking about what that really means. What constitutes a life full of joy?

Like any good blogger, I did a Google Search on joy and came up with some things:

- Happiness, pleasure or joy is the emotional state of being happy. The definition of happiness is one of the greatest philosophical quandaries. Proposed definitions include freedom from want and distress, consciousness of the good order of things, assurance of one's place in the universe or society, inner peace, and so forth.

- the emotion of great happiness

It's obvious that joy is a complex concept. I think we typically think about joy in small doses. For instance, one finds joy in exercising each day. Someone else finds joy in a nice Italian restaurant. And believe it or not, some people find joy in their work. I find I tend to compartmentalize my joy - I can be happy at certain times because I'm supposed to be happy. Likewise, there are times when I'm not "supposed: to be in a joyful mood. As my good friend Sara would say - Hogwash!

When you start recognizing that each part of your life can indeed by joyful, I think you start to change your perception of the world around you and can find joy in those small or tedious things. As with most things, if we just took the time to look around, we'd find what we were looking for.

Good thing I had that vacation...

As I've mentioned before, I started a new position within a different entity with the company I've been at for the past year. Instead of being on the hospital side, I am now on the physician practice and outpatient side. It's quite a change for me and I'm still trying to feel my way through the new organization. The first few days have been light as I'm learning. Today though, it was a marathon day - over 16 hours straight. I haven't done a day like this in quite a while! While it was exhausting, I really enjoyed getting to learn about some of the different aspects of my new organization and meeting a (seemingly endless) amount of people. I can see that these next few months will be a challenge, but I really think the experience will be invaluable.

Good for the Mind, Good for the Soul

Yes, I've cursed it many a time, especially in regards to anything related to academia. But I'm also secretly in love with it too. Yes Virginia, I'm a complex person. Actually, I don't think I'm all that complex - I'm talking about reading. Over the past few weeks, I've taken the time to pick up reading again. I really do love to read - of course, I like to read things that I'm interested in. While I do like a good fast-paced thriller from the likes of John Grisham, I've also been catching up on the pile of Newsweeks that have been hiding dust on my coffee table. I've dabbled in a Leadership book and have worked on some spirituality as well.

In times of high stress, the last thing I want to do when I'm at home is to really use my brain. I, like many other Americans, dutifully sit down on the couch, flip on the TV and veg. Don't get me wrong, I like TV. I'm addicted to many shows. Thankfully, we have this time called summer and these lovely things called reruns. It makes it so easy to turn off the TV and sit in the recliner and read.

So, give it a try. Find a book that really intrigues you at first. Read during that primetime of the evening usually reserved for television. Sit outside on your porch or maybe at a local park. The point is to expand your reading time outside of the 30 minutes before bed. I've really enjoyed taking the quiet time lately and letting my imagination act out the authors' words. I think you will too.

Where Have I Been?

Well it isn't that unusual for me to go 2 weeks or so without updating my blog, but this time it was actually intentional. That may seem odd at first, but for the first time in quite a while, I was on vacation! Yes, a bonafide vacation - no school, no work. And to make it even better - I did absolutely nothing over the past week. I slept in late, sat outside, read some FUN books, and caught up on watching some movies. It was awesome - I hadn't simply relaxed that much in quite some time. As many of you know, relaxation can be somewhat challenging for me, but I was really able to take advantage of this time off for once. In addition to my lack of activity, I was able to travel to Charlotte to visit some good friends for a few days as well.

So the vacation was nice, but now it's off to work. Tomorrow, I start my residency, which for those of you who don't know, is a full time job that is affiliated with my graduate program. I'm pretty excited because I'm starting at a whole new office and I'll be doing many new things that I haven't experienced at the hospital over the past year. It should be a good experience.

On a side note - there have been a lot of things that have happened over the past two weeks, but I'll touch on some of those in later posts.