The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I was caught off guard over the weekend when a friend of mine asked me, "So what do you plan to do with the rest of your life?" I think I was doubly caught off guard due to the fact I was out and relaxing at a bar. When I venture to such a destination, the last thing I think about is, "Where am I going to be 20 years from now?" At least for me, I go to bars to temporarily unwind and get away from reality, not to have it thrown in my face. In any case, even 48 hours after the fact, I'd still have difficulty in concretely answering the question, "So what do you plan to do with the rest of your life?" Now, if I had been asked, "What are your end goals or dreams?" I would have had a fairly easy time responding in full. However, as I've come to learn, it's incredibly difficult, if not next to impossible, to fully plan life. On a daily basis, things happen which we never would have expected, let alone planned, and that's one of the lo...

While I'll be the first to admit I think most parents tend to believe their children are a bit brighter than they actually are, JP Fugler's recent blog post, entitled, "Your Child Is Not Special," still rubbed me the wrong way. Fugler starts his piece with this: "'You don't understand. My kid always makes straight As.' That might be the most damaging statement to a child's education. Like many teachers, I receive a version of that story multiple times in e-mails, phone conversations, and parent-teacher conferences regularly. The parent is always well-intentioned when they say it, but this mentality is becoming an epidemic threatening educators nationwide." I admit I'm interested initially. Please continue... "I wish more parents understood that their child is not special. That they would listen to teachers like David McCullough Jr. when he told the 2012 graduating class of his school that there were 37,000 valedictorians in...

Life can be difficult to explain to oneself at times, let alone to others. Whether one relives an intense or traumatic life experience through a dream, subconsciously thinking it's happening again, or awaking from a vivid dream only to experience what was depicted in it shortly thereafter, life can sometimes feel surreal. That's how this past week has felt for me - surreal. It's ironic in a way, for Memorial Day (weekend) is the day where many people utter the line, "Always remember" or "Never forget," yet this past holiday weekend was one I don't feel I could exactly remember or forget. So many drastic changes occurred around me, I suddenly felt the need to rub my eyes, slap myself across the face, and mumble, "Am I dreaming?" Like in the film Office Space , however, I've yet to fully snap out of this odd hypnosis. Change is inevitable. No matter how much one may despise the concept of change, it will continually rear its head in one...

Ever wake up and wonder, "What day is this?" I've probably done this too many times to count (not literally of course), but these occasions have especially been prevalent over the course of the past week. I'd say between three and four times over this past week I've dreamt of the following day, only to awaken and realize that day hasn't fully come about yet and my real-life calendar is one day behind my dream-life calendar. This is cause for great confusion initially when awaking in a semi-hypnotic state. One isn't thinking too clearly at that moment, their possibly vivid dreams are likely still at the forefront of their thoughts, and it may take a few minutes to finally place those before-mentioned thoughts to the side and realize what day it is and what's on the agenda for that day. This was especially the case for me a week ago yesterday. When I fell asleep that Saturday night, I dreamt about awaking on Sunday, before taking a nap in the afternoon...

I love when my dreams are so vivid, I awaken in the middle of the night or the following morning and immediately look around to see exactly where I am, and it takes me a few minutes to realize I had just been dreaming. This is especially the case if I had been drinking the previous evening. Fortunately for me (and others I'm sure), I have yet to experience a Hangover -type moment where I awaken from my slumber only to discover a tiger is in the room with me, and no, I don't mean Tiger Woods. There have even been times when a dream has felt so real, I'll find myself in a deja-vu like moment in the next couple of days, where I have to stand back and contemplate, "Wait, didn't this already happen?," before coming to the realization I had only dreamt that very event a night or two prior. This is the especially the case when it comes to conversation. I'll sometimes have to ponder a bit before asking or telling a person something, wondering, "Didn't I...

I earned my degree in Psychology. I studied Freud. I've had some dreams that felt so real, I woke up sweating more than a pig walking a desert in Phoenix. There have been times when I go about my day and pause, thinking for a moment, "Wait, didn't I already do this?," because I dreamt it a night or two prior. So, yes, I am fascinated by dreams and believe they can tell us more than we'd think initially. However, if you happen to read a book or go to a site and check through interpretations of different colors, numbers, objects and other things, along with people, that may appear in dreams, some of the symbolism doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I'll give you five examples to go along with my commentary, before attempting to think along these same lines to make interpretations of my own for different images that could appear in one's dreams. Maroon - If this color appears in your dream, it's said to symbolize courage, bravery, heroism and ...

A Dream Inside A Dream Strangely familiar, Yet uncertain, I’ve been here before, Or so it seems, Surreal in setting, In feeling, In this real? Or am I dreaming? Time appears frozen, Stuck in the present, All around me is still, The past and future non-existent, Impressionistic from a distance, Realistic up close, Rubbing my eyes, To see more clearly, Confusion strikes me, Uncertain of my past, Suddenly forgetful of life’s details, The previous night’s dream being fresh, I awaken, Yet am still asleep, The blurred line of reality, As I dream inside a dream.

Dreaming Myself To Sleep So distant a memory, The images are blurred, Events discontinuous, Details forgotten, Time has lapsed in such great quantity, It shall be like a first once again, Quivering at the very thought, Yet desirous for it to happen, To feel her lips upon mine, Feel her warm breath, Wake up to her smile, Feel my heart pound in her presence, To trust her with my thoughts, Trust her with my secrets, Trust her with my heart, Trust her with my feelings, Tempted through the years, To experience pleasure void of love, Never giving in, Even as I sit and cry alone, Will it be worth the wait? Will it be worth the isolation? Love being absent from my life, Uncertain of its re-emergence, I fall asleep at night, The images become clear, Events continuous, Wishing my dreams were real, I awaken the next morning, Let out a heavy sigh, Realizing the clear images were that of fiction, As I look forward to sleeping again that night.