Brain Shrink, Think.

Being in the correctional facility for a few months gave me some first person insight into the industrial-prison complex. I am no expert on the subject --- only knowing what I have read and experienced. Being a black young male around a majority of other minority males (most who identified as black) was a very rich experience. There was an initial shock for me that I had almost immediately. I remember thinking to myself, "I have not seen this many young black guys together since High school". Thinking back now I can see how this first reaction is a reflection of our society as it stands now--and now profoundly disheartening that is. On a more personal level, there is nothing more humbling than taking part in their world. Seeing their hopes, desires, and inspirations was awe inspiring. If the measure of a society is how it treats its worst off then yes, we have a way to go. If the measure of an individual is the strength of character given the least desirable ...

"Success is like suicide, suicide, this is suicide; If you succeed prepare to be crucified." - Jay Z This post will have another personal tone, due to current circumstances. Something I rarely talk about is being an ethnic minority. It’s something that I have lived with my entire life, so I assume I take it as a given. There have been struggles and issues with my own identity development personally, but all and all I have come to a sense of who I am from all of it. I find myself only considering the ramifications of being a minority when other people bring it to my attention these days. I guess the irony of it is that I live with the ramifications of it every day. It is perhaps why I fail to address them, because they are too much to consider when you are already living such a busy life. However, now that I am about to graduate with my Masters degree, these ramifications have become too strong for me to turn a blind eye too. While most individuals who leave home to at...

Although I was planning on posting about something else, this entry will have a more personal tone since it is salient currently given workload. We have all heard about, and some of us have, experienced burnout. Being in the helping profession, there is this sense (rather verbalized or not) that the individual who is helping is somehow "above" help from others. While most people within individual focused societies may have this general bias, it is unique to the helping individual in the sense that we not only have it, but help others who reach out to us despite them having the same bias. In a sense, this puts us in a unique position, despite contradictions. There is this general sense that if you are helping people, especially with their life problems, then you yourself can "solve" your own with little to no help from others. While this is general to most of the helping professions, I will talk about the therapist, since it is one I am personally familiar with. ...

So, I thought I would update the progress of my transition to the Vibram Five fingers (My first post: http://musingtothink.blogspot.com/2010/07/running-shoe-less_14.html). It has been 5 (going on 6) months now, and I can't really say I miss "regular" shoes. I wear my dress shoes to work (because I have to), and occasionally converses for when I go out, but other than that the five fingers I wear work perfectly fine. They come in handy most noticeably when running, which is when they shine the most. I have three pair now: The Bilkas for running: The KSO and the Speeds for casual wear: My KSOs were my first pair, and have considerable wear on them now. I am considering getting a replacement pair. I am not surprised, since they were my first "barefoot" shoe and took a beating in the first few months of me wearing them all the time. The Speeds are very nice for causal wear and are comfortable and the warmest of all three. They fit more loose than the KSOs, which fit...

I remember back in 2008 when he was a young, bright-eyed senator who thought he could change the world. What happened? Many of my friends often ask me what I feel being an African-american male and having Obama in the office. While my own views on race quite often differ from that of the norm, I have to say that I do associate more with Obama than any other president past. This may or may not have to do with a racial correlation; I think it is more of his attitude. Obama has a cool and collected way about him. He often thinks things through before talking about them, and seems to be highly reflective and well-thought out. Rather or not you agree with his politics, he does take the time to think about what he is going to say / do before he does it. And if you know me, that is generally how I am. Over the past two years we have gotten a taste of how Obama views politics, how he works, and what his White house does to get the job done. Was all that "Hopey, Changey stuff" stuff, ...

I had a dream the other night I was running, and it was one of the most freeing dreams ever. Yesterday, I woke up and lived that dream. Shoeless. For about two months now, I have gone "barefoot". I don't wear my normal shoes anymore, unless I have to (for professional meetings, etc). This all started when I started running about 10 months ago. I started seriously running around October 2009. I had a pair of gym shoes at the time, a pair of sketchers, that I had been wearing for 2-3 years to workout. I lifted in them, ran in them, and they were pretty flat. When I was running, I noticed pains in my foot and knees while on the treadmill. So I switched to the elliptical for a while, which helped relieve the pain. I went home over the winter break, and got a pair of Nike livestrong running shoes. I asked the attendant which running shoes were "better" and she remarked the following, "It really depends on the person. What I like, you might not like, because it d...

So, here I am, finally opening up a public blog. There are things that happen, things that we all think about, connections to be drawn, and things to be realized. I hope that here, my personal perspective will help some one out there --- and perhaps yours mine as well. :) Let's see where this goes.