A selected collection of my writing.
Maybe it’s odd that a passing comment by a character in a Tom Clancy thriller got me thinking deep thoughts this morning, but it did…
“A conscience is the price of morality, and morality is the price of civilization.”
“Patriot Games” by Tom Clancy, Page 97.
I do not agree with this. Especially the last part about civilization.
You have a story worth telling. First, here is what we’re not entitled to: being listened to by the masses. The honest truth is that attention is earned. But there can be incredible epiphanies that come from telling yourself your story. There are so many possibilities inside you. It’s a worthy thing you do, exploring those paths.
Everybody starts with an audience of one, and nobody has the right to silence you, not even your own inner editor.
Got the day off work today, and slept in a little this morning. I had removed a box fan from one of my apartment windows, and I was just standing looking out the wide open window enjoying the view when I noticed some birds. On the far side of some tennis courts on the school grounds that neighbor my apartment complex, I saw two big blue jays and a larger black bird I could not identify.
Curious, I got out my binoculars and checked the trio of birds out. The mysterious stranger was just a big crow. The hyper-territorial jays had probably been harassing it, and now they were all just resting on top of the tennis court fences eyeing each other warily.
Some days it is SO hard to see the beauty… Today (7/28/2013) was one of those days.
I won’t go into a lot of detail, but I had an experience with a supervisor / co-worker and supposed comrade / shipmate which shook my faith in humanity. The discovery initially just made me angry. But the action was so blatant and apparently vindictive. The person lied and plead ignorance when I initially asked them about it, and then changed their story and lied to me again when I confronted them with the truth. The event was minor but the vindictiveness of it, the dishonesty, and what it appeared to reveal of this person’s opinion of me… these things quickly turned my initial anger to a deep feeling of sadness and has left me with a very negative outlook on humanity and life. Continue reading So hard to see the beauty.
It is strange going to a shopping mall geared for the rich when you have no intention of buying anything and are there merely to pass some time. The obligatory shopping center food court can be a particularly thought provoking place to hang out when you’re not eating. Before lunch the mall itself was still fairly busy but the crowd was primarily the rich doing a little shopping. At lunch though, particularly at the food court, things get really busy and the crowd changes, becoming more blue collar. All these people… Continue reading Food Court Philosophy
The “Journal” category of this blog is mostly just to provide me, (the site’s owner,) with a convenient link to my personal journal posts. As such, (unless you happen to be me,) you won’t see much here, as I suspect I won’t be making many of my journal posts public. Any thing from here that I might deem worth public consumption will probably be added to other categories as well.
But then again, you never know. I may mark something else visible to the public in here every once in a while, just to see if I can sneak one by my non-existent followers…
poem © Jeffrey Beaty
September 1993 — 19 lines
Written after a late night visit to the top of the “sail” (conning tower) of the USS Pasadena, SSN 752, a nuclear submarine that was making way on the surface of the Persian Gulf.
