Breaking Glad
I miss Breaking Bad. I miss Walt and Walt Jr. I miss Jessie. I miss Hank & Marie. I miss Pollos Hermanos, which just so coincidentally seems a lot like the real life Bojangles. I can't really say I miss Skylar because I was never a big fan. I miss Mike. I miss that old western music and the wisp of smoke in the intro to the show.
I was in one of the buildings on campus recently and saw a guy who looked like (spoiler alert) Walter White with his big ol' beard at the end of the show. And recently, I was talking to my brother about the show, my brother who picked up watching the show based on my watching it while I was home at the end of last summer break and more prominently over last winter break.
He had just finished up watching the series finale (Speaking of series finales, still bitter about the Lost finale for anyone who cares.) so we were talking about it a little bit and then I realized as I was walking around campus the other day that my life, in a way, is like Walter White's.
No, I'm not very good at chemistry. No, one could never mistake me for living life on the edge. And no, I definitely do not make crystal meth. Well, at least I don't last time I checked.
But my life is like Walter White's in that Walt added something to his life to make it wild and new. He decided to do something unique (ie. illegal) to spice up his life and do something he was good at, giving his life some meaning. I don't believe that I needed, per se, something to give my life an edge, but my experiences with Camp and with my church here in Clemson have given me something like that. But let me clarify before anyone puts together that I just drew a comparison between Camp/church and meth-making.
I never thought I'd be a camp counselor. Not once did that thought ever cross my mind. Then I decided last spring that it might be something I should try and wouldn't ya know it? I enjoyed it. I tested myself by taking on this kind of work head-on and really diving in. I had never even before attended camp as a kid, so the whole experience for me was something new and different. I came to find that being a camp counselor is at the same time one of the most demanding jobs yet most rewarding jobs there is. Individuals place their loved ones in your care for weeks at a time. Your move, *insert other job here*. I reveled in the process to the point where I've now spent several weekends over the past few months going back to camp and helping out at Camp Sunshine, which was originally designed as a respite camp for individuals with more profound disabilities, which has been a challenge in itself. Just this past weekend I had a camper who could not communicate with me and relied on me for pretty much every facet of daily living. But the funny thing is, where I really had to make a decision last year on whether working at a camp over the summer was a position I wanted to undertake, now, when the email comes to help out for the weekend, the only thing deterring me would be my calendar.
I also got more engaged with my church over the past few months. I go to nightly prayer sessions sometimes and attend retreats (and join retreat teams) and do things with a greater student faith community. And they're awesome people. Some even happen to have my same middle name (Everybody Loves my Middle Name). Some share my affinity for not using electricity (lower bills)/ frequently lighting candles (because, why not?) And as a group they offered a chance for me to watch Frozen for the first time, now in the running for my favorite movie. Again, this inundating myself with a religious community was not exactly something I thought I'd do if you'd asked me the question this time last year.
So fill your hours with something new each day. Try new things and try to do as much as you can in one day because you don't know if it's your last. Our university's football coach made a comment in his spring press conference last week which I thought was great. One of his biggest concerns right now is focusing on and deciding who will be the quarterback for Clemson next season and when he was asked the question on whether this year's QB would get the leg up for the following season, in 2015, I loved Dabo Swinney's reply, as he replied in a fashion which only Dabo could.
"As for what might happen next year? Heck, I don't even know if I'll be alive next year." In that one little way, he summed up how should be the attitude one approaches each day, week, and year. Dive headfirst into something you don't know if you'll fully appreciate because you just never know if it might turn out to be your thing. Take a chance.
I was in one of the buildings on campus recently and saw a guy who looked like (spoiler alert) Walter White with his big ol' beard at the end of the show. And recently, I was talking to my brother about the show, my brother who picked up watching the show based on my watching it while I was home at the end of last summer break and more prominently over last winter break.
He had just finished up watching the series finale (Speaking of series finales, still bitter about the Lost finale for anyone who cares.) so we were talking about it a little bit and then I realized as I was walking around campus the other day that my life, in a way, is like Walter White's.
No, I'm not very good at chemistry. No, one could never mistake me for living life on the edge. And no, I definitely do not make crystal meth. Well, at least I don't last time I checked.
But my life is like Walter White's in that Walt added something to his life to make it wild and new. He decided to do something unique (ie. illegal) to spice up his life and do something he was good at, giving his life some meaning. I don't believe that I needed, per se, something to give my life an edge, but my experiences with Camp and with my church here in Clemson have given me something like that. But let me clarify before anyone puts together that I just drew a comparison between Camp/church and meth-making.
I never thought I'd be a camp counselor. Not once did that thought ever cross my mind. Then I decided last spring that it might be something I should try and wouldn't ya know it? I enjoyed it. I tested myself by taking on this kind of work head-on and really diving in. I had never even before attended camp as a kid, so the whole experience for me was something new and different. I came to find that being a camp counselor is at the same time one of the most demanding jobs yet most rewarding jobs there is. Individuals place their loved ones in your care for weeks at a time. Your move, *insert other job here*. I reveled in the process to the point where I've now spent several weekends over the past few months going back to camp and helping out at Camp Sunshine, which was originally designed as a respite camp for individuals with more profound disabilities, which has been a challenge in itself. Just this past weekend I had a camper who could not communicate with me and relied on me for pretty much every facet of daily living. But the funny thing is, where I really had to make a decision last year on whether working at a camp over the summer was a position I wanted to undertake, now, when the email comes to help out for the weekend, the only thing deterring me would be my calendar.
I also got more engaged with my church over the past few months. I go to nightly prayer sessions sometimes and attend retreats (and join retreat teams) and do things with a greater student faith community. And they're awesome people. Some even happen to have my same middle name (Everybody Loves my Middle Name). Some share my affinity for not using electricity (lower bills)/ frequently lighting candles (because, why not?) And as a group they offered a chance for me to watch Frozen for the first time, now in the running for my favorite movie. Again, this inundating myself with a religious community was not exactly something I thought I'd do if you'd asked me the question this time last year.
So fill your hours with something new each day. Try new things and try to do as much as you can in one day because you don't know if it's your last. Our university's football coach made a comment in his spring press conference last week which I thought was great. One of his biggest concerns right now is focusing on and deciding who will be the quarterback for Clemson next season and when he was asked the question on whether this year's QB would get the leg up for the following season, in 2015, I loved Dabo Swinney's reply, as he replied in a fashion which only Dabo could.
"As for what might happen next year? Heck, I don't even know if I'll be alive next year." In that one little way, he summed up how should be the attitude one approaches each day, week, and year. Dive headfirst into something you don't know if you'll fully appreciate because you just never know if it might turn out to be your thing. Take a chance.
These days I respond readily when friends from church come a-callin'. In which case, fun times usually await. And I jump at the chance to spend the weekend with both my counselor and camper friends. I love the opportunity to hang out with some amazing people for a couple days. I don't even think about what the job will require of me, or hesitate on the fact that I may be both emotionally and physically drained by the end of the weekend.
Walter White and I can both relate to that feeling of satisfaction and having done a job well.
We can also revel in the knowledge that we did what made us happy.
We can also revel in the knowledge that we did what made us happy.
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| After another classic, end-of-the-semester CSA football bowl, these people rock. Love how evident it is to see how fun these folks are (ie. Brian, to my left). |
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| My buddy Jono and I had a blast as program directors--if you can tell. |
