Posts tagged following your passion

Forgive me, I had to wait to break this news. I heard back from the people at Whitworth and they offered the Assistant Sports Information Director position to another person - in a close and difficult decision. I’m afraid there’s not much else to say other than I was overwhelmed by the positive support I received and can expect to receive moving forward.

Questions?

I believe I live my life a certain way, and find that people don’t necessarily understand what I’m doing or why I do it. The explanation is simple, I devote considerable time every day indulging in the things I love. It’s a routine I’ve crafted over the years that’s been adapted to the advances in technology. The routine looks something like this:

• Everyday I wake up and read; gathering information from the day before. I usually start with the sports section, analyzing the box scores and feature stories on current sporting events. I did the same thing growing up when the newspaper was the primary medium of information that required the use of one’s brain (although I did watch Sportscenter repeats three or four times on weekends). I usually read the European soccer (football) stories first and move on to whatever sport is in season in the US (like baseball and the NFL Draft). I would estimate I read at least 45 minutes before I do anything each morning.
• I then eat something like a bowl of cereal or whatever I can mock up in a couple minutes: a peanut butter sandwich or quasadilla or whatever. I think its important to eat, but I typically don’t eat too much.
• Hygiene (shower, brush teeth, etc.)
• During the meat of the day I do whatever I feel is the most pressing need. At the moment, the most important project in my life is figuring out how to chart a path into the college sports industry. To this point three potential paths emerged: 1. Get a job in an athletic department directly. 2. Receive a grad assistant position, allowing me to gain experience and an advanced degree simultaneously 3. Work in the university in a different capacity and then transfer internally once a vacancy in athletics presents itself. This task is my top priority, but I don’t think those close to me necessarily feel that way.
• I write something, whether it be a Tumblr post, email, cover letter, or random nonsense to my friends via text message.
• Eat dinner.
• My participation in Tuesday’s trivia night is well documented. When there is less going on and I keep to myself, I will usually read some more. In the evening my attention turns to comic books and I find myself headfirst into decades of character development and complex, interweaving story lines. I also watch programs like “Game of Thrones” for that reason - deep characters in a complex story that requires attention. I’ve mentioned this before, but there is much to be learned simply by paying attention.
• I fall asleep, typically at 1 a.m. or so. My alarm goes off to the sound of sitar music written by Ravi Shankar and George Harrison.
• Throughout the day, I never stop thinking.

This is how all the interesting things I say and think are developed and developed to the depth that they are. Here’s an example:

I mocked this up a couple days ago after being inspired by “Game of Thrones.” I got the images from a free heraldry website. This coat-of-arms represents one of my best friends and every piece of it has meaning.

1. His last name is Sullivan, so he belongs to House Sully (like House Tully - home of Catelyn Stark’s family)
2. His nickname is the “Sullybear,” thus the sigil is the aptly named “Sully Bear”
3. He has the motto “Do Good” and “Be Excellent” tattooed on his right and left bicep respectively. It makes a catchy motto when put together. That is why the arms are on the shield.
4. The chevron pointing upward represents the north, where he lives (and where I used to live)
5. The dog he has is half beagle, half basset hound. She has a brown spot on her right side. As you can see, the spot is on the correct side. 
6. The colors are those of the Colorado state flag and the color scheme of the minor league hockey team he works for.

So there’s a look at what happens in my brain everyday. Everything I do works like that. Sometimes it’s hard to articulate it, as crazy as that may sound.

I feel as if I am teetering on the brink of achieving the bliss I want, doing what I love as a profession. I want to believe so badly that what I am doing will come to something and prove the incomparable Joseph Campbell correct.