Every day we have an opportunity to redefine ourselves, to become closer to the person that we want to be. For me, each day is a chance to review the ShakaBrown from yesterday, and make the changes towards the masterpiece. Just because I don’t know the deadline doesn’t mean that I can’t work towards a better version.
Sometimes we get a very stark awakening that we don’t have forever to become the person we want to be. I had that awakening on August 28, 2013. I can even tell you what time. That was the day that tuberculosis took over my body, and almost ended up turning in that final copy of ShakaBrown.
When I think of my life before that day, I reflect on the things that I could have done differently. When I think of what I my life has become now, I am excited and thankful for the opportunities that come with each day.
I spent 4 contiguous months in the hospital, from the middle of November until the middle of March. During this time I was able to vent, process, and share through writing. I wanted to post the things that I wrote, yet when I go back to read them there are parts I don’t like, or I didn’t say the way that I want it be understood. So I shelved it until I could come up with a way to present it. The problem wasn’t in the message, it was the delivery. At the same time, new thoughts and ideas are coming to me and I really want to share those, but didn’t have a format developed to do it.
Then I realized I didn’t carve these writings into the walls of a cave. I could rewrite them as many times as I felt was necessary to get it the way I wanted. So that’s what I’m doing now, filtering, rewriting, trying to present to you the best me that I can, on the Internet, on paper, and in life. Welcome to my rough draft.