September 18, 2010

Clearing My Mind

It's been a long time since I have updated this blog, but I promise, I'm coming back strong. I have talked about this subject before on here, but I didn't do it justice, so this is the real deal. Some of you have already read this, but read it again, because it's that good. Enjoy!

Growing up as a guy, society has their perception of what a man should be. Men are supposed to have a chiseled jaw with a five o’clock shadow, combined with a six, if not eight, pack. Men are supposed to be tough. They have to be strong, both inside and out. Men should have all the answers, whether it’s what’s on TV, or what kind of car someone should buy. Men are definitely not allowed to share their emotions with other people. This is what it means to be a guy right? You have to be closed off to the world, and look good doing it, as well as having all the answers. Right?

Well, judging by the above description, I am not a man. I mean, I am, but I don’t really fall under any of the above categories. My jaw could not be any farther from chiseled, and the constant five o’clock shadow is more like I can’t even grow facial hair. I know what you’re thinking; is this kid twelve or something? The answer is no, but I do get that a lot. In fact I’m 20, with 21 being right around the corner. Back to the manly descriptions; I don’t have an eight, six, four, or even two pack. In exchange for the rock solid abs, apparently my family chose a belly and ‘love’ handles for their genes to pass on. Whose idea was that?

I played football for all four years throughout high school and all I can show for it is a plaque and a varsity letter. My body doesn’t even look like I played football, meaning I’m not strong, on the outside. At a time when I was looking to get big muscles and get fast, all that happened was I grew upwards, (and outwards) and got slower. I suppose the one thing I can say is I’m pretty strong on the inside, but who isn’t. If you put your mind to something, you can always accomplish that thing, right? I certainly do not have all the answers. Clearly, see Fall Quarter GPA of my sophomore year. Although, I do tend to know what is on TV, I only know one thing about cars. You should get your oil checked on a regular basis. Oh, and in case you didn’t pick up on it, I would say I have an exceptional sense of humor.

I’m sure by now, you are probably wondering, both why I am writing this and what direction I’m going to go with this from here. Well the first question is yet to be determined, and as for the second one, I’m sure I’m going to take this a different way than you would think I’m going to, so bear with me. My teacher told my class to write informally, but not too informal. I don’t necessarily follow all the rules, especially this one, because I write better this way. Seriously though, who follows all the rules, don’t you speed on the open road sometimes?

This year marks the beginning of my junior year at Ohio University. I know what you’re thinking; all this kid does is party and get drunk everyday. Well, not quite. Yes, OU is now the number two party school in the country, as said by the Princeton Review. But I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Before I touch on that, I’ll tell you about my first two years here. My freshmen year was good, but don’t get me wrong, I had thoughts of transferring closer to home, and to a cheaper school. As tuition keeps getting raised yearly, and my bank accounts are quickly declining, it is getting tougher to pay for school.

I wasn’t allowed to have my car here for my first year so I didn’t get the whole effect of Athens, Ohio. I didn’t really know why, but I came back for my sophomore year. Maybe it was the friendships I had built, or maybe it was the false sense of hope things would change around this town. Regardless of reason, I came back. The relationships I had built during my sophomore year were amazing. I know I will have friends that will be there for me whenever I need them. Now in my third year, and loving Athens after spending a summer here, I want to share something I have learned.

Do you know what a walk can do for you? I didn’t, but that was before I knew about ‘the late night walk’. ‘The late night walk’ is really a ‘man walk’. I wish we had a better name for it, but honestly, we are guys, and we are not creative. The ‘man walk’ is really an opportunity to say whatever is on your chest. There is a catch to this walk though. You can’t just go on a walk with some random guy, or some guy you kind of know. It has to be with a good friend, and I mean a good friend, one that you wouldn’t mind having as a best man at your wedding. For instance, the guys I go on this walk with, they may know me, better than I know myself. I have cried to these guys before, and I swear I only cry when someone close passes, or during a sad movie. If there are relationship problems, these guys know about it.

So what’s the point of this walk? The ‘catch’ is, this walk is an opportunity to speak your mind. No matter how bad of an idea I have, I can say it on this ‘man walk’ and I know everything will be fine. These walks aren’t mapped out either. You walk until you are done talking. Granted there will be a next time, but you have to say what you have to say. There are some rules to this walk, though not official. Rule number one is at all times, you should speak your mind. Even if your thought is negative towards another person on the walk, it’s something that should be said. Rule number two is there is a no judgment zone. Meaning, as soon as the walk starts, no judgment will be passed from one to another. Which also means as soon as the walk ends, feel free to judge all you want, just kidding. The third and final rule for the ‘man walk’ is that whatever is said on these walks, stays on these walks, at all times.

Without breaking rule number three, I will tell you what type of things we talk about. A very common subject is girls and relationships. Now, I know I said I don’t have answers, but I do have answers for this subject. Granted, when it comes to my own relationships, I just don’t know what to do. I give great advice, but I don’t follow it. I have talked about family situations back home, and even financial situations. We talk about what we want to do with our lives after college. A lot of this walk is just clearing the mind of all the things blocking you from having a good time.

I am in constant need to clear my mind. I am a 20 year-old kid who is a Resident Assistant at the nation’s number two party school. For those of you who don’t know what a Resident Assistant does, I basically enforce policies set by the University. I constantly struggle with getting my school work done, enforcing policies, not trying to be the mean RA, making friends, and trying to still have a good college experience. I have given up a lot of my college experience by being an RA, but I refuse to let my job hold me back. These walks are a good chance for me to clear my mind. I don’t really have that many stress relievers. I listen to music, sometimes go on long drives to nowhere, and now I go on these late night ‘man walks.’

Earlier I said I didn’t know why I was writing this, but to be honest I’ve known the whole time. I wanted to share with you, not only a little bit about myself, but one of the things I do that has been something I’ve come to look forward to. I hear, and say, things in these walks I never thought I would. Every walk is different, but every walk is special to me, and I don’t see why they can’t be special to everyone. I encourage you to find your best friend and go on a walk, and hopefully it changes your life, just like my walks have changed mine.

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