Well my friend, sit down for a spell, and I will enlighten you. On April 21st, 2011 I replied to a very funny tweet from @PepsiThrowback:
Having to weave a cohesive story together, full of characters that are believable, even when you throw in the fantasy bits is an incredibly difficult challenge.
I am horrible at organizing my thoughts when it comes to writing. My best posts on this site where stream of consciousness, so of course that is how I tried outlining.
Of all the problems I thought I would have as a parent, worrying that your child is too pure of heart and spirit wasn't one of them. I mean, he is related to me after all.
I thought I would have to worry about him being a smart-alec, or beating up other kids. I was totally unprepared for Jakob's purity and innocence. It terrifies me. It is amazing to watch him. He is completely oblivious to the less pleasant facets of life. When a child is mean to him, he has no idea. He just goes on as if nothing happened. When another child takes a toy from him, Jakob just laughs and finds another to play with. Don't get me wrong, he's not perfect. He's 5 years old and he does the things 5 year olds do. He acts out from time to time, throws fits every once in a while. In this sense he is normal. Having said that, he is also exceptionally unique. When he enters a room, he brings with him joy, love and innocence. People immediately respond to it, and they notice its absence when he leaves. I am caught in this horrible place of needing to prepare my son for the world and its less than stellar environment, while trying with all of my might to not destroy this beautiful, innocent little child that has been given to me. I am terrified of what the world will do to him if he doesn't begin to understand that it isn't this beautiful, safe place he believes it to be. Every time he hugs someone he just met, or gives someone we barely know a kiss I simultaneously marvel and cringe. It is a profound condemnation of what we have become as a society, that I am experiencing these struggles. I shouldn't have to choose between crushing his innocence, or setting him up to be taken advantage of. I just shouldn't have to.
I have been in Slovenia this week for work and while it has been wonderful, fun and enlightening in many ways it has also been heart breaking, since I am spending this time away from my wife and son.
My family and I have been in Los Angeles, specifically West Hollywood, since Sunday afternoon and already we have decided, we don't really like it here.
With my move to consulting full time, I have relaunched my business site, and part of that relaunch is a blog where I can talk about the work I and my co-horts in crime are doing.