Prompt: 20-minute free-write in present tense.
To be a part of something bigger
that’s the dream
something larger than self
larger than the everyday
something that matters
even if it takes time away
from the frivolous
the amusing
the mundanity
of daily existence
in a world that is sheltered
in place
I sit in my office
awake but mentally absent
I’m listening to learn about the import of the task
and how to go about it
but my mind is wandering off
into the world
in which these individuals live
companies
collections of people
but individuals all the same
scared for their future
scared for their present
not knowing what will be
when the portals open
Monday morning
It’s an odd place to sit
this office chair
staring at a screen
within a screen
hearing voices
that sound so near
but are in reality far away
it feels simultaneously unbelievable
and commonplace
There is a world beyond these walls
a world that I don’t really know
a battleground where my brothers and sisters
are fighting for their lives
against poverty and sickness and injustice
of all flavors and varieties
I may be powerless to so many things
but not tonight
tonight I am fighting
from my sheltered terrace
fighting for those who are struggling
to fight for themselves
Technology is an odd invention.
A year ago
I am sitting at this same desk
in a different office
looking out a different window
wondering if I am in the right place
I feel a pull toward something bigger
something beyond what
I hold there
I think about leaving the corporate life
crossing over
toward public service
serving the one who would serve us all
“you want to be the guy,
I want to be the guy the counts on”
but even with so much hope
and inspiration
and love for country
one love remains stronger than all
my ever-present anchor
keeping me safely in place
weathering the storm
waiting to dock
in a more accommodating and reliable harbor
I’ve been fortunate
beyond any deserving
to have the family that I do
both those inherited by birth
and those chosen
I know that many are not so lucky
I am blessed
beyond any deserving
to have a work that I love
that affords me the chance
to contribute to something more
something bigger than self
something beyond the one
to serve the many
I look behind me
at the path on which my footsteps fell
and I consider the choices
that might have been made
I think of the individuals I may have met
I may have helped
might they be the same
as the ones I am helping now?
I’d better get to work.