Virus Blog

9/5/20

25 Year Walk. Walked a new way. I walk at least once a day. I've lived here 25 years. That's once in 9000+ days. I've walked further, but somehow there is a wall in my brain that prevents me from even considering new ground. That ended today. It was a nice walk. It was better than many I've taken. I'm glad that I allowed myself a small dose of spontaneity but I have no intention of making this a habit. I can't explain why. This is not my walk.

9/6/20

Last Chance U. We watched the Netflix series Last Chance U which chronicled the 2019 season of Laney Junior College in Oakland. The premise of the series is that these players weren't able to win positions at the university level. I suspect that mediocre players with resources (and grades) can take other paths to get to division 1 and 2 level football leagues., but this is the path of those without those resources. The series is partially about football but the underlying theme is the story of teenagers becoming adults and students becoming professionals. There are numerous story lines, but my significant take away is two fold. Success almost always depends on others. The gift of talent doesn't guarantee opportunity. Opportunity comes from others. Talent helps open opportunity doors, but talent is judgment, it's a forecast, it's an interpretation. These are the players without traditional opportunities and their fight to find that opportunity. The parallels outside of sports are absolutely there. We are an economy that rewards a small fraction of key individuals while those same people rely on the opportunity created by others and that opportunity is neither a guarantee nor always even fair or logical. Opportunity is what it is, but that doesn't mean anyone is helpless to accept that opportunity given. Opportunity is something to be taken but will remain out of reach for most.

I feel like the above is deep. But, I'm scared to read it back for fear it won't feel nearly as deep or as clear as it is in my head right now. I'll read this again in 10 years and see if it still feels deep.

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