#JohnWick_77_Challenge #8: Writing about … failure?
When/Where started: FEB 2019- Manila
Don’t turn life’s tunnels into a cave! (from Feb 03, 2019)
In late January 2019 I really wanted to get back into writing (blogging), or at least a certain amount into self-reflection and eventually some philosophy as well. I had written a number of things on medium before but was not a regular contributor though I was a regular reader. So on Feb 03, 2019 I posted this piece, “Don’t turn life’s tunnels into a cave!” that now a year on I want to revisit some sections as part of my DECONstructing JEFF academic autobiography series.
As I look back over the past 50 years at the times I was ‘stuck’, I realize that getting stuck is not necessarily like hitting a brick wall or walking into wet cement like we see in cartoons like kids.
Quite often it is a slow process like a remote control car slowly running out of power and eventually stopping. Or a marathon runner slowing down over a few miles and then just sitting down having resigned themselves with not finishing.
As I wrote this a year ago I think I was deathly afraid I had ‘backed myself into a corner’. Or as I wrote in this section, had begun to resign myself the tunnel I had created (yes, we create our own tunnels) was going to be a neverending story.
It was however just a few months after this post that I started a 12-month contract teaching job in Bangkok. Not quite the level of pay I was used to…but it was great to be back in the classroom again and have a consistent (albeit quite small) paycheck.
It also allowed me a time and place to ground myself and focus all my creative outlets into a strategic delivery plan.
Thus this #JohnWick_77_Challenges that I undertook has resulted in this series and an increasing amount of YouTube content.
Based on this analogy I would say I am still not yet out of the tunnel. It actually feels like I have emerged from the long tunnel I was in, but keep entering other short ones similar to driving through a mountain.
This Bangkok job came about but being in the right place at the right time. But to be in that place at that time I had to take a leap of faith in early April 2019 and fly to Thailand hoping that a different contract would come through in Vietnam. Within a couple of weeks all this fell apart and I was literally homeless and broke.
Without going into details here (more about this on YouTube later this year), within a few days someone helped me out. I then applied for this job on a Friday April ??, went on Monday to sign the contract and started at the school two days later on May 1.
Needless to say i felt a certain amount of relief as I emerged from this long tunnel. Yes, I realized there will still be many more ahead, but I can’t help but wonder if I had not pushed myself into this #JohnWick_77_Challenge…………..
Thoughts, comments and any info about similar challenges you have undertaken are always appreciated.
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What is My #JohnWick_77_Challenge all about?
In January 2019 I was at a pretty low point in my career (and life) — at least from an external POV. After a string of pretty good education related jobs — I now had no job, would turn 60 in just over a year, was living with a (good friend) ex GF, and had exhausted my savings. But I was anything but depressed.
Frustrated? Hell ya. Depressed? No.
Though I had been quite busy (product development but no income) since choosing to leave a Chinese unicorn in June 2018. Like many of you, in my downtime I enjoy action movies to relax and escape reality for a bit. The two John Wick movies (remember, this is Jan 2018) blew me away. Not just the movies, but lots of the ‘behind the scenes’ videos! At one point I did a search of the kill count in Wick 1 and came across this infographic: https://www.visu.info/john-wick-kill-count
Though I like action movies — I am a complete anti-war, anti-gun, anti-violence guy. However, the number 77 began to resonate with me. From a storyteller POV, I began to look at each of the 77 kills as an obstacle that Wick needed to overcome to reach his objective.
Thus my #JohnWick_77_Challenge. To change my life situation I decided to accomplish 77 unique challenges in 12 months. [NOTE: I am now at month 14 and getting close to my goal] These challenges needed to be measurable actions and would also require me to have to learn some form of new skill.
