You Should Go Ziplining
The Deep End #29
On this week’s The Deep End, I haven’t much to offer. Last week was a fun one. We talked about morphic resonance and the things that might be lurking behind the shadows of NYC skyscrapers. This week, well, I got nothing. Melissa and I have been finding it hard to keep up with our writing schedule here with the amount of shit going on in our lives. We’re getting married in less than a month (GULP), she recently started a new job (YIKES), and I started going back to school while still maintaining my own full-time gig (HUH?). So, yeah, it hasn’t been easy.
I haven’t mentioned it to my dear readers (or you) yet, but during the summer I spoke with a professor at a CUNY institute who urged me to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing to help bolster my writing contacts. After many discussions based on deciding whether this degree would be worth it or not, I chose to take the plunge. This culminated in a busy end to the summer of me applying to the school, getting accepted, and commencing a few undergraduate courses to test the waters before applying for the MFA program this winter. As a NYC resident I’m eligible to attend colleges in the CUNY system without hurting my wallet, so it’s not like I will be taking much of a financial burden on. In other words, fuck it. What’s the worst that can happen? I guess the worst thing that happens is I slip and fall on my way to one of the classes and die with shit leaking out of my underwear as I’m mocked by all my classmates. Besides that though, the worst thing that would happen is my life staying the same. Well, it would’ve stayed the same whether I did this or not, so why not give it a shot?
This isn’t going to change the person you may have come to know through my posts on Substack. Going to get a piece of paper doesn’t have to warp your beliefs or mold you to think or act a certain way. I’m stronger than that. Honestly, as crazy as it sounds, the Terrence Howard v. Eric Weinstein episode of the Joe Rogan Experience helped spur this decision. I’m not saying I believe a single word that Terrence Howard said in either of his two JRE appearances. But what he says is interesting to say the least. During their “fierce” debate, Weinstein urged Howard to pursue a legitimate university degree in physics if Howard truly wanted to ever have the hopes/chances of being taken seriously. Weinstein explained that he understood where Howard was coming from regarding the establishment being ignorant and hateful towards new ideas, but nevertheless would need the piece of paper if he ever wanted to be heard. Basically, if Howard gets the degree and still believes what he believes, at least he can show he was classically trained and not just some random self-taught psycho.
This hit a theoretical nerve in me. I’ve queried two middle-grade paranormal mystery novels without success. Some of you may be reading my novel Picking Stones which I’ve been uploading by the chapter on here (I was too chicken to let something so close to my heart be rejected by the unpaid assistants of agents so went with the middle-grade novels since I could stomach them being rejected).
Hearing Weinstein urge Howard on getting a degree made an image form in my own poorly constructed mind: the unpaid intern reading the query for my middle-grade novel. “Hi there, I’m John, a random unpublished guy who works in the construction/engineering field and wants to sell books for kids!” The next image that formed was that of the intern laughing all the way to the recycling bin of their laptop, deleting me and my query from his underdeveloped brain.
So, screw it. I’ll try and get this MFA. Maybe it’ll even help. Or maybe it won’t. But that won’t matter—at least I did something. I find that you always gotta do something. Otherwise life gets all weird and crusty and stale and depressing and you suddenly feel like you’re going to die next week in this weird fast-forwarding haze on life where you realize that you’ve been living on autopilot for six months straight. Been there, done that. I don’t want to live like that. I hate living like that, and I’m sure you do too. It’s fun to take chances and for me this degree is a pretty safe one.
Moral of the story: If there’s any chances you want to take, take them. If you want some positive encouragement, message me. I always try to push people to do crazy shit. Even if it’s ziplining over the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, which sounds awesome so go for it! I for one will not be doing any ziplining, but I’ll shout words of encouragement from the ground as you sail overhead and have the time of your life.
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You can also buy me a coffee. Or a zipline ticket for me to enthusiastically pawn off on a friend.
Good on yer youngster, congrads on your upcoming marriage to Melissa although she obviously has poor taste in men(PTIM), picking a callow youth such as you 'stead of a bon vivant 85 year old mature adult such as myself although I do have a 81 y.o. wife wandering about the property here though on the other hand we're both darn lucky they have PTIM else I wouldn't have mine & you wouldn't be getting yours! ;-)
Seriously, heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to both of you!
I applaud your courage and determination to further your education. I am a high school dropout and an autodidact. I did get my GED on the insistence of my father just to have the paper and say I have my grade 12, but after that it was always books and real life experience that were my teachers.
There has always been a part of me that feels 'inadequate' in that regard, on the one hand, I am very much a proponent of the self taught approach, but I do recognize the value of a curriculum and a formal setting for the pursuit of higher learning - as long as one can come through the process unscathed by the inevitable indoctrination that goes along with much formal education. I'm sure that in your case you will be fine as you came to it with your eyes open and your mind aware of the potential pitfalls.