Mike, this might sound really fucking weird, but I just stumbled my way here through a wild, winding journey of nostalgia—something to which I'm not typically prone. I don't know if you remember me, but we were friends back in high school, and when I found your writing, it made me smile.
The introspection you write about—the way we blink and years pass, leaving us to looking back and question what our younger selves would think, and how we reconcile that with the choices we've made that brought us to the present—this resonates so deeply.
I also can't help but be drawn to the omnipresent issue of wanting to do it all. I spent so many years pushing myself to try and layer on accomplishments, only to have very little to show for it (aside from a burnout-induced mental breakdown and a subsequent departure from the corporate world). What has helped me was taking the time to thoughtfully reconnect with my creative side. The more I write and create for me, the more in tune I feel with who I am as a person, the more satisfied I feel. And it starts with small steps. It takes a long time to undo the habits that drive us to seek more, when our goal should be to seek enough.
Anyway, hope you're well. I'm looking forward to poking my head back in here every so often to see what you've written. Keep it up.
There weren't many Keenans in my circle growing up, which either means you've got the wrong guy....or we go back as far as elementary school. (I'm guessing it's the latter)
Thanks for taking the time to comment. It put a genuine smile on my face. Sorry to hear about the rough patch on your end, but I'm glad things are turning around.
I feel like a lot of folks in our generation got saddled with timed expectations (maybe everyone does, and I'm just now old enough to see it?). We're pressured to set goals before we really understand what and how long it takes to achieve them and end up setting the bar too high for ourselves.
Do that enough times and it's enough to wear anyone down. Consciously taking smaller slices has done wonders for my motivation and productivity. Now I just have to stick with it.
Haha, well for much of my childhood, a lot of kids called me "Kiwi," which feels embarrassing to say out loud in the year 2025. But this may just be a byproduct of me leaving GHS in 2002 when my family moved away. As far as elementary school, if memory serves, you were also at Harrison? One thing I'll say is that we bonded over Furcadia and being bullied by our peers. At least, that's how I remember it; memories are fickle. If I got it way wrong, well... Lots of egg on my face right now, lol.
Regardless, my broader point stands, and I couldn't agree with you more here. It often feels as though we were set up to fail, only to be subsequently scolded for not handling that failure better, when we couldn't have possibly had the proper tools to navigate all of this in the first place. It's nice to see when people not only develop the self-awareness to address these issues, but also publicly discuss them. A lot of my own writing centers on unpacking the shit that's weighed me down for a long time, and I thought it was nice to see a person from my past navigating similar themes.
Hahaha, well you got me there. I'm racking my brain trying to even remember which English teachers I had that year. Can't recall if we shared those classes.
Also, like I said, I know this is probably super weird. Wasn't trying to be a creep! Just wanted to say that that it made my day to find your writing.
Mike, this might sound really fucking weird, but I just stumbled my way here through a wild, winding journey of nostalgia—something to which I'm not typically prone. I don't know if you remember me, but we were friends back in high school, and when I found your writing, it made me smile.
The introspection you write about—the way we blink and years pass, leaving us to looking back and question what our younger selves would think, and how we reconcile that with the choices we've made that brought us to the present—this resonates so deeply.
I also can't help but be drawn to the omnipresent issue of wanting to do it all. I spent so many years pushing myself to try and layer on accomplishments, only to have very little to show for it (aside from a burnout-induced mental breakdown and a subsequent departure from the corporate world). What has helped me was taking the time to thoughtfully reconnect with my creative side. The more I write and create for me, the more in tune I feel with who I am as a person, the more satisfied I feel. And it starts with small steps. It takes a long time to undo the habits that drive us to seek more, when our goal should be to seek enough.
Anyway, hope you're well. I'm looking forward to poking my head back in here every so often to see what you've written. Keep it up.
There weren't many Keenans in my circle growing up, which either means you've got the wrong guy....or we go back as far as elementary school. (I'm guessing it's the latter)
Thanks for taking the time to comment. It put a genuine smile on my face. Sorry to hear about the rough patch on your end, but I'm glad things are turning around.
I feel like a lot of folks in our generation got saddled with timed expectations (maybe everyone does, and I'm just now old enough to see it?). We're pressured to set goals before we really understand what and how long it takes to achieve them and end up setting the bar too high for ourselves.
Do that enough times and it's enough to wear anyone down. Consciously taking smaller slices has done wonders for my motivation and productivity. Now I just have to stick with it.
It's awesome to hear from you, man!
Haha, well for much of my childhood, a lot of kids called me "Kiwi," which feels embarrassing to say out loud in the year 2025. But this may just be a byproduct of me leaving GHS in 2002 when my family moved away. As far as elementary school, if memory serves, you were also at Harrison? One thing I'll say is that we bonded over Furcadia and being bullied by our peers. At least, that's how I remember it; memories are fickle. If I got it way wrong, well... Lots of egg on my face right now, lol.
Regardless, my broader point stands, and I couldn't agree with you more here. It often feels as though we were set up to fail, only to be subsequently scolded for not handling that failure better, when we couldn't have possibly had the proper tools to navigate all of this in the first place. It's nice to see when people not only develop the self-awareness to address these issues, but also publicly discuss them. A lot of my own writing centers on unpacking the shit that's weighed me down for a long time, and I thought it was nice to see a person from my past navigating similar themes.
Man, if your memory is wrong, then we're wrong together, cause you hit on every count. 🤣
At this point, I have to know if you remember the really campy board game we made for an Odyssey project in freshman English
Hahaha, well you got me there. I'm racking my brain trying to even remember which English teachers I had that year. Can't recall if we shared those classes.
Also, like I said, I know this is probably super weird. Wasn't trying to be a creep! Just wanted to say that that it made my day to find your writing.