Different Paths

Lonnie Allen and I had almost every class together when we were ninth graders in Clovis, NM. We were in the advanced classes together. I remember talking to him about what we were going to do with our lives. I really had no clear idea of what I wanted to do (pharmaceutical research scientist was not on my list of potential careers), but he was already doing things to get ready to be a prosecutor. We had fewer classes together when we moved to the high school (only 10-12 grades were in the high school), but we did have Algebra II together. He would tell me how hard it was to take AP English with the math classes needed to take Calculus when we were seniors. I moved to Virginia after that year. I moved during the summer so I didn't get a chance to say good-bye to most of my friends from school.

I wondered about Lonnie until we reconnected on Facebook. He's not a lawyer. He draws comics. He doesn't draw superhero comics or Sunday funnies type of stuff. He's more a graphic novel comic artist. He posts a short strip every couple of days on his blog. He's been a zombie in a video store commercial too. I have no idea what his day to day life is like, but I'm certain that it's much different than mine. I have never thought about what life would be like as a struggling comic book artist living in Denver, but seeing somebody who was once very much like me (at least at a superficial level) choosing a much different life has made me wonder what could have happened if I had made different choices in my life. I'm very happy with the choices I've made, but I've always been so focused on the next stage of my life or career that I've never stopped to consider an alternative to my experience.

You know you've been closed to new experiences when buying a fairly unconventional polo shirt is a relevatory event. I have been pushing my limits here and there recently. It's been in fairly tame ways, like trying new restaurants (the wife and I discovered a great place just outside of our usual haunts this weekend) or wearing almost designer jeans with shoes other than running shoes on the weekend. My decision to pursue an MBA online is another way that I am thinking a little more broadly about how to go about living my life. I know that none of these things are particularly edgy. Lonnie will always be further out on the experimental side of life than I will ever be, but I intend to make experimentation, trying something new just for the sake of trying something new, a bigger part of my life. Rather than passively waiting for new experiences to find me, I will start looking for ways to do new things and building on positive experiences that I have had in pushing my boundaries. Today it's building a little wall for my kids' garden. Who knows how tomorrow's choices will change the path of my life.