Stumbling is characteristic of most first steps. Even the first men on Studio Moon stumbled on the early takes before perfecting it for the live satellite telecast. But like Rocky says, it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. To Sly, the first steps always involved mumbling, but he got back up, dusted off his syllables and continued to make sequels against all odds.They say that if you sit on the fence for too long you’ve gotta expect the odd picket up your arse. Who knows who ‘they’ are that say such things. I picture a room full of middle aged men just saying things all day and night. It’s a bit like the age old question, ‘where is the internet?’ I knew a man who answered that once, telling me it was a building with countless black boxes in it.
If this blog entry was ever moving forward, I digress. But it’s not about how many points you make, it’s about how much you can digress and keep people reading.
Over the past few weeks I have set up camp on the fence. I have been pondering 2 options: Stay Here vs Go to Sydney to continue my studies. It was getting to the point where I thought I might need to dial the emergency number and get the Ambivalence Ambulance to come to my apartment.
In my hour of need I was reminded of an article I once read from Nathan Buckley – Australian Football Collingwood Legend. He talked about a hard decision he’d made (perhaps to leave the Bears) and how he had talked it through with his Dad. Now why didn’t I ever do that?
So I called my father. And it was beautiful.
Harry managed to look at where I was at, and give it back to me with at-times-brutal and at-times-touching honesty. And when I got off the phone it was clear to me that just because things have been a little rough, there’s no need to pull the rip cord. Everything is where it needs to be.
To those out there who have trouble navigating the waters on the father-son relationShip, I would suggest giving the guy the chance to be your dad from time to time. He probably knows you better than you can imagine.
