Father forgive me, it has been almost a year since my last post.  But somehow, someway, I just thought I would be fine without it.  In truth, what I discovered is that I am not.  So in the words of one of the greatest heroes of all time, Inigo Montoya, “Lemme plain, no, there is too much.  Lemme sum up.”

Sometime about 10 years ago, I decided to write a blog.  And why not?  All the cool guys were doing it, and with all that was happening with the Church and the culture, I figured I might be an important voice in the conversation……sort of a conservative religious pundit if you will.  But punditry, if there is indeed such discipline, required much more effort than I was willing to put into it.  In addition to this, it also exposed me to all sorts of opinions about culture that I would rather see in the DSM than mainstreaming as normative.  So after a short time, I just let it go.

Then, in 2008, along came a stroke, and I suddenly found myself in a condition that required some level of rehabilitation.  Writing, I found at least, was helpful as it stimulated thought and expression.  In truth, at that point I did not give a rat’s ass about punditry, nor could did I have any more chance of doing a good job at it than President Trump has in having the press say something nice about him.  So I changed the game, and just wrote.  And I wrote almost daily for five years.  My decision to pursue a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Addictions Counseling, which I completed this past year, changed my need to write “for sanity.”  But I completed that work, and am finding that the “squirrels are strong in me.”

So now I have yet some additional education, a license in Clinical Mental Health and am applying to take the test for a license in addiction counseling.  I am not working anywhere in these fields, but am certainly willing to.  I am no genius by any means, but I think some of that may be connected to this thing that people call “applying.”  But that has little to nothing to do with why I need to write again.

All the school work I have done challenged my mind, or at least kept it busy.  In the words of the Dread Pirate Roberts, “What are our assets?”  For me they are keeping my mind active, but these past few months not so much.

So as I have said multiple times in my posts, I really do not write for followers……I write because I need to for myself.  If I start working as a therapist or addictions counselor, particularly as the “priest business” is not all that busy, my needs may change.  But for now I have serious concerns that I am not challenging my brain nearly enough,  And I know that scenario leads to nothing good.

I have no intention of being irresponsible, I mean at least until I get a very good offer to do so.  Until then, I will stay the course, and make sure I end this life, naturally, and within the normal markers of insanity that I have always aspired to.

Blessings,

Tommy+