The other night my wife and I were watching the David Beckham documentary. Confession…After years of following my kids around the midwest to compete in what Americans call soccer, I am now completely in love with futbol. As someone fairly new to world futbol, I didn’t know much about him. I enjoyed it much like I enjoyed the documentary on Newcastle. But this isn’t about documentaries nor futbol. I received a nugget while watching the Beckham documentary that I wrote down in my quote journal.
This quote was in reference to the then president of Real Madrid, possibly the most iconic team and brand in the history of the sport. The president not only played a key role in the club, outside of the club he was also president of a large, or largest, construction company in Spain. When a reporter and writer talked about the president, he said this.
The construction business is the prose of his life. Real Madrid is the poetry.
David Beckham documentary
Damn that is good. I am sure it is likely someone said it long before I heard that in this documentary, but it was the first time I REALLY heard this and it set me back thinking. What is the prose of my life and what is the poetry in my life? I like this question a lot. It’s a lot better and more constructive than thinking of things as good or bad, easy or hard and fun or not fun. Both prose and poetry are parts of life. They are simply different aspects of ones life. Both have meaning and contribute. Both can come and go and be present at the same time. Both can live together in someone’s life. I’d also argue that both are needed.
I am a person whom values balance. I have always felt that regardless of interest or belief, living or being at either extreme end of something leaves you out of balance. So this thought really hit home and made me look at my own life. How is my balance in life between prose and poetry?
This thought may give me the framework I was looking for to document and share some of the parts of my life that I have not really talked about much. At the macro level, when I quit my previous job to seek something better it was clearly out of balance to the prose. Work dominated every single aspect of my life. That prose gave me the ability to support my family, work with some people I liked, learn a lot and have the money to travel. When I quit, I moved to the extreme end of poetry. I got to redefine myself. I got to work on my mental and physical fitness. I got to work on art. I got to ride my bike. I travelled. A dream for sure, but as time went on, I found myself seeking more from life and don’t believe I am done with my professional life and career. I am still pondering that, but I can tell you that I am finding myself coming back to center seeking that elusive balance of prose and poetry in my own life.
For the moment, I am going to leave you with some of the poetry in my life right now. Seems out of balance given I am talking about both prose and poetry. While some of these images could be full stories and photo sets on there own, it’s the collective poetry that I wanted to share to today. These pics bring me such joy.
And with that, we are off to Madison this week to enjoy life with our daughter. We celebrated Nathan’s 21st birthday last Saturday and will do the same with Natalie this Saturday. These things bring me such immense joy. True poetry.
ImagineGnat 