Yesterday I received a new pair or running shoes. I ordered the shoes last month, and I’ve been waiting patiently for the commissary here at Taft Camp to deliver them. In the higher-security prisons where I was held before 2003, the commissary kept shoes in stock. Here in the camp, we preorder from an institutional catalog selection, and the wait from the time of order to actual delivery is between four and six weeks. I appreciated these new, comfortable running shoes during my run this morning. I added 10 miles, boosting my distance to 2,155 over the past 243 consecutive days.
I look forward to living without all these limitation. I’m officially in my 23rd year now, and the length of time behind me really shrinks the time ahead. The change in my proximity to release inspires my thoughts, daydreams, and ambitions. It won’t be long. As I ran this morning, I felt certain that I would not serve three more Augusts. What steps can I take now to ensure that I make the best use of the time I have remaining to serve?
The first step is to complete my manuscript for Earning Freedom. I began writing this morning at 1:41. By noon, I finished the first draft of chapter seven, bringing the manuscript to page 323. Depending on what comes in the mail later this afternoon, I will either spend my early morning tomorrow beginning the draft of chapter eight, or I will edit chapters four and five. I’m still on track to finish this manuscript’s first draft before Halloween.
Once I complete this project, I will begin writing a new manuscript. I don’t know what I’ll write about, though I suspect it will relate to the prison experience in some way. Perhaps I’ll write the story of other prisoners, or offer more content for the Web site. I need to stay industrious, as productivity brings meaning to life. That was a lesson I learned from Viktor Frankl, a leader who used his strategy for coping through Hitler’s concentration camps as a teaching tool for others. Dr. Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning was a great help to me earlier in my term, and I recommend it to others.
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One Response to Prison Journal: Day 8,038
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Michael, I have been reading your blogs for quite some time now. Seems that I wil be doing from 5 to ten years fed time. In your most recent post, you mentioned that as soon as you finished your manuscript, you were going to start on a new project. I am awriter myself and have been inspired by your thoughts. I am going to use you weblog idea for myself and have my wife do teh transciption and maintain it. I have searched high and low for a good book to read on how to prepare for prison. The real ins and outs of doing time and how to avoid pitfalls or getting into a wreck. There is no real fedtime 101 book that has been written. I have actually purchased one and it was seriously outdated and the guy that wrote it only did a year at a camp. He was never in a medium or high. Not even a low. There are several consultants available that charge and I have paid one that has basically been a rip off. My thoughts are that you may want to consider, for your next project, writing a federal time survival manual of some sort. It would surely sell and could be done so as an ebook online. I’m sure this has sparked an idea already and your creative juices are flowing. I plan to document every bit of my experience within the BOP. Hopefuly to affect a positive change in the system as well. I believe we share a common goal and would like to stay in touch with you while I am locked down.Think about the survival guide. May be the idea you were looking for. Good luck and God bless
Tim