Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Despite staying awake a bit later than usual last night to watch President Obama’s speech to Congress, I woke this morning at 2:07. After reading a few pages I walked to the quiet room to begin writing. By six I finished writing five blog articles.

I went outside to run when the guards unlocked the doors. The temperatures were already warm enough for me to run in a T-shirt. In a few weeks I’d begin running while in shorts and shirtless, which I considered a privilege. In other prisons where I’ve been held the rules prohibited prisoners from exercising without shirts. Today I boosted my mileage tally to 689 miles over the past 75 days of conseuctive running with my usual 10-mile distance.

I met with the other members of the TOAD group at 8:00. The sponsor was not present but I relayed the news she had given me about the family-day meeting we had on Monday. The adminisrators liked our presentation so much that they were scheduling us to make a presentation for the entire staff and their guests. Our sponsor also told me that we’d have a second family day scheduled for the summer. The other members of the group were pleased to receive this news.

In the afternoon I attended a seminar on public speaking. The chaplain sponsored the seminar, and I appreciate the opportunity to attend. Wil Cason, a speaker from the San Francisco area, made the trip to Taft and spoke first to inmates confined inside the fences of the adjacent, low-security prison. In the afternoon, he spoke with those of us in the camp for 2 -1/2 hours. Wil’s presentation focused on strategies for becoming effective public speakers; his Web address is WilCason.com.

During all the years that I’ve been confined, I’ve read scores of books that motivational speakers and leadership coaches wrote, but I haven’t had many opportunities to sit as an audience member of someone who built his career around speaking. Since I have been training myself as best as I could for a similar career upon release, watching Wil’s engaging presentation was a treat.

He prepared a small workbook for each audience member, and he included the group by assigning exercises for us to work on together. Approximately 50 prisoners attended the presentation, so we only had time for a few to speak. I chose to observe rather than speak, as I speak regularly through the classes I lead at Taft Camp and through my participation in TOAD. By observing Wil’s seminar technique, I picked up some exercises that will help my presentation and my preparations for the career I want to lead upon release.

Every day brings room for more preparation. Although I may lack freedom, I have time to contemplate the obstacles that await my release. I appreciate these opportunities to learn new strategies for growth.

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