Thursday, 26 February 2009
As I grow older in prison, I notice biological changes in my body. I’m 45 now. Although I have exercised regularly throughout my 21-plus years in prison, I can sense that I do not run as fast and I am not as strong. I feel healthy overall, and at 174, I weigh the same as I did when I was first locked inside prison gates. But I feel changes. I don’t sleep as much. The most recent change has been heartburn that bothers me in the night. That had never been a problem for me before, but it is now.
Last night around midnight I woke with an acid taste in my mouth. I knew I couldn’t fall asleep again so I read for a while. I did fall asleep again at 1:00, and I didn’t climb down from my rack until 3:12. I wrote three blogs, then I finished the introduction on a new category I’m going to begin building on ethics. I’d like to expand my academic audience to include more business students. Also, by collecting stories from white-collar offenders, I will create more content from which I can draw when speaking to corporate audiences upon release. Every day brings opportunity for more preparations.
At 8:00 I went outside for exercise. I ran 10 miles wearing shorts but no shirt. The sun felt warm. My tally has lifted to 699 miles over the past 76 consecutive days. I incorporated strength training back into the routine, following my run with push-ups for the first time in several months. The soreness in my muscles was another sign of aging.
I spent the afternoon responding to readers of my work who had written me. I still am behind in this duty. My ability to keep up with correspondence has suffeed as a consequence of this rule that prohibits prisoners from using typewriters for anything besides interactions with the courts. The responsibility I feel to write new content for my web sites requires that I sacrifice time I used to devote to correspondence and reading. With my release date approaching, however, I feel as if I must make these preparations for the career I want to lead a high priority. Only my marriage comes above it.
I was happy to have received an invitation from the editor of Change.org to write a bi-weekly column. I will write original content for that site every other week. My hopes are that the writings will convince more readers to support my call for prison reform. I need to create a wider audience. Reaching out to write for other platforms may help. I’m grateful the editor has extended this opportunity. I’m also grateful to Josh, a recent graduate from Yale University who has begun assisting Carole and me with this project of influencing the need for prison reform. He has assisted Carole with typing duties, and I’m hoping that he will open new opportunities to reach a wider audience. I’d like to persuade media representatives to work with me on creating a video project, either for YouTube or a network broadcast. Josh will prove helpful with these efforts to influence the need for prison reform.
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