Anniversaries are a big deal for prisoners as we’re always counting toward some marker that indicates we’re advancing along our path to liberty. Today marks an anniversary of questionable value for me, as I’m serving my 8,000 day. I like to complete blocks of thousands, and this is a big one because I do not expect to serve another thousand days. I may, but I have a feeling inside that release will come before I reach 9,000 days.
I woke at 3:15am and began writing soon after. By 6:00am I wrote through page 136. Then I suspended my writing to exercise. I ran 10 miles, boosting my tally to 1,810 miles over the past 205 consecutive days. Determination and commitment keep me going, driving forward one step at a time. Following my run, I resumed my writing and wrote through pate 139 of the Earning Freedom manuscript.
This afternoon I wrote in the library rather than the quiet room. I prefer the quiet room, but on the weekends too many of my fellow prisoners hang around the unit cheering over sports events they watch on television. The library serves as my backup niche for solitude, even though I must hare the space with others.
The advantage of the library, on the other and, is that a measure of comfort comes over me in being surrounded by all the books. These shelves store thousands; more than five-thousand I suspect, but fewer than ten-thousand. Sometimes I daydream; just stare at all the titles. I wonder how many copes the author distributed and I wonder whether these authors faced the same struggles I face in trying to create a market for their work. I look at a shelf with a prolific author like Stephen King and I wonder how he produces so much literature. Perhaps I’ll learn new skills when I am free, but as prisoner, I rely upon this pen and paper.
I’m recruiting names for the Entrepreneurial Compass Class that I’ve taught here at Taft Camp in the past. Since I am occupied with writing projects now, I’ll rely upon others to help me teach. We’ll probably begin again in late July, perhaps early August.
Sunday, 5, July, 2009
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