To whom decides to read this,

I had been contemplating writing a blog for years at this point. Only recently have I felt like I have gained the confidence to actualize my thoughts. So, here we are! I guess I should detail why I finally decided to go through with it.

Well, I have been in therapy for more than a year now. I believe it is imperative for almost everyone to see a third party outside of friends, family, and significant others due to their proximity to many of the personal situations in one’s life where they may be biased. Not to say a therapist isn’t inherently biased either (We all are), but having that extra degree of separation is important to truly look at one’s life clearly and accurately, but I digress.

Therapy has made me feel in touch with myself. The process of conveying what I am going through to someone is therapeutic – yes, redundant – in the way it helps organize one’s mind. Additionally, the therapist supplying tools and different strategies to view situations and handle stress builds the ability to confront challenges without the therapist. Anyway, I will come back to this another time, I seem to have gone off on a tangent.

This year I decided to do a couple of things that have turned out to be incredibly useful, fulfilling, and transformative for me. I am currently on day 61 of working out every day this year! It has made me feel confident and physically well. Currently, however, I am sore and tired from my arm day today, but this is a good tired. Alcohol and weed have also been eliminated from my life this year as well. I do plan on smoking and drinking again in the coming months, but I have decided I want to cut it out and maintain a healthy relationship with these substances. I did not have a problem with them before – I did Sober October last year and it was a success although boring. I feel I had no real need to be drunk or high once a week. Does it help with “Social Lubrication”, sure, yeah, but the effects it has on one’s body, the next morning, and the cost simply makes it worthless to me. I do miss drinking a beer every now and again, which I will eventually, but not now. The current plan is to wait till my lovely group of roommates and friends go to Colorado for a vacation this year in July. I do plan to journal and document how the journey goes here as well.

Writing has never truly been something I have prided myself on. Math and Science came rather easy to me in high school and waned a tad in College (tears were shed in many Calc classes let me tell you!). So, this is another reason I wanted to start this blog. Poetry has started to become a passion of mine. I will retroactively post my poems to this site eventually. My friend, Steven, is a phenomenal English major and an even better writer. He has shown me many poets and philosophers — like Albert Camus who’s quote is at the bottom of my blog. Steven has been the foundation to my growth as a student, friend, and as a human being. He holds a very special place in my heart. So, I am attempting to get better at writing so I can properly and accurately convey my thoughts, my thought process, and who I am.

Finally, I want to document my life. I am fairly sure I will not be remembered. I mean, I am not Einstein. I am not Marcus Aurelius. I am not Pythagoras. I am not Theodore Roosevelt. I am not Bobby Fisher. I am *simply* Clark. I am a 24-year-old guy that likes science, philosophy, math, politics, and chess. This documentation will help me in the future to view who I was in my younger years and reminisce. I try to live the best life I can by helping and providing for those who enter my path. I am about to start a new path. I hope you join me.

I am humbled and honored if you made it this far. Thank you for your time.

Until next time,

Man of Mirth