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Childhood was a time when I was at my creative peak. I really was an imaginative child. I guess a lot of us are. I loved thinking up wild scenarios in my head. You can go anywhere and be anything when you’re young. Time and space have no limitations. The world is so simple, yet so full of hope. I love that. My parents are selling their house, the house I grew up in. Thinking about that sometimes unleashes a flood of memories from those days of childhood. And yes, I know I’ve talked about this before… Almost a year ago. The home still hasn’t sold, but that’s another story. You probably know all about the economy, so you can fill in the blanks there. Back to the point… Thinking about that home, that street, that neighborhood. I’d like to go back and play again. I remember climbing into my tree house and day dreaming about all sorts of possibilities. All of those possibilities still exist. We can be anything we want. But as adults, we censor ourselves. If I said I’d like to be an astronaut, I’d stop and argue “But that’s a waste of time, we’re never going to live in outer space. And besides, I don’t really like heights.” See how the adult version cancels out the child? Or what if I said I wanted to be a cowboy? Well that’s stupid too. Cowboys do hard work outdoors all day, and their skin gets burned and wrinkled and they look like a piece of leather by the time they’re 40. And they smoke and get cancer, and then die before they’re 50. See, that’s no fun! That’s the way your mind works when you’re an adult. And you can forget about those dreams of flying like a bird, or having a conversation with the man in the moon. Ah, to be magical once again… As I wrote this, I looked over at my calendar with daily quotes from The Secret, and today’s was very fitting… “All that we are is a result of what we have thought” — Buddha. So true, Buddha. So true. 
I’m so proud of our local gay business owners. Tennessee is historically a very conservative, homophobic place and that can grate on my nerves at times. But I have to give credit to our gay community because they continue to be active and vocal members of the city, and that proves diversity is alive and well. Tickets for the fashion show are being sold on the Chamber’s website.
Here was the reader submitted question: —– Hi Nathan, I’m a 50 year old gay man that has been HIV+ for over 22 years and I’m alarmed at the news reports that I read about the rises in new HIV infection rates/diagnoses around the world. I know these stories are not fabrications to scare people as I have worked within the HIV/AIDS Service sector as a gay men’s health advisor and I know these statistics to be a reality. There are lot of reports recently about rises in new HIV infections especially in young gay men; what, if anything, do you think it will take to get this whole new generation of young vibrant gay men to listen to these reports and as a result of that listening getting them to: 1) focusing a little more on their well being by having regular sexual health check-ups (at least once a year) which will include testing for all STI’s (Sexually Transmitted Infections) not just HIV 2) start wearing condoms and learning how to make using condoms sexy and fun even if they feel that using them lessens the pleasure of intimacy or that they ruin the heat of the moment and 3) learn how to negotiate the disclosure of their sero-status with their sexual partners and hopefully at the same time also find out the sero-status of their partners so as to negotiate safer sex practices. Hopefully by addressing these few points we just might be able to make a small dent in this growing rise in new HIV infections?
If you asked me what the secret to a long lasting relationship was, I couldn’t tell you. I guess there is no secret… you either stay together or you don’t. Pretty easy, eh? We had a great dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Demo’s. It’s a local restaurant, soooo good. It’s been a beautiful spring weathered day. Our anniversary always has good weather, so that’s a nice bonus. My friends always ask what we’re doing on our anniversary, and I always laugh because that’s such an unusual question. What do you think we’re doing? So I purposely mentioned the dinner so nobody would ask what else we did.
Yesterday marked 1 year since I officially started working for myself after quitting my job. The goal was simple: Embark on my own journey as a website designer, work from home, and live a stress free life. Today I pulled up an ambitious calendar I’d planned for myself over 12 months ago. I’ve completely lost my way from this plan, and maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I had it right in the beginning: MONDAY: TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY: Friday: —- What a brilliant plan. Only 3 full days of work, and a little networking on Monday. The other 2 days involved self improvement and rejuvenation. Saturday and Sunday weren’t even on the calendar, because I wanted those to be spontaneous. How did I go wrong? I planned this out perfectly so that I could make a reasonable amount of income by just working this easy schedule. I wouldn’t be filthy rich, but that’s okay. I would be happy, and that was my whole reason for quitting my job in the first place. But my real schedule is quite different from this one I planned. I work every day. I enjoy the work, I like the clients… but come on… I can’t go one day without thinking about my projects or checking my e-mail. The silly part is that most people aren’t even in a rush. If I didn’t check my e-mail one day, nobody would even notice or care. So why do I push myself? Now that I’ve come full circle and survived the first year, I’m going to re-consider trying this plan I originally set for myself. I believe it can be done. Anything can be done if you put your mind to it! I might have to stray just a little bit. I might have to respond to a few e-mails on a Friday, or do a little light work on a Monday. But that’s okay. I still think I should re-consider living life by the plan I set for myself. I should exercise, meditate, read more books. I should relax. We’re responsible for our own futures. Nobody else can be blamed if life doesn’t turn out the way we planned. Don’t get me wrong… I’m very happy. But when I look at this schedule… that’s a pretty sweet life, you have to admit. I can do it, I will.
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Nashville is having its third annual Unpredictable Fashion Show to benefit the GLBT Chamber. It’s scheduled for April 27 at Play Dance Bar on Church Street. The goal is to raise $15,000 for the chamber.
