An Open Letter to My Readers

Dear Blog Readers –

I’m leaving NYC in a couple days. And as a result, I’m checking myself into what I’m going to call “personal rehab.” No, it’s not actually a clinic. It’s me, alone, under the stars, on the beach, and in the beautiful Cape Cod air, relaxing.

Why am I telling you, my lovely blog readers, this? How does this matter to you? Because those of you so devoted to my writing – all six of you – will need to wait a bit. I’ve decided that I’m taking no less than a week off. (So the next time you read something new will be next Thursday at the earliest.)

In this week of “personal rehabilitation,” I will be doing a lot of thinking, a lot of walking, perhaps getting on a bike again, maybe swimming, and probably writing. But I think I need to be comfortable with myself again before I can share my writing. (I may share some of the writing I do over the next week, but it will not be until after my hiatus.)

When I say ‘comfortable with myself,’ I don’t mean comfortable being alone. I’m quite comfortable with that. I mean be able to look at myself in the mirror again and be happy with who I’m looking at. I mean, being able to think about things and not constantly question. I basically mean be able to be comfortable enough with myself that I can be around other people and not be lonely.

I’m also deleting my facebook account – if only temporarily – starting, oh, less than 48 hours from now. I’m too busy looking at the past, and I’m not comfortable enough with myself to handle the past right now. I need to reconcile the present, accept the past, and look to the future.

In the last month, this blog has been therapeutic to me, and having people reading it has made me feel more comfortable in my loneliness. So thank you, everyone. I hope you check back soon (subscribe by email, perhaps? RSS feed?) to read what I have to say again.

I can promise a summer of great stories and philosophies and thoughts and, unlike most everything written here thus far, joy. It’s hard not to be happy when you’re teaching 6-year-olds how to shoot bows and arrows. (I still remember the excitement I had the first time I hit the target. And I relive it every time I help someone else hit the target for the first time.)

So yes. This is my vacation announcement. I look forward to sharing my summer – and beyond – with the blogosphere. (Wow…Microsoft Word has that in spell-check. That surprises me…)

Thank you. I look forward to having you hear from me in no fewer than seven days.

Alexander