MUSINGS and other writing by Mark Kolke

. . . . . . there is no edge to openness

TODAY'S MUSINGS

FEEDBACK / COMMENTS

MARK SPEAKS

MARK'S SPEAKING TIPS

ARCHIVED COLUMNS

ARCHIVE WINTER 2020-21

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2020

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2020

ARCHIVE SPRING 2020

ARCHIVE WINTER 2019-20

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2019

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2019

ARCHIVE SPRING 2019

ARCHIVE WINTER 2018-19

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2018

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2018

ARCHIVE SPRING 2018

ARCHIVE WINTER 2017-18

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2017

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2017

ARCHIVE SPRING 2017

ARCHIVE WINTER 2016/17

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2016

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2016

ARCHIVE SPRING 2016

ARCHIVE WINTER 2015/16

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2015

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2015

ARCHIVE SPRING 2015

ARCHIVE WINTER 2014/15

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2014

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2014

ARCHIVE SPRING 2014

ARCHIVE WINTER 2013/14

CONTACT

MY REAL ESTATE LIFE

WHY I WRITE MUSINGS

SHORT STORY PROJECT

POETRY PROJECT

SELECTED OTHER WORK


FOR FRANK and MANY OTHERS I NEVER THANKED ENOUGH


Friday, July 31, 2020

 

Toughness and survival often go hand in hand.

So does reading the landscape, and reading people and situations, artfully dodging trouble while pouncing on the next opportunity. So often we briefly revere the qualities of someone who is gone now – they’re dead, their steady path ended abruptly, they’ll never chase another opportunity …

Too quickly, I believe we discard what is gone and who is gone from our daily life – partly a survival instinct, I suppose, part of the grieving process.

And what do we grieve most of the mentor who has passed, the friend we’d lost touch with, the neighbor we didn’t talk too often enough?

We grieve the missed opportunity.

We know this, we are reminded every time.

There is nothing we can do to fix that – and we easily beat ourselves up.

Remembering mentors I’ve lost makes me smile just as it makes me sad – but today especially, I’m thinking about and fondly remembering Frank, I miss his kind but pointed comments, I miss his support and belief in my talent, and I miss the not so gentle nudge to keep things moving.



Find this and other articles by Mark Kolke at Medium



sign up to get Musings free daily



 
Read more of my writing by Mark Kolke at Medium

sign up to get Musings free daily

 


 
 


sign up to get Musings free daily


Comments are always welcome - please contribute to the discussion.  Reply to: kolke@markkolke.com

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. This site is updated daily, each column is retained in the archive when the next day's column is loaded ...  


Copyright - all rights reserved - Mark Kolke, © 2003-2021