Like everyone in this new world, I’m still working on consistently starting my day off well. By that I mean: resisting the lure of my anxiety to INSTANTLY flip my phone over to various news outlets for the latest on the coronavirus. Yes, I want the info. Yes, it’s completely normal to want the info. And eventually, I will seek it out as I get into the rhythm of the day. But right off the bat? That’s me trying to control my anxiety (which, for those of us in that community who already know, only serves to perpetuate the negative feelings associated with the anxiety). No bueno.
— Brett Taylor (@Brett_A_Taylor) April 2, 2020
The best way for me to deal with the feelings produced overnight is instead to acknowledge, yup, I’m feeling really intense anxiety about all the unknowable things of this moment, but I’d like to start my day another way.
So, then. Let’s try something we can all be happy about. A great memory of a great game with an all-time call by Len Kasper:
I think a big part of the reason this moment and this call by Kasper sticks out to me so much is because, like a lot of people, I can remember where I was when it happened: I was on the road, in a hotel, in Chicago, watching the game on TV for some reason.
Exactly why I wasn’t *at* the game is one of those questions that has eluded me over the years. I had just graduated from law school earlier that summer and I took a pre-law-firm-start trip to Chicago precisely to go see Cubs games. So how did it come to pass that for this particular game, I was not there and was instead back in my hotel room watching? I’ve searched my brain and I just can’t remember. Was it travel timing related? Had I just gotten to town in time to see some of the game on TV? Or was I feeling sick that day so I was holed up? I’ve got nothing. I just can’t remember why I wasn’t at the game.
But a part of me, looking back, is glad I wasn’t. Yes, it would’ve been a nuts environment – that 2007 season was fantastic – but the whole experience made the Kasper call print itself so much more completely on my brain.
OK. Nice. Good. Day is off to a better start now.