I'm sorry I keep posting these late, but what I do is type them up in pages documents so they get saved and then forget to post them because I just Finish, and stop. Then, three or four days later I can't find my post and I realize what I did. Again.
Anyway, This is my blog post for the week of March 2nd through the 8th.
Olivia recently asked me what Alabama is like, and though I wrote a speech on it, I don't think that there is really enough information on what it's really like when you get there. The speech was more of a story, but if you wanted info theres not alot. So here goes my description of GreensBoro Alabama and the work you do there.
The buildvention, the people, the the jobs you do there, and place is, in a word, wonderful.
This is a fairly abstract word so allow me to elaborate.
The main street is mostly a the fronts of ancient buildings which are dusty, cracked and peeling. There are few cars parked along the street, but no way that you need to look both ways before crossing. There are no people in the vacant, faded ghost town. The majority of the buildings have been empty for years, but not all of them. The few exceptions are the buildings that have been restored by HERO housebuilding, and these buildings stand at a stark contrast to the rest of the street. They have been painted with light and dark colors, they are comprised of glass and chalkboards, and of bright shining wood and sealed bricks. With there glass and metal and fresh paint, they stand at contradiction to the musty pastel stores of the rest of the street, and are bright with modernness and fresh ideas. As you start to look around, you start to meet people.
Usually at night there will be a meeting, in which everyone will be asked to share something about a topic, projects you have done, what your school does lots of things like that, and also in which you stay up really late because after each person talks, Tom Callos adds his two cents, (which is more like two hundred cents because Tom is a big talker).
In case you don't know who Tom Callos is Tom is the founder of the ultimate black belt test, the program which the mastery program is based off of. He is also the founder and leader of The One Hundred. And in case you don't know what The One Hundred is, basically, it is a group of 100 martial artists/school owners who are committed to running their schools and businesses as honestly and ethically as possible, and also to take their dojo's out of the dojo and into the world by doing work for charities and acts of kindness. These are the people who you meet as you walk around the streets of hale county. It’s amazing to see so many people who are all possessed of the respectful kindness and the courtesy that comes with being a person committed to the martial arts.
Anyway, back to Tom
Tom has been in the martial arts for over 40 years, and you look at him and see how he radiates wisdom and experience. He is an excellent martial artist, and he has so much knowledge of running and training and living the martial arts dream for long enough to be considered a master. About 10,000,000 times per second, Tom has an idea. He is well informed, and a constant activist and advocate for dietary self defense, philanthropy, community engagement, leadership training bully prevention and countless other issues that are all what martial arts is all about. And about three times a week he’ll write the type of facebook post that has you quietly nodding and thinking, “Can I get an Amen!” on one of these topics. He isn’t just smart, he’s bright, full of ideas and passion. He has an amazing ability to inspire people to do incredible things. He has the ability to give you fuel and make you hunger for the chance to do good.
There is a lot of work to do, but the whole place is fueled by a drive of pure happiness that gives you the energy to wake up early, sleep late, and work hard all day.
Hopefully that gives you a better idea, if you have any more questions, post them in the comments
Owen Mahoney
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