Arlo Gilbert’s Blog

I honestly believe that every person can find a poem that defines their life… My father read this to me when I was 5. I can remember how it sparked my imagination and sparked within me the knowledge that I could do anything if I put my brain to work.

I re-read it again for the first time tonight to my 6 year old daughter and I forgot exactly how incredibly accurately real and inspirational it is.

If you like me are a person who has lived their life off the beaten path, a person who has zigged when everybody else thought they should zag, a person who said “i can do it” when the obstacle seemed insurmountable and the rewards seemed so distant, then this is for you too.

Some people wait in that “waiting place” waiting for life to happen to them… Personally I believe that there is no such thing as impossible and there is no such time as right now to achieve your dreams because you never know when that breath you just took might be your last, when that girl you wanted to kiss might go away, or when that idea you had will already be passé.

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look ‘em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.
It’s opener there
in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.
OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t
Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so
but, sadly, it’s true
and hang-ups
can happen to you.
You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump,
you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked.
A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And IF you go in, should you turn left or right…
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!
That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You’ll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping,
once more you’ll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don’t.
Because, sometimes, they won’t.
I’m afraid that some times
you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win
’cause you’ll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you’ll be quite a lot.
And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance
you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.
But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike
and I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So…
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

-Dr. Seuss, Oh The Places You’ll Go

On Sunday at approximately 3:00 PM, my wife’s grandfather passed away.

He was a stubborn, loving man who lived his life the way he saw fit for better or for worse.

While I was not very close to him and only met him a handful of times, I can’t help but feel sad inside, not because he died, but sadness for the people who he left behind.

I’m sure my thoughts are not unique, but I feel that death is a natural part of the cycle of life. I will die. You will die. We all will die. It is the only guarantee in life, that it will end. So when a person dies I don’t feel terribly bad for them, but for the ones they left behind I feel terrible.

Ellis (my wife’s grandfather) had a wife of 50+ years. They spent most of their waking moments together after he retired, traveling in the RV, they watched television together, she made his meals, he took care of “manly” work… but they built an entire routine around eachother. From wake til sleep they were eachother’s most important person. They were partners in life.

The sadness I feel is for his wife Kay. She is now faced with one of the hardest parts of life (I imagine as an outside observer) which is finding a reason to live and finding a way to move on when the person closest to you disappears. I can only imagine her waking up in the morning and thinking “what do I do? he doesn’t need breakfast!” and I imagine a moment where she giggles at a late night talk show host, only to realize that she is alone in the room.

I guess the only purpose of this post was to put down “on paper” that I feel badly for people who lose somebody because change is hard, big change is really hard, and the older you get, the more change stinks.

Here’s to you Kay… and as Ellis would say “Man Alive!”

Mitzvot dot com is my new project… no it’s not live, in fact it’s not even in development yet, I bought the domain for a few thousand dollars recently (what a steal), but after having a few conversations with my wife about problems that day schools and other small/non-technically savvy organizations have, I decided that me owning mitzvot dot com must be more than a chance… it’s an opportunity to perform a mitzvah!

Not only does the name define exactly what we will do, but it’s a really cool way to help! I’m not 60 with 10 billion dollars (yet) but I am pretty sharp and I do know more about billing credit cards online than pretty much anybody else on the planet… not patting myself on the back, it’s just something I’m exceptionally good at.

So since it’s not exactly a top secret business plan, I envision mitzvot dot com as being a one stop shop for jewish fundraising activities online. We will provide organizations with a single link that they can send to potential donors to collect from $5 to $5000 at a time… we’ll help them manage their silent auctions and charity fund raisers for almost nothing… and the fact is that what we do charge will surely be meaningless when they increase their fundraise significantly.

Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks this is a cool idea, one of the richest and most successful guys on the planet today told me that he thought it was interesting as well. Who could it be? Eh… name dropping is so 2007… but it was definitely my biggest brush with fame.

I’ll try to keep blogging more regularly, when life gets busy sometimes things like blogging fall by the wayside.

-Arlo Gilbert