Gents, I’m currently trying to learn how to let a dream die. Rather, how to kill a dream dearer to my heart than just about anything. For over a decade—nearly half of my life—I’ve aspired to become a schoolteacher. I didn’t know if I wanted to teach elementary, middle, or high school, I didn’t know what subject I wanted to teach, and I certainly didn’t know where I wanted to teach whatever it was I would end up teaching. All I knew was that, more than just about anything in the world, I wanted to be a teacher. Not a professor, not a coach, not an online guru, but a teacher at the front of a classroom—guiding the youths who walked through my door through the impossibly precarious roads of adolescence. I’ve dreamed about living in a small town or suburb, where I’d be walking to the grocery store and stumble upon some students or their parents, and we’d know each other by name. About former students dropping by after years, decades, just to catch up or share how their life has changed. About showing as many people as I could that there are still teachers who will put their 120% into their students, despite the crippling expectations, regulations, and obligations that come with the almost-livable wage. To most people, that hardly sounds worth it. Most people are right. And I think I’m starting to become most people, too. To be fair, it isn’t financial aspirations that are crushing my dreams. There’s no veil that’s been lifted, exposing my innocence to the harsh reality that I no longer feel ready to face. The thing I’ve been coming to terms with is myself. I’ve spent the past 5 years (& 1 month) desperately clinging on to my declining mental health as I awaited the “next stage,” where things would finally get better. Boot Camp, MCT, the Schoolhouse, my first & last duty station in Okinawa, my return home to Irvine, CA, my attempt at dorm life in Fullerton (still CA), and now, I approach half a year in Chicago. Every time I reached the next “stage,” I puffed out my chest, rolled back my shoulders, brought down my jaw, and stepped into where my life would finally begin. Every time, I tried to leave the hours, days, weeks, months, and years I spent in misery behind so I could finally turn the page.

Fellow members, Today's meeting has been an absolute success with 7 members appearing at the meeting for at least 90 minutes. We enjoyed the whole event, it was full of laughs. We successfully tested for the first time the recording tool within the call so I made a short recording to share it with you while Nicholas was telling us his "Big Trouble in China" live experiences. I’ve also tested a tool (within the skool app as seeing in the video) that lets you change your background. In the future, I will record every call I'm part of to later upload it in a dedicated space within the Society for every member willing to get an update on what was discussed or what made us laugh. Here's the video recording and a couple of pictures. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Ladies & Gentleman, dear members. As we’ve welcomed several new, valuable, and active members, the video meetings for the next two weeks will take place here on Skool. In two weeks, they’ll be able to join the WhatsApp Video Meeting group if they wish. We’ll have the today’s meeting right here. Grab your favorite drink, take a sit near the fireplace and enjoy the conversations, laughs and life experiences of the members in our great Video Meeting. At the top of the main page of the Society over the pinned posts, there’s a calendar where you can see the date and hour. To join us you just have to click there on the precise day and hour. The meeting begins at: 10:00 PM Paris Time 4:00 PM NY Time 3:00 PM TX Time 1:00 PM CA Time We’ll wait you there! Thank you for your attention to this matter. The Stewardship of The Society of Ordinary Gentleman.

Good Afternoon, Gents. Just sharing a quick post about a spontaneous encounter I had while waiting for my flight. Not much of a story to go along with it, but somebody approached me while I was working on my laptop to compliment my outfit! They even asked to take a picture of me—needless to say, I was quite flattered. I couldn’t not ask them to share the photos with me, so here we are. It’s a relatively mundane anecdote, but nevertheless serves as a potent reminder: Dress well, no matter the occasion. Better yet—be the occasion to dress for. People can’t help but rise to occasions, so there’s no better way to attract serendipity. No better way to brighten the day of others along with your own!

Link to reel (because I couldn’t figure out how to save it to my device): https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ1kzFDgMad/?igsh=MW9qcHk4aXh2NDF4ZQ== I think this is the first time—in my 25 years of living—that snow has come to me. It’s…entrancing. Beautiful, even. (It also makes my balcony much more visually appealing)