Mr. Joyce Takes on the World

Thumb   “The strangest things happen to you on your way over here.” Julie had said.  She sat across from me, and was completely focused on what I had to say. Julie is good at that; her dark-brown eyes remain focused on me, and seldom break eye contact. She weighs what I say with a level of sincerity. It’s a skill that I wish more people had, even in everyday conversation. What I told her that afternoon was another example of the bizarre coincidences of my daily life. It’s another one of those, “Guided” moments.  I cross a bridge to get to therapy, literally. The Smithfield Street Bridge spans the Mon River, and connects Station Square with the rest of the city. This isn’t one those now famous bridges that was featured in the Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises. So I can’t claim to have seen Joseph Gordon-Levitt driving a school bus across it (in the film‘s climax). It does however boast some neat graffiti, which I often photograph. That is when I’m foolish eno...

        The strangest things happen on my way to therapy, as if they were preordained. I don’t believe in fate, but I do believe divinity. One of the great oddities of my life is the feeling that some unseen hand protects and guides me. This is something that has happened at various times in my life; usually during times of adversity. A needed rescue, either physical or financial would arrive just before the zero hour. It seemed miraculous, even if the agent of change was just as down-to-earth as I am. Still, it makes me wonder if guardian angels, even without wings, do exist.  October 3rd 2012.  I had some spare time before my session with Julie (my therapist). I decided to wander a bit, and kill some time. Her office is located in a part of town that’s happening. It’s full of shops, restaurants, bars, and even several tattoo parlors. It reminds me so much of the Mission in San Francisco, that I just can’t resist its pull. I often take brief ramb...