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Kenny Andejeski

@andajetski

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"Do you love it? You don't get to hate it, unless you love it."
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baptism by mud and rain and mosh pits at church this week 🙇 by @andajetski

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7 days ago

"You make such a beautiful corpse."
She said to the bouquet I gave her to signify our budding love.
I took the meaning to be personal,
But I couldn't exactly tell you why.

I've been this tall since I was 13.
And I've heard that when we stop growing,
we begin to die.
Is that true?

Because I find new ways of living every day.
I venture off into the unknown.
I make terrible art in new mediums,
And discover new foods that make my tummy ache.
I even try to find love, despite my body's inherent distrust.

I think these paper flowers left us messages,
as we traipsed along terraced Portuguese steps,
two souls weathered and worn from our own histories, but on a shared journey just begun.

Fallen from the branches that nourished them,
resting in a bed with others who understood.
Delicate, yet exquisite as they idly lay,
with each other, through night and day.

The truth is that we all decay.
Petals wilt, skin wrinkles.
Colors fade, hair grays.
One day a swift breeze, a firm broom,
or fate will come and sweep them away.

The other day I brought her another corpse bouquet.
Wouldn't you know that she smiled and blushed all the same? taken in Miradouro S.Pedro de Alcântara by @andajetski

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a month ago

Y'all, if the d33p st8 knew I was sharing this information with you...👀🙊 by @andajetski

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a month ago

"Kenneth, I love you." - DJT

Your friends and family are in an abusive relationship with someone that they've likely trusted and supported for years.

Take that information and do with it what you will. by @andajetski

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a month ago

"Whatever you call it, I am running away from my responsibilities. And it feels good." - Michael Scott taken in Scranton, Pennsylvania by @andajetski

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2 months ago

but it also helps that I don't have kids or pets, I remembered to water my plants, and I call/text my girlfriend daily. 🙂‍↔️

#carcamping #roadtrip #selfemployed #selfcare #ontheroad taken in On The Road Again by @andajetski

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2 months ago

I took a drive out to Death Valley some years back with my college roommate. After a weekend of reveling in our teenage years at a downtown music festival, we rented a car in Las Vegas and ventured into the desert to gaze upon the galaxy from one of the darkest places in the continental United States.

That night as I looked up, eyes wide and slack-jawed at the stars, planets, satellites and their various constellations, I thought I came to a realization about the limitations of my mind and imagination. Essentially, if my insights and ideas were to ever become as vast and expansive as that scene, then I would risk trying to conceive something that couldn't be communicated to and understood by others. Because no words or images could capture and allow others to comprehend what I thought or felt that night.

I reflected on that experience from 35,000 feet as I flew red eye from New York City to a tiny chain of Portuguese islands in the Mid-Atlantic to start a much needed vacation a couple weeks ago. On my 31st flight this year, I wondered if I had misinterpreted the message the universe tried to send me in the California desert; I wondered what Paulo Coelho and his protagonist, Santiago, might say about it.

Maybe one of my roles in this world is to be a conduit between what can be experienced and embodied and what can be communicated and understood. Maybe that chasm is where my journey into the proverbial desert has to keep going.

I gave Fran creative freedom to represent "outer space" for our fourth tattoo session together, and he presented this nebula to me when I showed up to his studio in Dublin this weekend. Four hours later, I left with fresh ink and a renewed commitment to keep navigating, questioning and exploring the unknown, to keep trying to communicate those experiences and insights to others. taken in Dublin, Ireland by @andajetski

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2 months ago

And I'm sleeping on a twin bed in a college dorm tonight because it was free too. 🤷 taken in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport by @andajetski

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3 months ago

...and just like that I've landed back in Chicago for the fourth time this year; the first was for a family funeral, and the last three for work convenings.

For the first 18 years of my life, growing up in suburban Chicago was more or less the extent of my worldview. Save for the handful of flights I took as a kid, and the time spent at my grandparents' up north, it was all I really knew.

After I graduated college just across the border in Wisconsin, the one thing I knew was that I wouldn't return home; I first moved to Boston to do AmeriCorps then - after my life fell apart from a felony charge - I went to teach English in China.

Now, 15 years after that journey began, I've visited all 50 states and over 40 countries across six continents. Looking back, I couldn't even begin to imagine the life that I get to live now, but every time I return - often flying directly over my childhood home when I come in/out of O'Hare - I'm able to reflect on how far this life has taken me, and even dream a little bit about where I've yet to go.

The first real concert I went to was Fall Out Boy at the Metro a few months after Sugar, We're Going Down hit the airwaves. I was 15, and it was my first time venturing into the city without adult supervision, and I'm pretty sure I lost my voice screaming Chicago Is So Two Years Ago at the top of my lungs. Tonight, I'll be down the street from the Metro, making the sacrifice as a lifelong White Sox fan, as I watch my first Cubs' game from the bleachers.

I still don't think I'll ever call this place home again, but I'll be forever grateful for it teaching me what it means to be from somewhere, to find meaning in that identity and to experience a sense of belonging as a result. by @andajetski

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3 months ago

thanks @cassafrass_ (and @bonnaroo) taken in Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival by @andajetski

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3 months ago

When everything around you feels out of control, the most powerful thing you can do is get clear on what is actually within your reach.

Kenny Andejeski talks about the concept of locus of control and why understanding your sphere of influence is one of the most grounding and empowering practices a person can have right now. It is not about being selfish or checking out from the world. It is about knowing where you can actually show up and make a difference, whether that is in a men's group, your neighborhood, your city, or whatever level of community you are genuinely a part of. Engaging at the scale where your influence is real is not small. It is exactly where meaningful change starts.

Watch or listen to Episode 204 – How To Stay Human In Hard Conversations with Kenny Andejeski.

#mensmentalhealth #selfawareness #mindset #KennyAndejeski #personaldevelopment by @andajetski

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5 months ago

Before you can show up well for anyone else, you have to figure out how you are showing up for yourself first.

Kenny Andejeski makes a point that does not get talked about enough. The people causing the most harm in the world, whether it is for profit, fame, or ego, have found a way to completely sidestep having a genuine relationship with themselves. They leech off others instead of doing that internal work. And on the flip side, the people who feel the most grounded and well-regulated are almost always the ones who have invested deeply in their relationship with themselves. They are the ones quietly asking the harder question: how do I know that I am actually living in integrity?

Watch or listen to Episode 204 – How To Stay Human In Hard Conversations with Kenny Andejeski.

#mensmentalhealth #selfawareness #mentalhealth #KennyAndejeski #personaldevelopment by @andajetski

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5 months ago