An anecdote from our ABLE MINDS class this evening: Slide 18 of our Hobbit PPT presentation asks: “When did your ‘moment of truth’ occur, when you finally realized that you needed to change your life?”

One man said it happened to him while housed in a prison segregation unit, where all he had to occupy himself was his own thoughts, and reading material for escapism.

Another man spoke about the emotional barriers he built while in isolation time. He recognized and accepted new priorities, while separating himself from “friends” who deserted him in time of need.

Another man asked me when my epiphany occurred. I said it was during a time of loneliness and desolation after moving away from family & friends to come to New England.

One man spoke from the vantage of being free and then being incarcerated.

One man spoke about “re-wiring” himself by constantly practicing a new way of thinking about the Other and about himself. He felt that by doing this he could distance himself from the miserable person of his past life.

When movement was called at 8:15PM, men were lingering in the classroom, still discussing the topic.