# Thoughts on the "Sabbatical"



## Fanille (Sep 3, 2009)

It all started with a joke. I posted in this thread that I would go gay for Alex Rodriguez if and only if the Yankees won the World Series this year.

Which they did. Of course, my chances of actually getting in bed with A-Rod are slim to none, so I figured the next best thing would be to drop the Blake Lively shtick for a week and replace her with A-Rod. It did make me think about several things, which I'll touch upon here.

(WARNING: Sports reference below! If you wish to skip to the personal part, scroll down!)
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In 2004, Alex Rodriguez, highly regarded among the best players in Major League Baseball, joined the New York Yankees to much fanfare. That October, the Yankees were one victory away from going to the World Series, leading their rivals, the Boston Red Sox, 3 games to 0 in the ALCS. But the Yankees would end up losing four straight, and A-Rod would be known for this:










Boston would go on to win the World Series that year, and then win another three years later, while the Yankees would fail to even reach the ALCS during that entire time span. And A-Rod would become known as someone who would fail to come through in the big moments, even in 2007 when he had an MVP season.

Maybe it was the expectations that come with the winning traditions of the New York Yankees. Maybe it was the fact that A-Rod was the highest-paid player in baseball. Maybe it was the New York media. In any case, the criticism just wouldn't go away.

But in 2009, that all changed. A-Rod was clutch in the postseason, delivering many key hits to help the Yankees win crucial playoff games en route to a World Series championship. The proverbial monkey was lifted off his back, the "choker" label gone. Just like that, an image changed completely.

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Enneagram Type Three is the "image conscious" type. Often concerned with what others think about them, they seek to be admired and successful.

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In 1998, a boy enrolled in a prestigious Catholic high school on Long Island. He was a very optimistic boy - always smiling, appreciating the simple things in life like cheering for the Yankees and gushing over female celebrities. He believed he could do anything.

It was at this school that he started to face adversity. Classes were harder, track and field training was harder, life in general was harder. Many people, including his parents, were questioning his work ethic. But of course, this boy had a lot of pride in what he did, so he was going to prove all of them wrong.

As the boy kept working, though, he kept feeling as if what he was doing just wasn't good enough. A 97 average, 1530 SAT score, personal best track times, and an acceptance letter from Cornell University weren't enough. Not when all he remembered were the zero gold medals and the rejection letters from Harvard, MIT, and UPenn. What most people would've considered a success, he considered a failure. Suddenly, that boy was gone. Replaced by a self-loathing, unfulfilled college student trying to find his place in the world.

At Cornell, he knew that everyone was smart, so he had to find some other way to make a name for himself. But, as hard as he tried, he always struggled.

Grad school provided a much-needed change of scenery. There he met a woman who introduced him to the Enneagram. Even though she thought he was a Five, when he read the description of type Three, it fit him perfectly. He realized he was deceiving himself, and everyone around him. And so he made an effort to be more true to himself, and to do things he actually cared about instead of trying to impress others. And the first thing he would do would be to search for that boy. The one who always smiled. The one who believed he could do anything. The one who appreciated the simple things in life, like cheering for the Yankees and gushing over female celebrities.

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It really wasn't until a couple of months ago that I even knew who Blake Lively was. At one point inebriato had Blake as her avatar, and I commented that I liked it, and she said she thought Leighton Meester was prettier, which prompted me to use that picture of both of them as my avatar. But even though I certainly wouldn't kick Leighton out of my bed, I clearly preferred Blake.

I never realized that this would become my identity here. Not that I'm ashamed of this, or that I thought it didn't fit me . . . But it's not the whole me. Maybe I needed to take her away, to remind everyone that there is more to me than a fleeting celebrity crush. And to remind me that, even if I'm attempting to not have a mask, I can still inadvertently create a new one.

Perhaps I can never truly escape other people's image of me. But what's important is that I stay true to the person I am inside.


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## TurranMC (Sep 15, 2009)

You know we haven't gotten into any philosophical discussions but I already know we probably disagree on many things. Despite that I give you a lot of respect man. I respect that you are who you are and if people don't like it, fuck em.

+Respect


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## Selene (Aug 2, 2009)

What exactly is happening in that picture? I didn't watch or hear about that World Series. It looks like he's about to grab the ball, lol.


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## Fanille (Sep 3, 2009)

Basically A-Rod slapped the ball out of the guy's hand as he was about to get tagged, which is not allowed.

A number of Photoshops came about because of this incident, including A-Rod carrying a purse around his arm, A-Rod wearing a dunce cap, etc.


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