Romantic love is one kind of love that I like
to celebrate here at the Passion Chronicles, but this blog today is dedicated
to the ‘other’ loves of our lives, the Ones who fill us with passion, inspire
us to become better, more evolved, happier, fitter, stronger, braver, more
dedicated to our craft, whether through our career or artistry, or just via personal, spiritual evolution.
Today, I want to salute one such hero of my
heart, and he is Mr. Kelly Mitchell. In January of this year, I published a
Local Heroes segment in the newspaper, saluting him, his career, and the
profound impact that he has had on me.
Mitcho, as I like to call him fondly, is my personal hero and muse for some of the fiction writing that takes up a huge mass of my heart and time. When he
found out he was nominated (personal email arrived to his inbox from the
newspaper), he was elated to have been given this award. In a career spanning
more than 20 years, Mitcho has been encouraging and mentoring people with job
search and resumes, and he does an amazing job at it.
For me, however, it was more than just taking
a resume writing class with him. It all began on a mild Halloween Monday, when
I decided to take this two week class that he taught. Since that day, I have
been forever impacted by his guidance, expertise and charisma. If I could use
the title Earth Angel for him (yes, he is going to roll his eyes at me) then
that is the role I surely see him in. Let me share the reasons that he and
seemed to jive well in this interaction. First, I had gone through a bitter
marital breakup with a "Kelly"and had a hard time not cringing whenever the
name was called out somewhere randomly in public. Getting over the aftermath from that bad
experience definitely helped me to see that not all Kelly`s were bad news.
Secondly, I had this burning hatred for men; the wreckage my heart experienced
from that heartbreak definitely left me with no trust at all for the male species, save
for the few male friends I had that were strictly platonic. But Mitcho definitely helped me (indirectly)
overcome these bitter feelings and advanced the healing process. For that, I am
eternally grateful. So in many ways, he is not only a teacher, but a healer,
too; imagine that!
Fiction writing has been a blazing passion of
mine since I was seven. First, it was short stories about ponies and elephants,
and then by age 14, it progressed to novels. In my teens, I was consumed with
writing novels, but then I hit a roadblock in my twenties and could not finish
a novel if my life depended on it. Writer`s block was a serious blockade for
me that lasted far too long.
Fast forward to Halloween 2011, and there I
was, among the class, meeting this brilliant mind and winning personality who
would forever have an imprint on me, not only changing the way I saw people,
but transforming my entire world. Mitcho is a shining example of someone who
truly loves his job, who mentors people one-on-one, with a compassion and
concern I have rarely seen in a teacher. He has become that One who inspires my
writing, and in seven short weeks, I wrote a novel called `Passion` that I am
truly proud of; it comes after a 13 year hiatus of severe writer`s block, where
no novels came to fruition during the driest period of my writing career.
How can one person impact another so deeply ? It seems the human spirit connects
with others on a level we cannot always fathom, yet it is always timely and
much needed. The interesting part is that writing resume`s has nothing to do
with writing novels, but his influence on my personal growth and self-love
seemed to blossom in a surreal way. The gift of Kelly Mitchell in my life is
something I will always cherish, and I imagine his family is eternally grateful
to God for experiencing daily the priceless gift that he represents to them as
well.
When you find a hero of the heart who is
platonic, hold onto him or her, please; do not take for granted that these
amazing people are placed in our path for mentoring, growth, or to show compassion, are truly here to help us unravel the layers, to heal those broken parts of us,
or to help us progress to that higher level we have been seeking. I
do not know what my life would be like without the presence of Mitcho. There`s a level of human
connection between us that is special, significant, intellectual, but most of
all, symbolic for me. His birthday even coincides with my favorite bible verse
that got me through the hardest times of my life: `To appoint unto them beauty
in the place of ashes.` (Isaiah 61:3)
Paying attention to numbers always has a significant role for me, and
the 613 caught my eye, causing me to take note.
So to the hero of my heart, aiding me
(indirectly) in the writing process, helping me to see the good in others, letting
me be the person God created me to be, and just being there when I need a
friend to talk to, I want to salute you, Mitcho. Because you make life seem easy
and you`re a dream come true, to those who are hurting and need a gentle hand
to guide them back to their destined path.
Thank you.
Love
and Peace,
~RR <3
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