Spotlight On Writers
Robert W Kovacs
- Where do you originate from?
I was born in Long Beach, California, and spent my elementary school years in suburban Detroit, Michigan, and my summers in Toronto and central Ontario. My middle and high school years were spent in Hollywood, Florida. I am a graduate with an Associate of Arts in Elementary Education from Broward (Community) College and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Public Administration and a Master of Science in Parks and Recreation Administration from Florida International University.
- What do you cherish most about the place you call home?
Home takes on a meaning of where I am free to let my true self be authentically and non-apologetically me.
Whether it’s kicking off my shoes and putting on my comforts of home clothes in my own home and sitting in my comfy chair to watch TV, listen to music or even write … that is home … where I am free to just unwind.
Home takes on the meaning of the smells of Hungarian cooking. My Mom, who still cooks many of my childhood favorite dishes, allows me to reminisce times when my father was still alive, share, and listen to my Mom share stories of years past over a great cooked meal. Smells of paprika permeating the kitchen and adjoining rooms are guaranteed to make me smile and know I am going to not only get a good meal to feed me, but my soul is being fed too. When eating with other Hungarians, the storytelling and the comforts of friends who are nothing less than extended family stir up nostalgia and cherished memories of years past.
Lastly, home is where my own close-knit friends who stuck with me and me with them through the challenges life throws at us, yet remain resilient to overcome and tenacious to keep pursuing what brings us life’s contentment. It’s when we can be brutally honest with each other, grow through our own adversities, and be able to be the pillars of support when one of us needs it the most.
- What ignites your creativity?
I have what I call “leads.” They are thoughts, observations, ruminations or even possibly something one or more of my senses was awoken. I then write the note on a “sticky” and put it on my board but recently with technology, goes on my phone and tablet via a virtual “sticky.” I never rid or clear them as I found in time they do incorporate into my writing somewhere. It may not be the next day or week or even a month, but somewhere when I am in peace with my muse and working in synchronization, they do reappear somewhere in one of my completed works.
Also, when I am one with nature; whether hiking or canoeing the Florida Everglades or in the Ontario granite shields. Finding those non-tourist spots when vacationing in a new city can trigger something, get me to start writing. It’s a matter of whatever captures my attention at the moment.
When I hear my inner voice speak, my pen or keyboard flows my thoughts out to begin the madness of putting everything out, and then work it out as if I were kneading dough. There are times the original way it came out was perfectly well written in my head, but when I read it to someone else, I get looks as if they are confused, and sometimes I am not pleased with my initial write, but others tell me to just leave it alone as it is already well done.
It’s those times the pen better not run out of ink, nor my notebook computer run out of battery, as I am on a mission.
- Do you have a favorite word, and could you incorporate it into a poetic phrase?
I find my prose more so than my poetry tends to have a trend of using resilience and tenacity as a constant when I write of myself and where I was and where I am now. It truly just flows out of my mind.
Taken from my poem, WHERE DID TIME GO?
When did you have the right to
Rob all my resilience,
Trade all my tenacity
And steal my security?
He remained resilient despite all the set-backs he faced, but his tenacious thirst kept his eyes focused on the end result.
- What is your pet peeve?
My biggest pet peeve … hmm … good question.
The “One-Upper” – you know the one who will always find a way to top the story you just shared with one of their own, emphasizing how their similar situation was better, more difficult, more expensive, etc., They always have to have the last word to vastly expand how their similar situation is “one-up” from yours regardless of the category.
The other one that tests my patience is tardiness without being alerted. Those who continually disrespect my time will eventually not have any time with me. I’m of character, I’d rather be an hour early than a minute late. I’d rather have to wait for you than you having to wait for me.
- How would you describe the essence of Robert W Kovacs?
I had a lifelong career as an employee of the same local YMCA in South Florida since 1984, even though it has gone under three name changes as a result of mergers; Greater Hollywood Family YMCA, YMCA of Broward County, and currently YMCA of South Florida. My positions of pride and joy include youth swim instructor (an advocate for every child needs to have water safety skills and learn how to swim), pre-school programs (watching as young children get the “ah-a, I got it” moment and provide them an opportunity to love to learn) and summer day camp (building long term relationships with school-age children and families over several years). Once leaving the program services arena, my other joy was grant writing and contract administration with strong emphasis on pitching funders the YMCA story. I recently retired after just over 40 years. I continue to astonish myself as mathematics just didn’t add up to anything exciting in my grade point average throughout both high school and college years. As long as I can remember writing has always been a part of defining me.
Most memorably, I had a literature teacher in my senior year of high school who rarely cracked a smile but cracked nothing more than her whip and worked you to earn your grade. Her authoritarian style of teaching and plenty of rewrites later, her succinct reminders, “write in active voice, use simpler words, find your inner voice to personify and convey your thoughts, lead the introduction and tie it all up in your final words,” resonate throughout my blog and much of my other writings. She helped me find my own unique niche of writing free-form poetry, which often always had a way of conveying a message where my readers can identify my writing with something similar happening in their own lives.
Many years later, in the capacity of Contract Administrator for grants at the YMCA, two past supervisors, alongside a funder’s grant administrator, advocated for me to begin to write my YMCA stories to share with others my experiences through my unique writing style. Upon contemplation of pros and cons and with my first Apple Macbook Air, the YMEJOURNEY blog was born.
Initially, the blog started out to share stories of my YMCA career but has evolved into a parable of sharing life’s challenges, victories and setbacks told in such a way, a lesson is learned by reading it. My writing brings you into my world as it offers me a catharsis, meandering through memories of significant episodes of reflections of this ride on earth, that we call life. I find sharing the human condition with others opens more commonalities and closes the differences among all of us. I often find ways to be lighthearted even in the most challenging circumstances and often can find ways to see the hidden gems even in the most difficult, trying, and negative experiences and turn them around by spinning them into encouraging words of positive enlightenment, in almost all situations.
I pride myself on being an even-keel, grounded, educated, and professional person who appreciates simple pleasures in a complicated world. I enjoy more things than I don’t and welcome being introduced to new adventures. In my spare time, I enjoy traveling on vacations to see more of this world, a diverse genre of movies and TV, reading mostly biographies and fiction, listening to almost all genres of 80s music, board games/Wii, beach/pool, bicycling, parks, cooking and eating, relaxing, and thought provoking conversations with quality time with genuine people. Presently, my primary coordinates are approximately 26.0523° N, 80.1439° W, on Spaceship Earth.
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