They say that age is relative and that some young people live more in a short time than people who are decades older experience during their lives.
That may or may not be true and it is possible that some of those who are younger could teach me a thing or two I might also teach them what they need to know about timing.
Chances are if I was able to put my entire life on a DVD and rewind it back a chunk of years you and I would see a twenty-something year-old man who was certain he knew far more than he deserved credit for.
You and I might call it naivete or ignorance based upon youth and lack of experience, but not across the board because that kid had lived and loved enough to know a few things.
But he would have been intolerant and disdainful of anyone who tried to point out how much he didn’t know because of age.
He would have said it was a cheap way to try and end a conversation, but that is a topic of for a different time.
The Simple Life
A while back a reader told me they miss the days when I spent more time focused on telling a story and less upon sharing thoughts.
They said they preferred something that was more organized, you know the kind of tale that has a clear beginning, middle and ending.
I understand and appreciate that because it is a simpler way to go and if I had my choice I’d make much of my life simpler than it has been and is.
But life doesn’t always cooperate with our desires and much of it is spent making choices that are based upon things that happened and not stuff we make happen.
We are forever standing upon the seesaw of our personal world sliding between reactive and proactive.
BTW, you missed your cue to start singing the theme to Green Acres and imagining a simple life in the country but that is ok, unless you are a tree you aren’t rooted to one place.
You can pick your ass up and move. Some of us have done it multiple times and are still doing it.
What’s Dead Can Never Die
I am not certain if that line came to mind because I have of my familiarity with Game of Thrones (I have read all the books more than once and watch the show) or if it is something else.
But I liked it because it ties in with the linkup I decided to participate in this week and because it is a contradiction.
That is what life is to me, contradictions layered in moments where you remember that Twain was right that truth is stranger than fiction.
Moments where you see the cliche about the low raised high and the high taken from their thrones.
As I sit here writing I am listening to Google Music play one of their auto mixes and both Prince and David Bowie have serenaded me..
Two men who entertained millions of people, who made an impact upon the world and earned millions of dollars but who died too soon.
That last line isn’t me making a value judgment it is me saying that most people would agree that 57 and 69 are not considered to be particularly old.
Two men who in theory had the resources to obtain the best medical care who had enough cash to live lives where they could be proactive and not reactive are gone.
But if you look at the subhead about what’s dead can never die you could say that because of their music and the influence they had there they aren’t really gone because people like you and I will keep playing their songs.
Still it is interesting to think about how many people who don’t have the same resources and advantages will live many years longer than those two.
You just never know.
Entertain, Educate & Inform
If that reader who wanted me to spend more time telling simple stories were to drop out of the sky into my bedroom and ask me to explain myself I would do so.
But first I would repair the whole in the ceiling and ask how the hell he managed to fall out of the sky and through my roof.
And then I would ask him to tell me about his workout routine because a man who can do that is onto something.
****
Every post I write is supposed to entertain, educate and inform but I never expect everyone to feel that way nor do I try to make everyone happy.
That is a good way to write sterile crap that has no heart and no soul, the kind of vanilla writing that puts a writer to sleep.
A man who would dress up in face paint to sacrifice a pinata would never go that route. Ok, that is not me in the picture, but it could be.
So let’s get to the heart of the matter and touch upon some more important stuff.
I love that quote more than I can tell you because that is what life has taught me to embrace.
The day I was born (re-born) isn’t limited to one single moment or time and I am not sure that I could limit it to less than ten critical experiences or that I need to.
We could talk about high school/college graduations, getting married, becoming a father or the day I found out my father was on life support.
You could add buying/selling my house, moving out of state and back and a couple of moments besides.
Hell, if you have to pick one moment I’d say go back more than a decade to when I joined the blogging game because it reignited the fire inside.
It led me back to the path of writing and storytelling and reminded me that I know what I am supposed to do with my life.
I may not have all of the details and specifics worked out but I have the framework and that is enough for me to have decided to follow my own Yellow Brick road.
Doesn’t matter whether anyone else can see it or if it is on land or sea or day or night.
That moment flipped the switch and I will see it through.
*****
This has been a Finish the Sentence Friday post and the sentence is “The day I was born (re-born) was….”
I’ve thought about your phrase a lot. What’s dead can never die, but I have thought about it in the form of ghosts. You can’t kill something that’s already dead, so if your house is haunted, what else can you do? Totally different context, but it’s true.
No, can’t kill ’em but you can send them away.
Five years ago I would never have guessed I’d be writing a little blog and that I would make a dramatic career change, possibly influenced by having the blog. Sorry, that was confusing! 😀 Anyway, I love what it’s done for me in so many ways. As for writing, I write different ways on different days and for different purposes. I don’t argue with it – I let the inspiration decide on the process and try not to think too hard about it. Love the post!
It is amazing to me how something like a blog can turn life upside down and inside out. Never would have expected it, but am so grateful for it.
So I hear and understand you, makes perfect sense.
Thanks for coming by and hope to see you again.
What’s the point of writing if it doesn’t give us a way to explore, experiment and grow. Love your post, Joshua.
Stay YOU. 🙂
Thank you Corinne, we are obviously on the same page here. 🙂
I am very organized, and tend to write with structure and a purpose. But on the occasions that I just free write and let the words flow in a stream of consciousness, I get positive feedback from my regular readers. It feels weird to write that way, but it must resonate with someone. As long as my writing does that (even if that someone is just me), I believe it’s worthwhile. Yours obviously resonates, Joshua – even with your critic.
There are times when a structured piece is critical. Every time I write I do so with the intent to try to educate, entertain and inform the only question is what works best for that piece.
I think for me part of what I love about blogging is how it enables me not to be locked into the rules our English teachers taught us.
The main thing is having fun because if you don’t then you don’t last in blogging. Who wants more work. 😉
Thanks for coming by, hope to see you again.
The structure part reminds me of SATS, and the effectiveness of them on us as adults.
Sure, some of the topics are useful, but do the majority of us even use modals as adults?
No wonder there’s so much push back on SATS currently, and the unnecessary pressure they put on our kids.
It makes sense to learn how to write with structure, but at some point you move beyond being so limited.
I like how you write – a lot – and don’t feel like writing (or life) needs to have a beginning, middle, and end. Blogging has been really wonderful for me, too. When I started, I felt really alone with my son’s developmental delays and I’ve since found an amazing community and find that I rarely write about him any longer – it’s more fun to talk about what’s going on in my head. I love your photos by the way.
Thank you for the kind words. There is a picture someone drew of the path to success that you might have seen. It shows a straight line and says that it is representative of how everyone pictures success.
Then it shows a squiggly line that goes in circles and the caption says something to the effect of “what it really looks like.” That is how I see writing and how blogging can and often should bew.
Why not present a realistic picture.
That’s a perfect example, Kristi. While I’ve met some amazing people on social networks (some of whom have become friends), I find it’s through my blog, and the subsequent comments/community, that I really find kinship.
Which makes sense. It tales commitment to follow a blogger, and interact, and be part of their life, in whatever form that takes. That, for me, is more like what offline friendship is than anything else.
Here’s to your continued enjoyment of blogging for you.
Yep, without blogging I never would have met a famous rapper like you and I am grateful for that. 🙂
Community is part of what turns the ordinary into the extraordinary.
You are on to something!! Whenever I think about giving up on blogging because I might not be good enough, I read stuff like this. Thank you for being that inspiration that teaches we are who we are. So shame on you if you choose not to stay on the boat.
Thanks for sharing!!!
Frances
Hi Frances,
Blogging really has changed my life…more than once. I am grateful for it and all that it has brought and hope that others get something out of it too. Appreciate your coming by and hope you visit again.
Ha. I meant shame on those that have criticized you. I just re-read and wanted to make that clear just in case . 🙂
No worries, I understood. 🙂
Hi there mate,
You know, it’s funny – your reader’s question/statement reminds me of our friend Jack B’s writing style, and I wonder if he gets asked the same questions.
While I totally get the beginning/middle/end mindset, and the wish for it, doesn’t that limit us? As people, as friends, as humans? Yes, life can be linear – but the linear part of our lives are minute compared to the off-road journey we take more.
For me, blogging is like the old Choose Your Own Adventure books from the guys that eventually set up the Games Workshop. You have multiple choices and, based on which one you take, you either continue the adventure, get lost, come to a standstill, or meet a grisly end.
Much like life, really (though hopefully without the grisly end part).
So, embrace the non-linear. Embrace the non-conformity. And see where each post takes you. Because at some stage or another, there will be an end. May as well take the paths you want to on the way there.
Hi Danny,
I am far more clever, handsome and erudite than that scamp. Did I mention humble too? 😉
You and I aren’t particularly well suited for limitations that lack foundation and substance are we. It is nice to look upon life and the linear construct we want to live upon but it is not realistic.
Things happen all the time that take us off the road and into the wild so there is no reason it shouldn’t be allowed within the writing world, especially a personal blog.
This is exactly the place for the choose your own adventure and take your own road to go.
In a way, it reminds me of campsite camping versus wild camping.
On a site, you’re either in a tent, or cabin, so – yes, technically – you can say you’re camping.
But you have a store, showers, toilets, etc., at your disposal. So is it really camping?
Compare that to being in a tent in the middle of nowhere, campfire blazing, rabbit slow roasting on a spit…
The difference is in the details.
Stay humble, my friend… 🙂
Hey nice to meet your Joshua! I love how you addressed the reader who commented on your style. My style has certainly fluctuated over the years. You gain some and you lose some. For those that I lose, I say “Your loss”. How much different is telling a story vs sharing thoughts anyway? I guess one goes back in time and the other doesn’t? But I feel like that person just needed to complain about something that day. My favorites types of posts are like these – written in segments and I think you’ve done both (sharing thoughts and telling a story).
Hi Kenya,
We are on the same page regarding all of these things. Some people aren’t happy unless they have something to complain about. Since I know I won’t make everyone happy and can’t be all things to all people I just live my life.
Writing is subjective, some will like what we publish, some will be ambivalent and some will dislike it. No need to make myself crazy worrying about the people who don’t like my work. If they have a real complain about it being factually incorrect or riddled with grammatical errors I pay attention, but outside of that…
Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you again.