Don't Start at the Beginning

 You know what is kinda crazy? There is one issue I have always had with writing and it has plagued me since high school.  You would think I would grow out of it or figure it out by now, but no.

 I always have the most difficulty with the very first sentence of anything I write; stories, reports, letters, anything!  I will be all ready to go, with the thought engine fired up, just to sit in from of the screen with my fingers stationary on the home keys. Pause...long pause...even longer pause...distraction...mission failed. 

 When I had to write in high school and college, I started avoiding the opening sentence and jumping right into the content, then later fabricating an opening line when I was done. This actually saved me  a lot of time and preserved many potentially lost ideas. Maybe it goes against all the rules of writing or maybe cheating? somehow? You never know. But it has generally worked for me. Whatever it is, I like to call it "a chronological reconfiguration of a writing systems to enhance the utilization of time and increase thought flow preservation". ;)  On a positive note, once I got passed or skipped the intro, it was full speed ahead. Rarely, if ever, do I get writer's block within the body of my writing. Only at the beginning. Hmm, strange, lol. So as tradition would have it, I still encounter this as I write these blogs. It may take me half an hour on the first sentence, but then twenty minutes for a couple pages. But despite that, I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog. There is nothing better than being able to take whats up there and put it somewhere else, like here. Thanks! 

 Now that I have mentally distracted myself from the frozen intro issue, I can now proceed with the originally intended blog. So, on we go! When it comes to blogs in general, most of them have a central theme or idea. Recipes, home decor, educational, autobiographical, event tracking, etc, are just a few of the millions of possibilities for blogs. And generally, those blogs stick pretty close to that one thing. While sharing a single expertise works well for many people, I, personally, as a writer would find that to be just a bit boring.  There are also  some of the blogs where one writes everything about themselves and their daily affairs on every post, which is fine, it is just not my style. One thing you will learn about me, and through my site, is that I get bored with things rather easily. This is true in my day-to-day life as well. At any given time, I will have multiple "projects" going on, as my partner would say. What he views as bad habit of never finishing what I start or taking on "more than I can handle",  actually comes with a legitimate reason for this method of madness. You see, being prone to boredom, I have to constantly be changing things or doing something different. So, yes, I have multiple "projects". If I am working on one, and get frustrated or bored with it, I move on to something else for a little bit. If I spend too much time with one thing for a long period of time, I get bored and then I leave it as it is, never to return. In order to prevent abandonment of a task, I allow myself to be fully immersed in it until I get a little tired or slightly frustrated, depending on the task. Once that feeling starts creeping in, I move onto something else.  Then, I can always come back to it later.  Just to keep the record straight, I DO finish projects. They are just broken up  in order for me to keep my motivation towards finishing it. Call it distractions if you will, but it is the most effective way for me to always feel like I am doing something new, and getting something done, or at the very least- "making progress.

 Getting back to the point at hand.. theme blogging- you're not going find that here. At least not specifically.  Much like my practice of project doing, I cannot sit here and write about the same subject or idea for an extended period of time. I have to give credit for those who's blogs encompass one thing, finance blogging, fitness blogs, fashion, advice...Don't they ever run out of things to say about the same things? Yes, there are various changes in the factors, but a bank is a bank and a runway is always a runway, so where is the fun in that? I say... Never limit yourself... or your blog . 

Talk soup today and s*#t tomorrow! 

 Ok, well, not exactly, but I'm sure you get what Im saying. Since I personally never know what I am going to come up with next, I can tell you a few things you CAN expect from this blog, and we wiill go from there. This will also give you the chance to unboringly and unsaturatedly (not a real word, I know) get to know more about me. Deal?

 So... I am an avid and dedicated DIYer ("do-it-yourself-er"). This covers all things from crafting, home repair, repurposing, and the at-home creation of anything which may cost you an arm and a leg, and maybe an ear, if you were to buy it instead.  You can also expect a few of my favorite projects ("how-to's" included) to show up here from time to time.  For many years, I have worked in Market research (aka, review writer, secret shopper, audit and reporter), so don't be surprised if there is an occasional place or product that I am offering my opinion about. You may hear a rant or rave here and there, but never a complaint without a valid reason and a reasonable solution.  If you are looking for a political, religious or non-autobiographical history--- you have come to the wrong place. I lean towards not discussing things that I don't feel I am confident enough to try to argue, let alone prove my point. Plus, I believe everyone is entitled to their own personal beliefs, and should not be judged, nor punished for them--- unless it includes any infliction of harm or detriment to anyone, or any living being, and especially not to puppies-because that is when we should get all Salem witch trials on them:)    

As I said in an earlier post, I am not in short supply of life experiences from many sources. Some that have changed my moods, others that have changed my life. Either way, there are some that I will feel need to be shared for whatever reason, but never for no reason at all. On the other end of things, I do want to include ideas from whoever may be reading this. I intend on creating an idea page where readers can bring up discussion topics, or make content requests, ask questions, and contribute in general... because without you, this blog is nothing more than a journal that ...

 And just when I was just going to come up with something brilliantly poetic here, I was interrupted by my very silly partner talking about drunk monkeys and how my typing is "quite lovely"-a term not in his regular speech. He is half asleep and trying to figure out what I am writing so much about. -When I wrote about having that fellow traveler who will jump out of a plane and into the island of unknowns-- well, I am one of those lucky  enough to have found my fellow traveler. We haven't jumped out of any planes yet but we have definitely traversed many islands of unknowns together..and he really is funny when he's overly tired. Speaking of tired, it is 4am.  I think this is a good time to take a break until the next post, as I probably should get some sleep myself.

Good night, everyone.. or anyone. See you soon.

Put yourself out there.

 I am sure we have all been told, or told someone else, to "Put yourself out there!". Whether it was an introverted friend or one who is still mourning a rough break-up. Maybe someone who just needs to suck it up and go get a job.  Whatever the case may be, it is a situationally universal phrase as much as it is the most motivational sentence we can  appropriately muster up at that moment.  Think of a time when you have said or even been told exactly this. 
When it comes right down to it, putting yourself out there is actually pretty easy...no, really, it is. But then... 
What happens when you are out there? Dun..dun... duuuuuuunnnnn!!!
Honestly, this is the true hard part.  Think of it this way-
Say you are planning a self-guided trip to some remote island or wherever. You have completed all the necessary packing, preparing for the trip, and now you just have to get on that plane and go. Which, you do. Easy peasy. Next you just have to jump out of the plane because the only way to get there is by plane and there is literally no place for it to land. So, with parachute ready, you are staring out over this huge island, and all you have to do is jump, aka put yourself out there. While it seems like the hardest part, as scary as it is, it could fail in comparison to what you don't know is out there. With a bit of hesitation, you close your eyes and jump. After a moment of freefall, you begin to feel a bit of relief realizing it really isn't so bad and the view from there is really quite lovely. Congratulations, you are officially "out there". ahhhhh.
But then, it all changes again. Now that you are out there, the real difficult thoughts and questions come into play. Where am I going to land? Am I going to be safe? What am I getting myself into? What is waiting for me on the ground??? Even if you manage to pull yourself together landing with both feet on the ground and not in a tree, you are still faced with more of those self-doubting questions.  So now you are on this remote island with no direction, limited supplies, and plagued by your own fears of the unknown.  But... the adventure has just started. 
Our lives and our world is much the same as this situation. Exactly almost, except with some variations. You may embark on your journey as a lone traveler, or be one of the few who is fortunate enough to have found the perfect partner who will brave the elements by your side. You could be jumping out of the plane to find that perfect partner, a remote "singles" island maybe. :)
The difficulty lies in all the unknowns.  The waiting... for something...for anything... hopefully not for nothing, right. And how long should I wait?  When I mentioned "self-doubting" questions, its because that is what we are doing. If you are going to put yourself out there, put your best foot forward, and make sure that foot is wearing the right shoe. Instead of asking yourself questions, give yourself answers. 
I AM going to land okay. I AM going to keep myself safe. I AM ready for what I'm getting myself into. 
And maybe you do end up in a tree or walk five miles just to reach a literally unscaleable mountain that blocks the journey you mapped out. Then what? Do you lie there and wait for the elements to take over your being. Hopefully not. Instead, you change direction.  Does that mean you screwed up and mapped a horrible route and its all your fault?  It means that sometimes, the path you chose was interrupted by those unexpected, unforeseen and frustrating  things called "Life". And it happens, more than we are comfortable with and often more than we are prepared for. 
Those interruptions and detours become what you make of them.  A learning experience, a painful memory, a bad choice, a chance to do better, a chance to start over... Its all about what you want to get from it, and how much you will allow yourself to be humbled and grow instead of retreat. 
I am about halfway between old and young, but I have lived through ages, or at least it seems. I have changed my career many times, changed addresses more than 250 times, and still always seem to be reaching for something greater, yet completely out of reach.  Still, I keep going. Even when I don't know how the hell I am going to have the emotional strength to open my eyes for another sunrise. But, so far, I have, and still do.  And so can you .
 I have been a writer since the third grade. Inspired by a phenomenal teacher who simply took an interest in what I was writing and encouraged me to take it as far as I could.  Over the years I dabbled in it here and there but have never fully immersed myself in it. Honestly, I am not sure why not, as it has always done wonderful things for me on an emotional and mental level. There have been a few submissions here and there, some small writings that maybe no one would ever read, but maybe. All in all, I have never quite dedicated enough of myself to make anything serious of it. But, I would like to change that, with this.  
I never make promises about anything because, well, life happens, and I don't want circumstances to be the reason for disappointment. Especially if it is someone's disappointment in me for not following through on a promise.  So I won't promise a blog a day or that I will still be writing here for the next five years...but I do promise to try-because that is a promise that cannot be interrupted by life. 
Thanks for being here. 
See you soon:)

Any other time than this.

 For a long time, I have been aching to start writing again. I would say, "if I had a laptop", or "when I can find the right blogging platform" or "when I am not so busy", you get the point. But during that time when writing was inconvenienced by a false inconvenience, I was flooded with thoughts and ideas for the perfect story or blog series. There were so many, I wanted to write them all down before I lost them or they got tangled within the highways of neccessary information and side roads of trivial facts all occupying my mind. Unfortunately, I am not as young as I once was, being able to hand write pages and pages  for hours with no wear. As it would be expected, the harder you work your hands over the years, the harder it is for their cooperation without their aches and complaining.

Now that I have temporarily put my false inconveniences to rest, finally purchased a laptop of sorts, found a blog platform that seems to be a good fit thus far, and am significantly less busy than usual thanks to the notorious Covid- but that is a story for another day. I find myself here today, writing again...

Or, staring at the screen with my fingers on the home keys trying to recall all of those fantastic and exciting topic ideas I had before I ran out of reasons not to write. go figure.

If you have made it this far without leaving the page out of sheer boredom or disappointment for the time it took to read this mini-intro, thank you. 

But I do want you to know that despite the lack of whatever you may be looking for at this moment, if you stick around a few posts, you will find a few things may happen;

1. You might actually learn something useful

2. You will discover the true meaning of the saying that "truth is stranger than fiction".

3. You will embark on an incredible journey of stories from  a life, describable by a "series of unfortunate events" and WTF moments.

4. You may end up with a greater appreciation and understanding of gratitude.

5. You may become and expert DIY'er and hyper-independent super-person capable of amazing feats!

6. Or you may just read something that hits home, from someone who shares many of the difficult moments and small rewards,  trying to maintain positivity, while struggling to hold it together

I don't intend to bore anyone with my stories, they are simply my stories. Not every post will be about my life or struggles or dreams, or recipes with unnecessarily  long back stories, when all you really want to know is how to make the dam.... 

anyways.  

I am a serial gets-bored-too-easy person with diverse and sometimes scattered knowledge. Because of this, I know a little bit of a lot of things and would eventually like to know how to do almost anything and everything. So, should you choose to come along for the ride, you will be exposed to a circus of experiences-without the clowns. But, you wont likely get bored. It won't be all fun and games either though- especially if you haven't caught on to my type of sense of humor. 

Although this first post may seem a bit short, they won't all be this way. I just have to take a moment to go through my thought catalog and try to figure out where all those amazing writing ideas are hiding.  Feel free to close whatever device you are using to read this, it could be a minute... or two. 

See you soon!

-and- thanks again for sticking around.