A friend of mine who has fine-tuned literary taste but a problematic political perspective encouraged me to resurrect this blog to report on the trip. Whoa..someone actually remembers Ferdrightnow!? I was surprised and flattered. Surprised because when I was posting the blog regularly very few people would read it and even fewer would ever make a comment. Flattered because this guy actually seemed to think I might be able to write something worthwhile. At seventy-two compliments seem to be few and far between. Best one I remember over the past year is "Nice putt!"
I unexpectedly found my blog juices flowing. Hmmm. I had posted 78 entries starting in 2010. My last one was in February 2017. I started rereading many of these past entries and and some of them were pretty good. It seems I could be inspired, every now and then, to write something worth reading. Maybe I should try it again. Maybe my synapses could still fire fast enough to enable me to capture some fleeting insights or observation.
Why did I stop three years ago? Not sure. I think a major reason was that, Bill Knipscher, my dear friend and one of my most loyal and supportive readers, died in November 2017. Often, knowing Bill would be reading, was enough to motivate me. Consider Bill's comment re my "Artful Greed" post in February, 2017.
"Hey, Ferd, your're perfect just as you are. No need to strive for perfection. So are we all.So is the world. Enjoy it."
This quote plus the golf bag attached to his motorcycle with bungee cords gives you an idea of what Bill was like.
I'll never know for sure why I stopped writing. The more immediate question is do I really want to start again? I'm just not sure. I know trying to effectively share experiences and perspectives makes me look at things more carefully and engage more fully and deeply. That's a pretty good payoff. I just don't want to make a commitment that turns into a chore instead of the joyful pursuit of truth and meaning that I want it to be. It seems that I continually have to relearn that some of the best things of life usually flow out of focused, committed action.
When struggling trying to make a decision I often say to myself "What would Bill do?" Well I'm pretty darn sure what he'd tell me at this point. "Stop fartin' around and just do it." Okay Bill. I'll get back in the blog saddle and see what happens. I hope some of you are interested in coming along for the ride.
I'm there, Ferd. I figured you knew this already, but in case I haven't made this clear enough, you are one of the most interesting people I have ever known, and I miss having you around. We may not always agree in certain areas, but I am never comfortable disagreeing with you. That's because I know the level of your thoughts and I understand the introspective and reflective nature of your thinking. It always makes me question the validity of my own. And that's about as serious as you can expect me to get on here. So hop on the hog and have at it. Lookin' forward to it. Have a ball.
ReplyDeleteWow...I wasn't fishing for compliments but this sure feels good. Thanks so much whoever you are.
ReplyDeleteI’ve always enjoyed your perspective on things and will be glad to be able to read your blog again. I miss Bill and that does sound like what he would have said.
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