MIA, Yes I have been Missing In Action but I’m back!
If you have been paying attention, you know that I haven’t posted a blog in many months. In essence, I took a hiatus when a bunch of events all piled up on me in rapid succession and I decided that in order to advance, I first needed to retreat. The Confederate General Joe Johnston was a genius at this. So I stepped away for a while. It has been helpful and cathartic. I laid down my writing and after writing three books in about 4 years (the third in the trilogy-titled SLIM AND NONE will be waiting for you soon), I hit the ‘pause’ button.
At first, it was intended to be only a bit more than brief, a month or so, but I came to realize that I was tired and needed a conscious recharge.
Writing is challenging, often hard and often is exacting and exhausting. And then toss in the vagaries of life, especially in tightly bunched multiples and all of sudden there was a large bolus of weariness and distraction. So I laid down my keyboard and relaxed and reflected and read a lot-a Whole Lot!-and had a little fun along the way.
Let me emphasize this was NOT Writer’s Block. I can always write. I just chose not to.
Over a period of a few months, I was visited by the following events and they basically staggered me. Looking back, It all called to mind something I just read lately that fits the bill.
Challenges always come. “You can’t stop the waves,” Jon Kabat-Zinn wrote, “but you can learn to surf.”
So I did. And it has truly helped.
The quote and great advice it is comes from a book titled ‘THE GOOD LIFE’ by Waldinger and Schulz. It is one of the most important things I have ever read. I will read it again. I have bought many copies to give to many friends and my children.” The book jacket lays it out nicely.
“Lessons From The World’s Longest Scientific Study Of Happiness”. The study is part of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, involves thousands of folks all around the country and is in its 84th year and is ongoing.” So here’s your first book recommendation from me to open up 2023.
Here are the events that shaped me and led me into a nice oasis of calm. They were not always pleasant. They all made me think.
I finished my third manuscript in the trilogy. I was elated that I had and deflated as well. Ok, that’s done. What’s next? There was self-imposed pressure to get to work on another. It was uncomfortable. And most of y’all know how intense I can be. That did not help.
Important people departed from my life. Important people came into my life. Relationships evolved. That takes work.
I took a Really Big Fall down my steps, busted my ass and tore up my leg. That chastened me. Recovery from that is still ongoing and progressing nicely.
My dear friend and mentor Kermit King-best lawyer I have ever known-took a bad fall and died soon thereafter. A sad shock indeed. I think of him every day. I miss him and always will.
A great friend got into trouble with the law and shook a lot of things up and shook me up too. Things have settled down now but that event stays with me.
A beloved cousin, who was too young to go, leapt off this mortal coil with the ‘help’ of a nasty, grinding illness that came along quickly and took him quickly.
And here’s an odd one. I am a big fan of UNC. Everyone knows that. And this past basketball season was an absolute roller coaster and I rode and rode and rode. And it emotionally wore me out along with everything else. It added to the stress.
So now I come to now. My holidays were peaceful, intentionally so. I did not have my usual big Christmas party. My birth day came and went. It was nice but low key. With the wonderful and effective help of my daughter and son-in law, we have really organized and cleaned up my little house and injected ‘calm’ into my surroundings. I gave away over a hundred books in the process-Geez, they were everywhere! I am going up to North Carolina for a few days to visit with my mother who turns 98 in a few weeks and my brother and a few old friends. I am seeking a little more Zen in my life. I have some travel to California and New York City and Chapel Hill lining up. And I am starting another book. Like I have said, Hey Everybody. I’m Back!