help

Ack! There is no excuse. I haven't been blogging at all these past few weeks and months. I am not entirely sure why. I suppose I have fallen into that trap so many other bloggers find themselves. Periods of self-loathing take over and beliefs are inserted that tell our internal critics that anything they create is either no good or is simply garbage. There is never a silver lining in any of these situations. Nothing is ever any good. Some go so far as deciding they are themselves no good. I could be only speaking of myself but I have a hunch that there are many of you out there going through what I am going through - blocked blog syndrome.

In truth, such thoughts are rubbish. Here I am in the trenches, one who has "proven" himself by being involved in the creation of a manual that helps people start this bizarre career of "blogging". Yet, I find myself lost in a cavern of creativity. I have written hundreds of blog posts all over the Internet and I can't seem to get one finished for my own website. How cruel is that? I guess there is some comfort I can offer. It is a well known fact that writers of all levels will star blankly at a page (either on a computer screen or a piece of paper) for days before putting down a single word. They can get blocked up just like the average blogger. It is a natural part of being a writer. (Sorry, what was that?)

I am here to tell all of you that the act of blogging is an art. Plain and simple. Your ability to write is what makes blogging possible. So, how do you break the blockage? By doing something I haven't done in a while. You sit down, look at the screen with a little bit of defiance and you start typing or you start writing away from the computer. Write by hand (yes, you can do that!) and then type in your thoughts later.

And, please, don't feel bad in the slightest if you don't have anything to say. You can always follow a standard blogging formula and write a list of some kind. Fill out a meme about yourself. Offer advice (as I am right now) and keep that chin up.

I have been reading also a disturbing theory running around the Internet that is claiming that the days of blogging are over.

I hear them say: "Who blogs anymore? It is all about micro-blogging now."

Horse hockey!

As cool as micro-blogging is, it isn't the full kind of writitng that people enjoy the most. Sure, you can "tweet" a story out but the act of writing can't be touched by these technologies. Don't feel "afraid" or "less of a writer" if you are told that blogs are "not where it is at". I don't subscribe to such theories. Blogging is writing! To claim that the days of writing are over is such nonsense. Maybe we're in a collective slump but blogging or writing is not a dead art and I would guess that it is here for some time. You can change the technologies and the format but you can't change the truth. Human beings love stories. We love writing. Micro-blogging may be here for a while or it may be a flash in the pan. Who cares. Writing doesn't change. We change and get lost once in a while but we always come back to what we love.

There you have it. A blog post. How about that? No preparation and no cause for celebration. I just sat down to do a bit of research and look at what I created. It isn't Shakespeare but I think I can use it.

A number of months ago, I experienced a very low point in my life.  I don't think I had ever experienced something quite like it before and I was glad for it to be over.  

I gave up.

I didn't give up on my life.  I gave up on the world's life.  I gave up on you, gentle reader, and I hope you can find the wisdom to forgive me.  I was weak and unable to cope for several hours.

I do offer some context.  What started me down this path of utter dispair in regards to the current status of the world was I had read too many articles about how the world and how it is going to "Hell In An X-Wing Fighter" and I decided that it was time for me to just wash my hands of the world.  I didn't mean it.

I do remember having a brief conversation with myself.

"That's it!  We'll never learn.  It won't matter anyway.  The world will just buck us off the sadle when it feels like it.  The universe will unfold as it should and if that means we're not part of that then so be it."

That night, the universe fought back and kicked me in the ass.  It was one of those nights where you catch yourself reading or watching something that you wouldn't normally do.  You may even pause to ask yourself why you're doing it.  This particular evening, I found myself watching The Hour and who should appear but David Suzuki.

The interview was typical of that show.  There was gentle conversation about what Mr. Suzuki was doing and, of course, there was talk about the environment.  I was feeling quite self justified that Suzuki was telling stories about how he had been drinking out of a plastic cup and some onlooker said that he shouldn't be considering who he was and what he stood for. 

Ha!  I thought.  You jerk!  You drink from bottled water too!  You dime store hood!  It was then that a question was asked about what people should do if they are feeling tremendous apathy about the universe and the world.  I was expecting some kind of: "Come join us.  You can help heal the world."

Nope.

Suzuki became very serious and said: "Go be that way.  Do what you need to do but get the hell out of my way.  I am not perfect but I am doing my part.  If you don't want to help, then stand aside and let me by."

Thank the world for David Suzuki.  If it were not for him, I would proably be still feeling the way I did all those months ago.  Have a great Earth Day and, Mr. Suzuki, I am sorry.  I am doing my part too.