Writing

Many have asked me why I stopped running a blog and writing regularly.  I managed a blog and wrote regularly from 2005 through to 2013, almost a decade.  I also produced a podcast with friends from 2005 to 2012.  At the time of the ending of the blog and podcast, I was finishing up my last year of University.  To put it mildly, I was burn out.  The toll of a full-time job, academic life (sleepless nights with books and Earl Grey), a social life, the blog, and the podcast was too much.

Since giving all of that up, I finished up my college days and worked for various organizations, universities, and media groups.  I also run my own tiny photography business, but like so many other people in the field, it’s not profitable these days.  Not to say that you can’t be successful at it, but it takes years upon years of mere starvation to build up a customer base big enough to sustain a business.  I still love it, but at this point, it is just the occasional side income.

For a while now, I have wanted to start another blog.  I have been talking to friends about it for a while, but even though I have a varied background in everything from photography to criminal justice, I didn’t know where to start or what subject to concentrate my efforts on.

To give a minute bit of background about one subject I will be covering frequently, I caught spinal meningitis as an infant while in the hospital.  I’m not crying about it, but because of that, I have several health problems that will be with me until the end.  I have hypopituitarism, hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, and Addison’s disease to name a few.

Due to a multitude of health problems, I am also dyslexic.  This is just an annoyance.  When I was in college and writing papers and doing the blog, I managed to rewire my brain into working correctly.  Back then, I could type out a perfectly coherent and accurate ten page report in less than an hour.  My writing ability has trailed off severely since those golden days of yore.

I was talking with a friend that’s a doctor yesterday about the trouble I’ve been having in the last year or so.  She said that there was a study published recently that proved that writing regularly actually helps the brain fight the effects of aging and slow down the progression of common problems like dyslexia.  She didn’t bother giving me the name of the study, but if I find it, I’ll link it here.

Her exact words were, “Write it, damn you, write it! What else are you good for?”  I laughed at the Joyce reference.

Having health problems is not an excuse for me, nor should it be for you.  Take those problems and use them to your advantage.  Giving up is easy, overcoming barriers is hard.  I’ve published five books.  I graduated at the top of my class, even though my family was told not to bother because I would never live long enough for education to matter.  I have been to more places and done more than most people with no health issues.  I’ve been dead twice and have been told on multiple occasions that I’d never live this long, yet here I am.  I was told twelve years ago that I’d be in a wheelchair in five years, yet I’m still walking and running.  Bust through barriers and make the most out of life!
I’m going to do exactly what she suggested and what I’ve been wanting to do for a while, write.  I’m going to write every week day.  Some posts may be about politics and the impending repeal of the AFA (Obamacare).  Other days, I may write a personal story.  One way or another, I have to do it.

It may take me a while to get back in the swing of things, but it will get better.  I’m not going to worry about stats, as I did so much in the past.  I’m just going to write.  What else am I good for other than photography?