Let’s start at the very beginning, which from what I understand is a very good place to start.

From a very early age, I have romanticized what it would be like for me to be an honest-to-God writer.  Even now, when someone asks me what I would want to do if I could suddenly change careers, that’s the first place my mind goes.  Although first I generally ask for a qualifier to their deep and probing question.  Is it a requirement that I currently have the skill level to do this dream job?  If the answer is yes, then I usually go with something like mixing paint at Home Depot (curiously satisfying).  But if the answer is no –relevant talent not required, then I’m free to dream and let my imagination soar, and the answer is almost always – a Writer.

The reason for the qualifier is that I have never felt that I had what it takes to be a writer.  I’ve always done well on any sort of essay or writing assignment from grammar school through college, but those were always required from someone else.  The patience, concentration, and dogged determination to finish any writing of my own was always lacking, I’m sad to say. I still played out the scenarios in my mind while driving to work or waiting for the coffee to brew of how I would someday have the time and the confidence to try my hand at this elusive aspiration.  But as I got deeper into the Corporate World and started raising a family, it seemed that would never be an itch that I could feasibly scratch.

Still, over the years I have been able to exercise my writing muscles on occasion on a very small scale.  I have been the King of Greeting Card commentary, able to compose a thoughtful and meaningful, and yes sincere, sentiment to friends and loved ones on birthdays or other special days.  My delivery of the spoken word is usually awkward and falls short of the original intent – it always sounds far more intelligible in my head and somehow loses something as it travels down to my mouth – but if given a minute or two to compose a written thought, I can usually produce something that is significantly more personal and meaningful than any spoken message that I may clumsily stammer through. Even these occasional and random written expressions have given me enjoyment and satisfaction but on a very small one-on-one basis.   

Then came social media.  I became very active on social media, posting pictures of my kids or vacations, and very often, just my point of view on current affairs, pet peeves I’ve acquired, or general observations that were usually associated with or punctuated by my unparalleled buffoonery.  Always colored with a little humor, a lot of heart, and probably too much transparency, my posts were almost always well received among my built-in fan base of social media “Friends”. Ranging from the zingy one-liners to the short stories of my days-in-the-life, these posts gave me the outlet I had been needing for a long time as well as the positive feedback to reinforce my notions that, if not thought provoking or entertaining, these short narratives were at least on some level engaging.   Obviously, it was never going to be anything that would be published or widely read, but just being able to write a little blurb now and then for a passive yet friendly audience still managed to keep that dying ember of my dream job alive.

In recent news, the company that had employed me for the past 18 years, went through a round of layoffs, and unfortunately, I was one of the souls left standing without a chair when the music stopped (a lot more about this later on).  Suddenly, I found myself with more free time than I had ever known.  Several friends urged me to use this time to be more intentional with my writing.  With a good amount of very kind encouragement from these friends, I’ve decided, Why not?  If not now, when?

So, here I go. The random musings of a middle-aged, unemployed gym rat and self-declared blockhead.  Some entries will be worth the read, some will not.  And my loose interpretation of grammar and syntax will no doubt be enough to send any editor worth his salt right over the edge.  My apologies in advance.