Having suffered from depression for years, I was not ready to give into that darkness. Then, because life is a strange and wonderful thing, two things happened in rapid succession. The first is that I got a wonderful IM on the Scootdawg forum which really made my day. The other was a long phone call with a good and old friend about the nature of creativity. He's a fellow writer (you can buy his wonderful first novel here) and a fellow biker.
First: I hate you!!! Yes, I hate you! You turned me on to reading your scooting blog, and then I went to the links for more scooting blogs. Having those blogs were not enough, so I went to the links of those blogs, and so forth, until not only do I do scooting reads, I went to any motorized 2 wheeler blogger throughout the world...
I now have a list of 27 bloggers that are currently posting that I read religiously every day. Everything to Princess Scooterpie to Ruckus Scooter Love to Real Men Ride Vespas, and I am constantly looking for more blogs to read...
It has gotten me out of bed many a day, because it's hard to read so many blogs with a small iPhone4S in bed..
A writer's job, at least in my opinion, is to get people to think. They don't have to agree with you, but at least now they are thinking about the subject in hand differently. The greatest thing that ever happened to me as a writer was being recognized in a bar during a soccer game - "Hey, I read your articles all the time on A-league.com! You guys really know what your talking about!" Sadly that site is now defunct.
Although an article posted on that site got a very long forum discussion going on Big Soccer site. The title of the thread? "Rob Wilson is an idiot." Getting people to think, to question...that is what I want to do.
I like non-fiction writing. While it's fun to create your own worlds, no matter how fantastic, I prefer the "teaching" aspect of non-fiction. Many of you may never visit Florida, or Pittsburgh, or wherever I happen to point my bike's wheels. What I hope to do is provide a little glimpse of my world.
The problem is that I've not had the desire to write that much.
It would be to easy to write about the other things I care about. While I may be a "voice of reason" when it comes to politics; the current environment does not call from reason. Besides...who wants to read something that actually might make sense?
Riding has exposed me to a larger world. To ideas, people who I might never meet and interesting places I might never have seen. I still have fond memories of butterfly's on tombstones during one such adventure. I ride to see...to discover...to experience
These last few months have had me questioning why I want to ride. Why I blog even. Thanks to feedback and friendship I know why. Now it's just a matter of time till the next adventure. The next story.
4 comments:
Robert:
I remember the Pen Pal days. I had a pen pal on the other side of the world. It's hard to write to someone you don't know but you slap a few paragraphs together and you mail it off. A few months later you get a reply. It was a slow way to communicate but I don't really think you become close.
With the internet, meeting people is nearly instantaneous. You write a sentence or two and BAM, a reply comes back within a day, or perhaps in an hour. You really get to know someone fast. Having a Blog makes it easier, not like chat rooms where your identity gets hidden behind fake names. These are real people whom you become friends even though you have never met, or perhaps will never meet.
My problem is that I have too many blogs to read and I often visit but don't make comments, so even though I may have come HERE you may not know. But I know I have a friend in FL and perhaps I will make it there during 2015. I'm working on it
bob
A weekend photographer or Riding the Wet Coast
It's wonderful when a hand holds out or a voice comes your way when you really need it and expect it the least. I wonder how many bloggers have actually saved lives.
Just keep on doing what YOU have to do.
I think blogging makes the world a little smaller and can bring people closer.
It is nice to know there are others out there with similar interests or even similar issues they are dealing with in life.
Robert I enjoy reading your blog. This form of writing is so new and making it accessible to anyone and the interests are so varied. I have made friends and considered them as such, I have met some and it felt like we had known each other forever. I think blogging is the electronic version of modern day pen pals. I also think everyone in the world has a story to share, sometimes they are exciting, sometimes filled with beauty, sometimes with pain and just needing comfort & sharing grief, and of course our various passions we all write about and pictures we take, stories we tell. I read just all my blogs, may not comment, but am always happy to see new posts. Glad your getting your spark back.
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