You know, blogging isn’t as easy as it seems. Oh no siree, Bob. And if you aren’t Bob, then whoever you are, you must believe this to be true. Blogging can be very very difficult. Especially when there is no computer in front of you. I have come to realize that if the computer is not present, then the blog will not happen, no matter how badly you want to write it. And this is exactly what happened to me yesterday night. I went out for a jog, 8 miles to be exact (no this is not an Eminem reference. I never saw that movie). When running for that long a distance, one has a long time to do one of two things. A) Focus on the run, or B) Think about something… ANYTHING else. For those of you who don’t run, I will let you know, that thinking about your run while you are running is not very smart. You will be defeated before you begin. It’s like when someone tells you you have to hold your breath under water for a specific amount of time. If you actually THINK about holding your breath you will actually feel the pressure building in your lungs, and your body starts begging for air almost immediately! I am only assuming this because it happens to me, so I figure it MUST happen to everyone else, right? SO, the obvious thing to do is to think of something else while running (or holding your breath under water). And so I do.
But then an interesting thing happens. I start coming up with all kind of thoughts. Deep thoughts, wild thoughts, thought-provoking thoughts, stupid thoughts, funny thoughts, thoughts, thoughts, and more thoughts!! And then the thought that comes up is, “I need to write this stuff down!” But I can’t. I am running and there is no computer in front of me! And when I run for 8 miles in 81 degree weather, with 95% humidity, I wind up taking approximately 80 minutes from start to finish. So what happens is that anything that I thought of in the first 20 minutes of my run, is gone. Then I can only pray that something will trigger those thoughts again so that eventually I can write them down. For the most part, though, those thoughts are gone forever the second the next thought crosses my mind. So at least I can get down my last thoughts while running right? Yeah, but then I get home DRENCHED (80+ degrees, 90+% humidity will do that to you) and I MUST shower before I can do anything else, AND I must make sure to rehydrate before I pass out. Well, by the time I’m done with that the LAST thoughts of my run are gone too! Then all I can muster is a comment on my FB publisher section that simply reads: “Wency is dead after an 8 mile run”. Wow. That must make people who read that think. A lot. I love challenging my readers you know.
So, I had all this wonderful stuff to blog yesterday and it never made it here. So what I do is then sit in front of the computer and tell myself to start writing. Something is sure to come out. But, just like running is easier when you think of something else, well, so is blogging, right? But that doesn’t really make sense. If I’m blogging I must be writing down my thoughts. But I’d be a more effective blogger if my thoughts were elsewhere, like I run better when my thoughts are not on running. But, if my thoughts are not on blogging then there is nothing to blog about now is there, and what will in turn happen is that the blog will not be written, just as this blog is not being written right now!! I told you that blogging was hard. Lucky for me, I’ve gotten a little practice writing what I am not thinking about. I only write things that DON’T pop into my head. It is a talent that I have acquired only just recently. In fact, I have no idea what I have typed so far. I am going to have to go back and read it over just to make sure it makes sense.
What the hell kind of gibberish is this? Who reads this crap anyway? Oh… you do. Thank you. And I’m sorry at the same time. Fortunately for you while I was blogging this stuff my mind has been elsewhere and I came up with a bunch of things that I would like to blog about. Unfortunately for you, while I was rereading this stuff my “blog thoughts” left me just as if I were running. DAMMIT!
I will say this, I am very flattered by those of you who HAVE read some of my blogs, and have in turn complemented me on my writing. Being a mathematically inclined person (as I am, as my profession as a Math Teacher would indicate) usually doesn’t translate into being a decent writer. But I feel like I was provided with a gift whereby I can express my ideas fairly well in writing. So, when I hear comments like “that was a powerful blog” or “I told a friend of mine to read your blog because I really enjoyed it” or “have you ever thought of writing for a living” which are all phrases that have been mentioned to me I am at once flattered and humbled. I write more than anything to record my thoughts so that one day I can look back and see how I thought during this time in my life. I look back at my older blogs, and I see that what I write about has changed, and what has inspired me to write has changed. In other words maybe I have changed myself, and I guess that’s a good thing. My favorite comment so far though came a couple of days ago when I was told that my writing made this friend of mine think of Seinfeld, in that I try to take what I see in every day life and put a “real” spin on it. The funny thing about that comment is that a couple of years back when I started blogging I started with some blogs that I called Life Occurrences, and my aim was to emulate the very person I was compared to, Jerry Seinfeld, and his writing style from a book that I read by him years ago. The funny thing is that what I am writing now is nothing like what I was writing before (in my estimation anyway, and yet now I get the comparison) That is so cool! And thanks for the comparison! I am not going to pretend that I am as good a writer or humorist as Jerry Seinfeld will ever be, but just being linked to such a genius mind as his feels good.
Notice that when I stopped thinking of writing like him I was finally able to do just that (at least in one person’s eyes anyway). Just like when I run! When I stop thinking about running I run better! Maybe if I just stop thinking of writing altogether I will BECOME Jerry Seinfeld! Then all of my financial woes will be gone! SCREW YOU ECONOMY, I’M RICH!! Just checked my bank account. It didn’t happen.
Well, I must say though, that now that I’ve been paid a couple of complements now, I feel the pressure to actually write well. Now, I feel that I have to deliver every time I write. I must be thought provoking and funny, and come up with wild ideas, and stupid ideas, and deep thoughts to share. And now I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do that. There’s only one way that I will be able to come up with some great topics to blog about, and some real perspectives to provide. I gotta go out for a run!! At least 8 miles too! In 80 degree weather, with high humidity. Come back later to see what I came up with!!! I’m sure it will be good!