2008--A Challenge

2008. A brand new year. Full of new possibilities, new challenges, new highs and new lows. There will be births, there will be deaths. Marriages( I know of at least three weddings that I will be attending this year alone) and divorces(hopefully no one that I know). Everyone is/has been making resolutions this year, as they do every year. Mine is simple and one that I have every year—that I devote myself to writing. Of course, I hope to become a better husband, a better stepfather, son, brother, employee, etc. But being a writer is what I’ve always wanted to be and something that I want to make happen, now more than ever. I am hoping to teach myself how to write a script; hoping to write a novel and not a few short stories; and maybe a song or two( I just received a guitar for Christmas and it only seems apropos that I lend myself to songwriting as well). Of course, there will probably be poems(my strong suit), but I do not want to limit myself this year.

That was/is the reason I started this blog, as one of many avenues to challenge myself to write. It has not, unfortunately, been successful, and that’s something I’m hoping to rectify in this new year. To that end, I am challenging myself to submit to this blog weekly, whether it be a poem, random thoughts on my life and its mundanities(is that a word? Hey, maybe I’ll even create some new ones!), and events of the day(hey, it is an election year!). The length of each entry will most likely vary—sometimes a page, sometimes maybe just a line or two, but I will seek to make it happen, as if my life depended on it. And if there’s anyone out there who chooses to read this and stay with me on this, I welcome your encouragement, comments, and/or criticisms.

In closing, I leave with a quote that is one of many sparks to this newfound hope mentioned in this blog and hope that you too may find inspiration in it as well.


“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”


Used by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech