I'm back!....ramblings after 18 months....

Recently, I began to read a book written by someone who had previously expressed appreciation for my writing on this blog. She told me she truly valued my opinion, and I got the impression that my writing had encouraged her to do the same.

This led me to feel a certain degree of guilt and regret, as she took the initiative and actually published a book, while I fell off the wagon and have completely gotten away from the blog.

In fairness, I have been journaling, and in this day and age, I've heard it said that everything has become a blog including facebook postings and whatever presence you have on social media. But that sounds like rationalizing to me.

I've also heard it said, that if "everything is a priority, than nothing is."

My work has been very high on my list, as my new role has brought on perhaps the steepest learning curve of my career, and this has been very rewarding.

My fitness activities, and my guitar playing are also priorities that have not required me any discipline to stick to, as, over the years, these have become very addictive habits. (I recognize my limited natural talent, but that makes these no less rewarding) Thankfully, my fitness practices involve brief infrequent exercise and are not very time consuming, but guitar is something that you can immerse yourself for hours, and in fact requires a commitment of time in order to improve.

Relationships with family are critical, and, since my last blog post, we now have a new grand daughter, bringing us to five grandchildren, but this is the first one who lives in the same city as us.

I am resisting temptation to edit, and put the above paragraph first, recognizing that family "should" come first, but I'm not sure the order of my thoughts, first thing in the morning, dictates my hierarchy of values, but perhaps those that I've allowed to preoccupy my time the most. I'm reflecting in real time, and this reminds me of the true value of blogging beyond the end result created.

Other "priorities": ballroom dancing, hockey, my finances, my wife's new business, a new property we just bought that will require a lot of work, reading (which I have been doing a lot of) as in lifelong learning... and I'm back to the thought of "if everything is a priority, then, nothing is"....

...and yet, I'm reminded of two things.... Being the Hero of your OWN life, has always made me think of the renaissance man who is in fact well rounded, physically, intellectually, financially, emotionally, and skill wise. A warrior and a poet, etc. Secondly, I admit, that there are still many places in my life, from me to steal time, to be more focused on things that matter, mainly web surfing guitar sites, too much facebooking etc.

In a previous post, I reflected on people being spectators of life, rather than actors, and I recognize that while philosophizing about life is crucial, living it is the true art.

While the person with the dull saw, needs to stop long enough to sharpen it, the person who spends all his time sharpening, will never get any work done. (speaking of which, a new discovery has been the joys of craftsmanship (another priority?) where one actually comes in direct contact with reality in a way that academics never will, and utilizes one's brain even beyond the limitations of language... ie. music is not notation.)

In any case, here it is, a post, and I am recognizing that whether I keep this commitment to continue of not, truly is important to me, in the satisfaction that I get when I do, and the regret I feel when I don't.

Thanks, if you happen to read. :)