First Step of a Journey of Passion

I've always had a deep passion for reading. As a young boy, I'd read anything: cereal boxes, newspapers, encyclopedias, dictionaries. You name it, I read it.

As an adult, I have at times let the mundane requirements of life keep me from reading. Or, at least, not reading as much as I would like. Over the past year I have made certain arrangements to my daily routine that have allowed me to have the time to read a little almost every day.

I recently finished reading The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection. I found it to be an thrilling look at futures and alternatives that we may or may not ever witness. Still, they present concepts that gave me cause to wonder about the possibilities.

Then, today I found myself without any of the books on my wish list but in need of something to read as I relaxed on a lazy Sunday afternoon. As I searched across the books on my bookshelf I came across The Constitution of the United States of America, with the Bill of Rights and all of the Amendments; The Declaration of Independence; and the Articles of Confederation. I'd been thinking about making a speech at my Toastmasters Club about our Constitution, so I picked it up and read it cover to cover. That was a good read and now I know I'm going to give the speech.

When I joined Toastmasters several years ago, one of the first things I had to do was to write out the story of my speeches. I've now had to prepare at least thirty speeches. Along the way I discovered that I like to write stories and I like telling them to others. I've had some experiences over the years and my stories about them seem to resonate with people.

Like my reading, though, I have let life give me excuses for not writing the stories unless I had a Toastmasters assignment coming up. Whether the excuse was that I was working a lot, that I had chores to do or that I was just too tired and wanted to flop in front of the TV, I made a lot of excuses.

A couple of months ago I told a story for Toastmasters and got some very good feedback on it. One of the comments inspired me to publish it and others on a blog. So I created
Weoka Creek to Sag River, and More: Stories From the Journey. I published three of my favorite stories over the first couple of weeks, then kind of lost steam and got pulled away. Not following through with this project after feeling so much passion to do it has made me feel guilty. I'm wondering if I'm just too lazy to get anything creative done.

Today, Paula, my wife, was talking to me a bout a book she is currently reading: Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life. One prescription that the author gives for finding time to follow your passion is to give it just a little bit of your time EVERY DAY. Doesn't have to be much, but it does need to be consistent. I have heard that many times before. I know it works. I used it to find the time to get back to reading after I realized I had almost stopped.

This blog is my daily contribution to my passion for writing and story telling. I may not say much every day, but I intend to say something. Who knows, maybe after a few days or weeks (or months) of this I'll get my next Weoka Creek to Sag River, and More: Stories From the Journey entry ready for public eyes.

Wish me luck!