Posted on by ChatterLei

Inspired by Bloggers

Before this blog was a reality, while still in the planning stages, someone asked me if I ever read blogs. That was a great question! My answer was no. I mean, I had read a few blogs but did not really follow any or read any blogs regularly other than news blogs. I remember asking myself if I am qualified to start a blog if I don’t really read them? Haha!

Now I read blogs regularly, follow several blogs, I am inspired by many, and I live vicariously through some of your stories and experiences. I appreciate the time and effort it takes for you to blog your thoughts and experiences.

Live, Love, Grow

Today was an interesting step in our aging process. My husband’s knee surgeon with whom my husband had a six-week follow-up appointment said that we are all dying. It is a part of life. We need to make the best of life at each stage. And, then he wrote a prescription for a jazzy scooter for my husband, along with a prescription for continued PT so he can keep what strength he does have and slow the process of weakening over time.

My husband’s numerous medical challenges have never stopped him from working hard to keep moving with as limited assistance as possible. He is an inspiration for never giving up or giving in. To him, a jazzy scooter feels like a step backward.

I do not see it that way. From my viewpoint, nothing has changed, except it will increase his level of safety when we are going to events, sightseeing, or on trips. It will expand the distance he can safely go and do things around the neighborhood and a greater opportunity to visit with friends and neighbors without someone necessarily needing to be there to push him in his wheelchair. 

Life is not without its difficulties, and it may not always be comfortable, but with adversity comes growth. Someone said once that there is no comfort in the growth zone and no growth in the comfort zone. So, if we, as adults, are all dying anyway, we might as well make the best of it!

Posted on by ChatterLei

Fact or Fiction

The discovery tonight that fiction writing is not my inspiration or gift. Rather, non-fiction journaling of thoughts and experiences holds me captive to the words I want to imprint on paper.

Stephen King’s dark, scary novels do not interest me, but his Memoir of the Craft of Writing called On Writing has held me captive for nine hours of listening and learning. He is a master writer and teacher, in my opinion. Are there greater authors? Possibly. The fact Stephen King wants to share his thoughts about what he has learned as an experienced novelist, so that others may glean and benefit from his suggestions and the techniques he uses to craft great stories, all while telling great stories, which help do the teaching, opened my eyes to the fact he is a great human.  A thoughtful person. He is not just some evil horror storyteller. He is much more. He had a childhood. He has a wife and children. He has feelings.  He cares. He loves his family.

I doubt there is a lot of money to be made for simply sharing thoughts about a person I admire or a personal eye-opening experience I had that turned a negative judgement about a person, because of a particular genre of writing, into a positive judgement about the person behind the writing. I don’t know that Stephen King is the type of guy I would want to strike up a friendship with. But, I could listen to him tell stories about his life and teach about writing for hours upon hours.

Not to get overly political, but this question came to mind: Is my realization that Stephen King is not such an awful evil person because he writes beyond scary, horrendously dark fiction similar to the realization that Donald Trump may not be such an awful human being because he made awful choices in his past? Some might think so. I do not compare the two men to each other. They are very different men. The only parallel I want to draw is that some people believe Stephen King is good for the writing world, just like some believe Donald Trump is good for the political world.  

The pressure is off. Becoming a fiction novelist is not in my future, more than likely. (Did you see me leave the door open to the possibility, still?) However, blogging is in my present. Blogging is a place I can share my thoughts and experiences. My written musings may connect with my fellow bloggers from time to time, just like theirs connect with me. That is what brings me joy and that is what inspires me.

Who knows? Maybe the more I blog the more I will realize there is a fiction story in me that is waiting to get out…. Someday.

Posted on by ChatterLei

Hobby? Too Much of a Good Thing? Or Escape From Reality?

Finding a geocache in the woods

Geocaching is something new to me that I only recently learned about. My daughter and son-in-law found one when out hiking an easy trail while out camping near a lake last year.

This week, a friend was talking about her husband and that he likes to hunt for geocaches. He has been involved with this hobby for many years. She expressed a bit of frustration when sharing with me that he is a top geocacher. He has found at least 50,000 geocaches! Fifty thousand! That is a lot of time spent outdoors searching for a small box with or without some tiny trinket or toy, as well as a pen or pencil and paper on which to leave a signature, as proof of his discovery.

The geocacher’s wife, said he walks with arm crutches. He has multiple cancers he is fighting. He has had all of the treatments available for his cancers. Now it’s a matter of time. Agent orange. Like covid, it is a thief.

Our patient worries about him out there searching for these geocaches. Alone. She wishes he would spend more time at home doing things that “matter.” I thought about all of the time effort and money he has spent on doing this hobby of searching for boxes with notepads where he has left his signature over 50 thousand times. My guess is, he has had some interesting moments out there by himself or with a buddy hiking in the outdoors, maybe appreciating God’s creations along the way. Journaling or blogging would have been a great place for him to share his ponderings and experiences.

I wonder if his wife ever went with him. I wonder if he every invited her to go along. They could have shared some wonderful moments of conversation, candid photos, and laughing together. Did I mention he is in his 70’s? I bet he has some great stories to tell.