Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Dispirited and Dejected ...?

Saturday, 24 October 2009 …

I’m sitting in a bar-espresso on King Street West in Sherbrooke (Quebec). The sky is grey. It’s raining but warm. I set out with the intention of photographing more of this city I’m getting to know. Sipping my Café Moka Belge (as per the menu), I’m waiting out the rain, hoping to execute my plan for the day.

The plethora of blogs on the Internet has had me thinking about my blog. Is it worth continuing? Is anyone reading it? And when I begin to entertain the idea of not writing this blog, a comment is posted, or I receive a message from someone saying, “Loved the entry.” I’m humbled, and I decide to forge ahead.

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail about my blog. The sender commented how “too many have been dispirited and sounded so dejected […]” I paused to contemplate this. I went back and reread my entire blog to-date. While I was happy for this feedback – to know I’m being read – I disagreed with their assessment.

Here’s why.

This blog is about my journey as a writer. I aim for one entry per week (roughly). In that entry, I attempt to sum up the overall “feeling of the week.” Was it a productive week? Unproductive? How did that make me feel? Am I still pursuing my dream? I don’t sugar-coat it. I tell it as it is, call a spade a spade. Life is a journey, filled with ups and downs. Sometimes the downs trump the ups, but in the midst of adversity I’ve learned to keep on keeping on. This year I’ve faced down a number of challenges, and each one I’ve come through thanks to the support, love and encouragement of my friends. When I felt my life heading for a derailment, I engaged a life coach (www.sapis.ca) and avoided catastrophe. What I hope this blog shows – beyond my writing journey – is how I’ve assumed responsibility for my life, whatever may come my way.

The comment of my blog being “dispirited” did something for me, something very important. It brought a simple question back to the forefront: Am I happy? The answer: Yes. Unlike a lot of people, I know exactly what I want to do with my life. Every day I act to get there, and I’m doing the best I can. When I wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that I m moving confidently in the direction of my dreams. I am truly blessed.

My café is done. The rain has stopped. Now I’m getting on with the rest of my day.

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