I’ve been pondering this for some time.
You should write a blog, I’d think.
“About what?” I’d say.
The wonder of it all! Curiosity, things you can’t explain, and things that amaze you. God. Building trust and rebuilding trust. Work. Mistakes you make, mindfulness and mindlessness, relationships, community, improvisation, what matters most, what you’re learning and what you feel puzzled about, I’d think.
“But no politics,” I’d say. Yeah. No politics.
I knew that if and when I began it would shut up my friend Jim, at least for a while. Jim Whalen, that is. He’s been after me for a long time to find more ways to share thoughts, questions, and ideas with others. “Get more of you out to people who need to hear it and bring your tribe together,” he says. (See Jim’s blog.)
It’s a compliment, this pestering. He thinks I have something to contribute beyond my current ways of communicating and mixing it up (or making it up.) Apparently, he also thinks I have a “tribe.” And since I can only see most of you once in a while, and some of you don’t get to be curious with each other, because you may not know each other — well, maybe he is onto something. (Or on something?)
Who knows, but I wonder if connecting like this could be worthwhile in ways I haven’t explored – or imagined — before.
Years ago, in the pre-blog era, Jim found me thanks to MOUTH Magazine. (More on MOUTH in the future.) He was working in Iowa City at a Center for Independent Living. He bought one of my CDs from the MOUTH catalog.
Jim and I became friends through work and conversation and writing songs. As he invited me to offer workshops with his teams – first in Iowa, then Winston-Salem, NC, and then Port Huron, MI – we spent a lot of time together and developed a deep friendship.
I love the man. He brings worlds of ideas, is a great teacher, and has a wicked sense of humor to boot. He says of himself that part of his being legally blind is not knowing what it would mean to be illegally blind. He also in some ways seems to know me better than I know myself. Which isn’t always cool by the way, Jim. But I’m getting used to it.
I’m not sure what I offer will make a difference, but I do think it’s important for those who dare to be curious rather than dogmatic in these times to find a voice and share it. I’m hoping you, dear readers wherever you may be, will add your voice. Or at least you’ll have something new to read during our social distancing.
Speaking of which, coming up next: Openings and silver linings of light found during this dark time. This thing is really bad, but not all bad.
So, here we go. These posts will have more questions than answers — and wherever you people are that Jim thinks need something like this, I hope it finds you. Thanks for reading this far.
Peter, the entire world has been missing your blog. Until now. Thank you!
Congratulations – you said you were going to start a blog and you did it!