I've had a lot of friends ask me what the book is about.
On the first page of my book I say:
This book is a crock pot of adventure, music, and self reflection.
It's really just a book of stories.
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Life is dynamic, complex, hard, fun, rich. Constantly evolving
Life presents all of the emotions, they swirl around us. So much good, bad, beautiful, and ugly. An endless pit of commentary.
So much of my life is spent with Julia and Blu, so there's a lot of stories that relate to family and home. Two very important pieces.
So much of my life is spent with my friends. And my friends and I like adventure which makes for good storytelling.
So much of my life is spent with work, so there's a lot of stories around business.
And music is on all the time, so why not have a soundtrack? Music makes life more cool.
Life is cool.
::
It's been a few weeks since I finished writing, and my brain continues to cycle back to it. Little tweaks I wish I would have made, new content I want to weave in. A pull to keep writing, even though the book is in the printing process and I'm done.
I didn't write a chapter about Survivor.
Big miss.
I chose to highlight Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift.
And in the book I say Wildest Things.
Foolish.
I think it was the right call to call it. I had a very powerful moment up in the Alabama Hills on 11.11.22. Everything came together in one big epic inspiration filled day. It was beautiful. I was content and happy and proud to say "this is it". I knew that there would always be the opening for "it's not quite perfect" and this thing could carry on indefinitely.
It's not perfect. And I like that.
I had three goals going into the book process:
-
Actually go through with it
-
Write something that I was proud of
-
Finish it in the three month sabbatical
Check. Check. Check.
I wrote the first chapter on August 26th, the first day of my sabbatical.
The hard copies are set to arrive on November 28th, my first day back at Wefunder.
Boom.
But the writing inspiration continues to swell.
::
I've been writing for 8 years, and it's been primarily used as a vehicle for processing. Dumping out all the thoughts in my head, packaging them, and seeking clarity for what's going on in my life. Mountains of journals working through the ups and downs of work, trying to get myself into a good mental headspace. A lot of the writing has been a concerted effort to convert "this thing isn't working for me" to "this is a new perspective of that thing that I can work with". Writing manifested itself when something sat heavy on my mind. It served as a way to work through it.
This book shifted the dynamics of writing for me.
So much of the writing in the book came with a blank slate. I didn't have anything to unpack, I just needed to sit down and write.
I developed a list of chapters over the course of 2022 that would serve as a compass.
Chill Charters
Hot Tubs
Leadership
My favorite spots in California
Kobe
(all chapters in my book)
So many of these writing sessions started with:
pick from the list
blank slate
go.
Many of those times I was uninspired, I didn't have a vision going into it, I just had to start writing.
And then the pieces would slowly come together.
"This is the direction its going, this is what I'm trying to say, this is funny, this is a good story that connects to this point, this is the package of this topic"
And then I would hit my stride, and get zoned, losing myself in the process of building and packaging the story. Inspired.
A rich experience going from uninspired to inspired.
Having so much fun building something from nothing.
A rich hangout with myself.
So now writing has two applications:
-
work through some shit
-
have fun with a blank slate
And I'm pulled to keep going, regardless of the application.
Because it's fun.
That's why I created the blog. A creative outlet to keep it rolling.
To share stories that shape who I am.
A place to reflect and work through shit.
And a sandbox to build from scratch.