Monday 4 July 2011

Defining myself

I have been and will continue to be, an educator. But, something else is happening to me. I have set in motion a retirement, new vistas and new possibilities for my own learning.
When I pay attention there are opportunities for promotion and notoriety. Or is that recognition and fame? Woah that brings up the shadow!
Apparently today one must brand and market to establish a presence that attracts a following in order to survive. As a writer. Did I ever consider myself as such?
Yes I have aspired to this dream. Being a writer. The rest of it seems like such triviality and hubris. I look at the sites of some writers. Paulo Coelho says he spends 3 hours a day on social networking and his blog.
I have that kind of discipline. I am making that commitment.
My life at the moment is in transition. I feel like a neophyte, in chrysalis, about to emerge in another place, another time, another incarnation of myself.
What I want is to share those sparks of recognition, of identification and possibly, enlightenment. To make you laugh, share intimate moments of embarrassment and pleasure. See the world through my eyes.
That caterpillar reaching out to investigate my camera lens is a great metaphor. The vast horizon stretches out before me in all directions.
First a summer spent enjoying the Cowichan Valley while I determine what to keep and what to discard or give away. Then a fund raising bazaar (Bizarre?) garage sale fund raiser for the folks in Tanzania. Money is lighter than bicycles and sewing machines which we can buy there. Spiced with many visits to friends and acquaintances, face to face remembrances to cherish and recall as we go our separate ways.
And as for making a living writing... what comes from traveling? New roads, horizons, acquaintances, friendships and experience. That will define me.