Me.
Who am I, that's probably a question I'm not entirely well-equiped to answer. In many respects answering that question, or alluding to possible answers, is why I'm writing here in the first place.
If I was asked for a summary, for someone with far too little time to go through my writings and come up with their own answers, I'd have to give the thoroughly unsatisfactory answers of:
If I was asked for a summary, for someone with far too little time to go through my writings and come up with their own answers, I'd have to give the thoroughly unsatisfactory answers of:
- Lover
- Father
- Son
- Brother
- Uncle
- Writer
- Developer
- Consultant
- Biker (at this point, aspiring)
- Trainer & Enthusiastic Learner
- Open Source Evangelist (in almost every area of my life).
Why bother writing?
Another deep question, but at least in this case I do have the beginnings of an answer. The main person I can attribute my current writings to, in all their multitude of flavours, is Sarah Bakewell; although even she is not a complete answer as it more her subject that is at the heart of my current renaissance of interest in the flow of the literary form.
Sarah has written a wonderful tomb (picture featured stage left) about the life and times of one Michel Eyquem de Montaigne. I shall be reviewing this book in due course (or I may have already in my writings somewhere?) so for now let me just say that the methods and beauty of Montaigne's writing, and the honesty and flow of it in particular, were a complete inspiration to me and helped me over my own perfection blocks that had resulted from past writing experiences.
Montaigne is perfect because he is not and doesn't try to be. As Sarah states, "I don't know" was almost an implicit period to every exploration that Montaigne makes in his essays and I aspire to the same honesty in my own essays.
Sarah has written a wonderful tomb (picture featured stage left) about the life and times of one Michel Eyquem de Montaigne. I shall be reviewing this book in due course (or I may have already in my writings somewhere?) so for now let me just say that the methods and beauty of Montaigne's writing, and the honesty and flow of it in particular, were a complete inspiration to me and helped me over my own perfection blocks that had resulted from past writing experiences.
Montaigne is perfect because he is not and doesn't try to be. As Sarah states, "I don't know" was almost an implicit period to every exploration that Montaigne makes in his essays and I aspire to the same honesty in my own essays.
Open Content, Open Source
I have decided to open my writing in its entirety to the world in every sense. I'm honestly not entirely sure why but I suppose it might be another factor in my trying to remove blocks related to a sad infatuation with perfection on my behalf. Those blocks limit my writing like the most abusive editor (not that I've ever had such an editor, but I can imagine the evil twin of any editor being someone who sounds very much like my internal doubting voice whenever I attempt to write something 'well').
So by opening up my writing for free (as in beer) and free (as in freedom) using the Creative Commons license described below, I suspect I'll remove one more block in my middle-aged mind to my writings and ramblings. Some might say that keeping those blocks intact might be a greater service to mankind, I can only stick out my tongue to that and happily continue writing regardless; I've spent too long wondering about the silent critics of this world.
So by opening up my writing for free (as in beer) and free (as in freedom) using the Creative Commons license described below, I suspect I'll remove one more block in my middle-aged mind to my writings and ramblings. Some might say that keeping those blocks intact might be a greater service to mankind, I can only stick out my tongue to that and happily continue writing regardless; I've spent too long wondering about the silent critics of this world.
