One of my many favorite Dutch words is drempelvrees. Literally this means "threshold fear" and figuratively, of course, translates to the apprehension that can precede stepping into a new space. No, I'm not exactly a blog virgin. Ten years ago I had a go at it ('another gay drama teacher' on blogspot), but as I was then working a 140% job, there were too many first things first for the blog to go anywhere.
So why now? I could truly say that my life has gone through such dramatic changes in the last four years that I have some stories to tell. These stories, in munchable portions, will be served up for any who care to read them. I could also say that I'm a born storyteller, but so what? I've spent my life eliciting stories from everyone I meet, for storytelling, I'm convinced, is part of what makes us human.
No, my real reason for taking the plunge [in Dutch "de stoute schoenen aantrekken" or "putting on my audacious shoes"] is because of ej.
ej was a student of mine almost thirty years ago. she was an audacious girl.
ej is now a friend who's grown into her audaciousness quite splendidly. She has also been through some major life changes of late, and has had both the courage and the good sense to bless us with stories from her colorful life. I look forward to every post. She often has me laughing aloud (or LA to you hipsters), though just as often she moves me. She says that once upon a time I inspired her. ej has been inspiring me all along. And now, I'm taking the first step. I won't doom myself to another anemic fadeaway blog by attempting to be as funny as ej. As a matter of fact, I aspire not to indulge in comparing my posts to others', for my Mom always said "Comparisons are odious!" (You will understand the exclamation mark if you decide to stick around for stories about big-hearted, redheaded Peg, my mom.)
Oops. I almost added more. Young people have been trying to teach me for years now that a large block of words scares people off. Verbosity is odious! So your humble chatterbox will end here.
Next time we'll talk about dreaming. You are talking back, aren't you?
ej is at iamwhaleshark.weebly.com I recommend her to you!