Return to writing

Writing these blog articles is only a hobby and the rewards are merely self-gratification and the organization/sifting of personal ideas. Therefore, it ranks lower in my priorities and significance than life priorities with greater meaning and enrichment. However, the organization of personal ideas eventually becomes more meaningful as those ideas pile up. And, recently, I've been sitting on a few writing ideas and allowing too many opportunities to write pass me by.

It's time to write down some of the thoughts that have been baking in my mental oven and free myself from the pressure building up in my mind. So, I'm going to begin publishing these articles and, if necessary, back-dating the ones that should have specific events associated with them. I'm not sure how they will appear on my social media and RSS feeds, but I'm hoping I can arrange the impending tempest to be more of a drizzle than a hurricane. Either way, the storm is coming so grab your umbrellas and maybe even get ready to swim.

Review: Kiss or Kill

Kiss or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber by Mark Twight

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Overall, I found Mark Twight's compilation the way I expected it to be. It was satisfactory and I'm glad to have read through it. Although I found some parts bland, other parts were significantly remarkable. Much of that range can be attributed in his development as a writer over time throughout these compiled writings; some of it can be attributed to his development as a person through his adventures.

For a book to which I'm currently only giving two stars, it's odd to write a full review. However, there was an underlying sentiment in Mark's writing that I share and I would like to echo here:

Outsiders ask us why we encourage death, why we act like we want to die young. When I'm especially cynical, I play devil's advocate and counter, "Why prolong life? Why imagine what I'm doing is anything special, that I'm contributing rather than breathing air and eating food another might need? Everyone dies, equalized by it. At least the dead are spared the embarrassing antics of those left behind groping for some meaning." I use those words to antagonize, but I don't believe in them. I'm as interested as the outsiders are.

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Review: The Longest Walk

The Longest Walk: An Odyssey of the Human Spirit by George Meegan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

George Meegan decided to take a walk. Not just any walk; he wanted to walk from the tip of South America to the arctic shores of Alaska. The book in which he chronicles his journey is as lengthy a read as was his walk, but I found it worthwhile to read his experiences throughout his journey and try to glean some understanding that I could apply in my own life.

One passage that stood out to me:

How dreadfully the fear of consequences can stifle so many valiant potential deeds, I thought, a fear threatening like a black hole to annihilate the star of one's soul, sucking the very matter out of an idea until it collapses and disappears, leaving nothing but a memory, a dream unfulfilled.

It is so important that we overcome the hesitation caused by fear, so that we might embrace possibility. The author described his life-changing walk in detail. And I think his final reflections are universally paramount:

I gave thanks for the opportunity to share my fellow human beings' laughter as well as their sadness, their love as well as their misery, and for learning to love this frail, endangered, yet still magnificent planet that had borne me safely and in harmony with my road. I had found the essential, if flawed, goodness that resides in everyone, everywhere.

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