#100

Well here it is, post number one hundred. I didn’t know if I would get here, and I didn’t think it would take this long. This has been an interesting journey and one that I hope will not come to an end anytime soon. I am enjoying it and hope that you the reader are too.

It is amazing how many topics and entries I have written in my head when I have not been near a computer and how many wonderful ideas and phrases that never quite get put down. Still when I look back on what has been entered I guess I have had a pretty good start.

This has been an exercise in writing, thought processing, opinion expressing, logical presentation, editing, marketing, and just all around sharing. Each of those areas comes with its own set of rules and challenges. I have had good and bad luck with each.

I have found a new appreciation for those that have been able to make a living at this or any of the writing profession. I know that they are able to devote much more time to their occupation than I have and that will make a difference, but there is still the matter of producing on a regular basis, something of substance that you hope a reader will appreciate.

There have been many articles that I think the words are just gushing out only to realize that I have spent hours putting together and then hoping that it makes some kind of sense. You can really invest yourself into an article, and think it a worthy effort only to reread it after time has passed and realize that it just wasn’t as good as it sounded at the time you were writing it. I imagine all writers go through this to some extent. I remember reading a book by Ayn Rand that included a copy of her text with her editing marks to show the changes and process she went through to develop a presentable work.

I have tried to develop my own voice for this blog. It will seem that it may overlap what others have said or done and I think that is a naturally occurring process that happens in everything around us. If I wasn’t for those that went before and those around us now we wouldn’t have examples from which to learn and grow and develop from. It is not necessarily plagiarism when things overlap; it is just the reality that we are all interconnected.

Of course plagiarism does exist and has become an everyday fact of life for far too many. I for one try not to cite the works of another without giving credit where credit is due. I like to give credit whenever possible and appreciate what they have done to further growth through the creative process. If someone gets inspired by something I have said or done and is able to further themselves or others because of it, then my efforts will have gained value. I am all for it.

In fact most of what I have written has been for the edification of myself but with others in mind. I have tried to better myself through a process of self discovery and monologue discussions as well as discussions with others then tried to solidify those thoughts through written words. Those words have then been shared for those that wish to review them providing the reader with advancement in their own process of self discovery. This process of discovery continues on so long as we continue to reflect and are willing to share. This really is a wonderful process if you stop to think about it.

As I have gone through this process of discovery of self and of those around me, and as I have continued to study the works that have gone before as well as those expressed in the here and now, I continually find myself running into others that have had the same thoughts or taken the same actions or found themselves to have the same problems or made the same mistakes or came to the same conclusions as I have, both here and now as well as in times before.

It is my contention that if I learn my lessons vicariously from others that I will save a lot of pain and effort from having to learn them directly. I have found this to be true for many of life's lessons but not all. Some things must be learned by our own efforts. A lesson I must learn for myself however may be a lesson that you can learn vicariously from me and so I share with you as I hope you share with others.

For those that have gone before and for those that are moving forward and are willing to share, I thank you. And for those that are willing to let me share, I thank you as well.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.