I made my first modest contributions to this site on February 4, 2021. As I look back on this first year’s output, I am surprised to see that I have now filed more than 40 reports concerning my personal journey as a widower, and there is still one week left to go before we finally put 2021 to bed. Say, 40,000 words. Roughly 80 to 100 pages of single-spaced type, assuming the use of standard 12-point type, but depending upon one’s choice of font. Personally, I like Century for readability, so I would reckon my output to be closer to 80 pages than 100 pages. As I say, a modest contribution, indeed. At the same time, I feel like I have put a great deal of time and effort into this little project. I would have thought my total output would be greater.
As a result, I can only marvel at the dedication and tenacity that professional writers must bring to bear to produce works that are hundreds of pages in length, to say nothing of the imagination and writing skill required to create something memorable and deserving of a reader’s time and effort. I recently sampled the views and opinions of about a dozen or so successful or famous authors regarding the craft of writing. A common thread seemed to be that developing and adhering to a daily writing routine was essential to the business of writing, even on days when the written output fell short of the writer’s own expectations.
My routine here has so far been limited to writing on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays with publication slated for early morning each Thursday. Ideally, in 2022, I will expand my own routine a few extra days, and thereby improve my writing skills accordingly. Bold talk, but only time will tell.
Even during my relatively brief stint as a contributing writer to the Widow’s Voice, I have learned –typically the hard way, of course—that even informal writing of this sort requires a good deal of self-discipline. I recently decided to take a backwards look at my published work, and it is no coincidence that my worst efforts over the past year invariably resulted from laziness or procrastination. Cramming to pass a final exam was never the best model for achieving academic success, Mr. Blutarsky. Likewise, time pressures to turn out these weekly articles on a deadline usually has been the culprit if a typo, a bit of sloppy grammar, a misspelling, or, most glaringly, an incomplete or otherwise clumsily articulated statement appears in a published piece. By then it’s too late. It makes me cringe. There can never be any good excuse for sloppiness. I sincerely apologize, dear reader, for every embarrassing gaffe that appear in this space under my name. You deserve better.
Over the course of the year, I came to appreciate the necessity to work efficiently within a limited time frame, even if I still don’t always practice what I preach. I will continue striving to eliminate these glaring and cringe worthy errors.
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In the “About” me section that accompanies each new piece, I explain that these “musings are for me.” For the most part, I think that I have stayed true to this purpose. Sometimes my memories will still make me laugh; other times they can still make me cry. But more often, the memories are simply presented here as reminiscences, slices of this widower’s life that I thought might be worth reporting to you. Take them for what they are worth.
Keep in mind, however, I do not have any agenda. I am not checking any grief boxes. I write ad hoc and from week to week, whatever happens to pop into my head and takes hold. And going forward I have no plan to deviate from this lack of planning.
I started out by acknowledging that “every[one’s] journey is unique,” while hoping that you might find it reassuring “to know that you do not have to walk it alone.” Certainly, the observations, tales, and anecdotes that fill up my 80 or so pages, though completely my own, are hardly unique or even particularly insightful. Whatever slight success I might have experienced during this past year in conveying these sentiments would not have been possible without the frequent participation of Lola the pup, my loyal amiga and companion on this ride.
Finally, when I began, I told you that it was my great privilege to be able to write a few words to you each week. And it still is.
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So, what does 2022 hold in store? You’ll have to stay tuned, I guess, right along with me and Lola as our new stories play out in print and images. We both hope you will.