Though there are days that it seems like it, I am not 100 years old today.
Today marks my 100th post of Defiant Wellness. I published the first post the day after my 62nd birthday. February 25, 2013 I went public with my first admission that I drank the CrossFit Koolaid. I wrote about my first benchmark WOD, Karen. This is clearly a WOD that does not get better with age. 150 Wall Balls from hell.
I am pleased that I have been able to create so much content in just under seven months. In addition, I had never done FaceBook until a few months ago, and FB has helped leverage readership of Defiant Wellness. In fact I have created a Defiant Wellness Facebook page, which will likely launch this week. Shortly I will no longer clog up the CF2a page with all my posts (unless you want me to), but I will promote my writing via Defiant Wellness Facebook. I hope that all my friends and family will “Like” the new page so you will be notified of new stories.
Story telling is what Defiant Wellness is all about. I will never be a great athlete or coach. I am too late to the game for that to be a realistic expectation. But for those of you who are struggling to get healthy, those who are overcoming physical ailments or age, I hope I can encourage you with my anecdotes. All my stories are grounded in the truth. That is to say, the kernel of every story is real, though I may take literary license to make the reading more enjoyable. I trust it will be obvious to those who know me, where the line between truth and fantasy lies.
I often have people compliment me on my writing. I am honored, but I owe a debt of gratitude to Professor Jim Murphy at Boston College. My very first class at BC (when I was 44) was creative writing. I had never considered myself to be a creative person, and then Jim inspired me. He gave us a loose assignment for the next week, which included writing a story, which we would then have to share aloud with the class. So I went home, I imagined myself in a situation and I wrote about it. When I delivered it to the class I was stunned. There were people in the class who were in tears, and they thought the story was autobiographical. The whole story was imagined.
At that moment I knew I could create something from within. Since then I have written several blogs, but this is the first one that is autobiographical in any way. My style is simply conversational. I always admired how Bill Cosby and George Carlin could observe the simple things around them and magnify them into some surreal story that would amuse people, but also enlighten them by how fascinating the mundane things of life can be if we pause, sit back and take the time to observe them.
That is my goal with my writing, to slow down, observe, report and meditate on the things we hold dear. And in so doing, I hope to inspire us to be passionate about pursuing those things. I hope you enjoy reading my musings as much as I enjoy writing them. If you do, please forward them to your friends.
Get Defiant! Get Well!
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