Good day, my readers! Before getting into the subject matter of this week's musings, I want to thank the many of you who hit the "Subscribe" button the last few days! Wow! I appreciate each one of you. As I stated earlier, I will be gifting several copies of my new book, Perpetual Motion - An Autobiography of Relative History in the near future, so if you haven't already done so, be sure to subscribe! I am expecting to get an actual release date in the near future. When that happens, I will be sure to let all of you know! Thank you.
So, I want to give you a bit of background about what drove me to write my biography, and to provide you some insight as to what you will see and feel while reading it. This is an important step in understanding the who's and why's of such a personal project.
My book is a collection of my memories that, taken as a whole, certainly come to define who I have become today, which, by the way, is a very healthy, well-adjusted, and happy retiree. But, take note, it wasn't always that way.
I have had this idea for some time. I wanted to initially write a story to my grandchildren, so they would know who their “Papa” was, and the things that I did in my life. The project eventually took on a life of its own, and just became so much more! Who knew I had so much to say?
If you stop long enough to think about it, not many of us know much of our ancestral history. If I asked you to name your grandfather’s favourite song for example, could you? And if not, why not? Just what did he do on a daily basis, or for entertainment, or for work? The answer, most likely, is because the reams of history that should be so vitally important to all of us…was just . . . never recorded. It’s probably not something we even thought much about, and never thought we would ever want to refer back to those facts. Oh, how wrong that way of thinking is.
Ponder these questions. Who are we? Why do we exist? What had to happen in someone else’s life in order for "me" to happen? Think of all the history we don’t know, and possibly lost now, with the passing of our elders.
I decided I wanted to change that. I remember mulling over the fact that we don’t have to be rich and famous to preserve our own unique storylines. We are all unique in our own ways. Why would my history not be interesting to people? (I guess we are going to find out!)
Once I started writing, I settled on a literary style called the chronological arc; for those of you who don’t know what that is—it basically means from beginning to end. As I wrote, I slowly introduced my vast cast of supporting characters, each of whom influenced my life choices, good and bad, from a very early age, throughout my teens, my lengthy career, and well into retirement. It gave me great pleasure revisiting many of them in my mind, some I have not seen for dozens of years.
The story starts in Nova Scotia, the province of my birth, but shortly thereafter, and for the next 55 years, it involves me residing in and around Sarnia/Lambton, in southwestern Ontario, living and working in the area until, unexpectedly, my move back east.
Perpetual Motion is a very intimate accounting of my journey through the growing pains of youth, the high’s and low’s of scholastic life, my very rewarding career as a firefighter—the culmination of anxiety, depression and eventual PTSD, and then, beyond that—though family tragedy and loss, the covid years—to now, at sixty-seven, being much healthier as a writer, photographer and traveller.
Throughout the book, I make reference to many of the historical events of the day, and how each of these events influenced me, sometimes, in very unhealthy ways. The dozens of musical references I’ve included, do just the opposite, always bringing me back to centre.
What started out as a bit of a history lesson to my grandkids, turned out to be a hugely therapeutic undertaking that has had enumerable benefits for my mental health.
There is something to be said about expelling the demons that eat us from the inside, by simply journalling them away. To purge our past perceived inadequacies, and the guilt that we have felt for so many years, is so liberating!
Once you have read my story, you will find twenty-three "Life Lessons" that come directly from the experiences I have lived over all those years, important enough to share, so everyone can benefit from my personal journey.
This is why I am making it my mission to get everyone to pick up that pen and paper, open that laptop, even use the Notes App on your phone….start taking notes! Remember, writing a book begins by penning the first word. Yet truthfully, you don’t have to actually write a book, just get your history recorded and preserved so others can read, and learn from it. Time to begin writing!
If I can influence others to do what I have done, the history of our individual lives will not vanish with future generations. Your life journey is so much different than mine and yet, every bit as important to many. Future historians will thank you.
I hope you find this synopsis interesting, and I promise you, there is so much more to learn. In future musings, I will be giving you some insight into just what it takes to put your words out to the world, how the publishing process works and the exhilaration you get completing each step. It has been a great experience and such an eye opener. In the meantime, I am in the process of building my gallery of images that will correspond to each chapter. Again, so many good memories!
Talk soon!
Dana
ps: The image above, of the worn out shoes will be seen as the background for my back cover. These are the actual shoes that I used to walk over two million steps, during my first covid winter at Butler Lake after moving back east.