Tag Archives: spirituality

Happy New Year, from Fish & Bicycles!

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As the remaining seconds of 2011 tick away, I find myself reflecting on this blogging thing that I do.

Unlike last year, when we had a new decade to celebrate — even though, as I wrote, most people had incorrectly celebrated the year before — this year we’re ushering in just another mundane set of 12 months.

Sure, there’s all the Mayan calendar 2012 ridiculousness, but let’s face it, things really won’t get fun again until the year 2020, because it’s such a cool number, or 2112, because there’s a classic Rush album by that name.

Um…where was I?

Oh, yeah, reflecting on blogging!

2011 has been an exciting year, here at Fish & Bicycles. I feel like I’ve really hit my stride, like I’m in the flow, that the blog is serving it’s primary purpose of acting as an outlet for my creative expression. I look at the content I’ve accumulated since I started in October 2009 and I feel very proud of it.

Icing on the cake: my monthly page views have tripled since this time last year, and it’s more thrilling than I can say, knowing that folks from all over the world have stopped by.

Now, not all of my reflective thoughts about blogging are so positive. There are times, infrequent as they may be, when I question the value of doing this. There are times when I have nothing really burning to say, but I feel a sense of obligation to try to produce something. On my good days, I see this as purely good writing discipline, for many a writing teacher will tell you that writing something, regardless of the quality, every single day is essential to being a good writer, as it keeps the creative juices flowing. On my not so good days, I wonder whether or not I’m in need of an ego-trip check, that perhaps, rather than a commitment to a writing regimen, I might really be more concerned with how the blog looks, updated as often as possible, which, experts preach, is essential for attracting more regular readers.

I’m sure that a lot of creative types wrestle with this from time to time, especially those of us who do not do it for a living. Really, it’s that age-old question: Is it art if no one but you ever sees or hears it?

While I believe it most certainly is, I also believe that a lot of artists do what they do because they want to share the fruit of their labors with others, to entertain, to provoke thought and emotion, to contribute something born of the human spirit to the world.

I could probably go on an on with this subject, but that’s enough reflection for now. We’ll see how this next year goes.

In the meantime, thanks, as always, to everyone who stops by, however briefly, for taking the time to consider my humble contributions to the blogosphere.

Happy New Year!

Unbelievable! Paralympian un-paralyzed…

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…by a crash!

This is one of the most amazing stories I’ve read in a long time.

Via NBC Sports:

UTRECHT, The Netherlands – Paralympic silver medalist Monique van der Vorst has miraculously become an able-bodied Olympic hopeful after a crash reversed her paralysis.

Paralyzed from the hip down since she was 13, the 27-year-old handcyclist, who has just signed with the Rabobank women’s professional cycling team to compete as a top-class able-bodied athlete, was hit by a bicycle last year while training in her wheelchair for the 2012 London Paralympics.

While recovering from the trauma, van der Vorst’s feet started to tingle and miraculously she began to move them again. From that point on she spent months in the hospital and in the rehabilitation centre trying to regain the use of her legs.

Just think about this! If it had been a medical treatment that cured her paralysis, it would have been HUGE news, but in this case it was a medical treatment that CAUSED her paralysis in the first place!

When she was 13, van der Vorst — good at tennis and hockey — suffered nerve damage during a routine ankle operation and was paralyzed from the hip down…

I can only assume that doctors and researchers will be studying her case intensely, and we can only hope that they might be able to glean something that could help them un-paralyze others in the future.

Givingthanks

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As a writer who strives to develop and maintain a unique voice, I have to admit that coming up with a Thanksgiving Day blog entry, when so many thousands of bloggers will post something on the topic over the next few days, presents its challenges.

Mainly, I don’t want to appear cynical by not including a photo of a turkey or listing all the things I am thankful for, because the truth is that I love Thanksgiving! From the break from work, the traditional foods and family gatherings, to the pause we take to express our gratitude, I feel deeply nourished by the holiday in this time of darkening days and approaching winter.

And yet, it seems to me that the deeper, more profound potential of Thanksgiving can so easily be lost if all we do is give thanks for our good fortune without an accompanying humble awareness of just how many people are less fortunate, often significantly, desperately, violently, tragically less fortunate, than we are.

I know. Those are often difficult things to contemplate, and we want to enjoy ourselves on Thanksgiving, and here I am a big, fat, wet blanket. Right?

But it’s not cynicism or nihilism. Not really. I want everyone to enjoy the holiday as much as I desire to.

No, what I’m suggesting is actually rather simple. All I suggest is that we hold those less fortunate than us in our hearts as we enjoy our friends and family, our feast, our cozy homes, that we wish the same for them, and that we try as hard as we can to keep the idea alive that all living beings deserve a day off and a feast and a roof over their heads.

Happy Thanksgiving…to all!

Glove Love

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I was done with work for the day, had a class to go to from 6:30 to 9pm, WAY across town, I was on my bicycle, I noticed it was cold, realized it would be a lot colder at 9pm for my long ride home, I’d recently lost my cycling gloves, and so I stopped at my favorite bike shop, Kulshan Cycles, and I bought the cheapest hand wear they had:

Oh, I was kind of aware of the Life Is Good-inspired graphics when I bought them, but I didn’t fully grasp, pun intended, the message until my 13-year old son took his first look at the gloves a week later, and the immediate thing he saw was what finger the “Have a Good Day” message was on, and that on the finger tip pads on the other side there was a frown on that same finger, whereas there are smiles on the other three.

THAT is clever design! At once in your face and subtle.

Kudos to Pryme for their creativity and efforts to spread some good will.

Fish & Bicycles Turns Two Years Old!

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As mentioned a year ago, October 2nd is both my wife’s birthday as well as the birthday of Fish & Bicycles. Out of sensitivity, I won’t reveal which birthday my wife celebrated yesterday, but I will proudly say that Fish & Bicycles turned two years old this year!

And, since my attention yesterday was appropriately devoted to my partner of 17 years — the centerpiece of which was a gift of some custom jewelry I had made for her by a friend, using the abalone shell I harvested back in May during AbaloneFest 2011 (more on that soon!) — I’d like to take a moment today to reflect on the past two years, the latest two of my seven-year-and-counting adventure as a blogger.

First, let’s go to the numbers:

  • 664: Number of posts I’ve published since my inaugural entry, October 2nd, 2009.
  • 19,689: Number of times Fish & Bicycles has been viewed by visitors.
  • 191: Number of views on my busiest day to-date, December 16, 2009.
  • 1,190: Number of views for the month of December, 2009.
  • 3,408: Number of views during my busiest month, September 2011.

So, traffic is on the rise, with monthly visits to Fish & Bicycles having tripled just since July 2011, and I can’t thank everyone enough! It’s exciting and humbling at the same time.

My primary goal as a blogger is to maintain a regular creative practice, that I might enjoy that heavenly flow state, when inspiration seems so readily available, allowing me to express myself on a regular basis. It really is a kind of spiritual experience for me, and the fact that people come to see what I’m doing here is just the most delicious icing on an already delicious cake.

So, as I head into Fish & Bicycles‘s third year, I feel deep gratitude for everyone I’m lucky enough to call a reader, all of you, friends, family, acquaintances, neighbors, total strangers.

Thanks!