Pardon the Interruption

Every day I have thought about this post since I last wrote to you after my trip to Warsaw, Poland. It has not been without effort to create something worthy of your time and attention. Hell, I went to Paris for five days to find inspiration, which I did, and wrote an anthem to the City of Lights and the art of writing, but I just couldn’t edit it down to something palatable. Drafting an essay or article is easy. The name of the game though in writing is editing, editing, editing.

In all these attempts I have recognized a heavy handedness in what I write and say, which may explain some of the hesitancy to post my latest thoughts. When my sister called me out on it recently—she used a different phrase, albeit no more diplomatic, for it runs in the family—it was time to reconsider my tact. Therefore, I won’t rant in this edition about my disdain for social media; that there are too many cars on the road; or that people should consume less and read more.

From my recent trip to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. I may desire less cars on the road, but a Porsche is still a beautiful thing.

Allow me though to remain blunt. Back in the December edition I did state that this publication would become less regular so I could focus on editing my piece of intellectual property called Perfect Village, find income to survive in this expensive city, and continue learning German. I never imagined that it would be a six month absence. There’s good news though, I’ve made progress on all fronts—something that the almighty Putin cannot say for himself.

I’m nearly finished with the fourth draft of the book, and hopefully there will not be four more. I am actually making some money by working in a bike rental shop, which a friend says I’m very Bohemian now. And after another intensive German class, and with this new job, I am speaking and hearing German much better. By helping customers and fixing bikes each day, a whole new vocabulary has entered my lexicon. There are still times of feeling hopelessness in this language journey; try asking for a Innensechskantschlüssel (Allen wrench).

Getting to this stage has had its ups and downs. I probably bit off too much at once, with the biggest chunk being my proclamation of, “Screw real estate, I’m just going to write.” That had consequences. And even though the big 4-0 is staring me down in a matter of weeks, I have never been so alive, driven, and without compromise on what I want out of life. It’s a tough road ahead, but with a little suffering, I believe comes greatness.

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Well here we are, at the end of this message already. So much for six months of handwringing and thousands of words drafted—I just banged this out in two hours. It’s proof I can still write, edit, and hit the publish button. And so can you, on all those little things hanging over your head. Just take the project(s) down a couple notches and not try to explain the meaning of life, or in efforts of geopolitical domination, don’t invade another country.

But remember, as my first boss said in regards to making deals, the end of the year is September 30th. From October on, it is just wrapping up what you have cooking. So my suggestion is, hop to it!