This month represents the beginning of my fifth year blogging from The Rambling Taoist. Like most people, my efforts have come in fits and starts. There have been times when I spend a lot of time contemplating and writing here; at other times, I post a few entries per month here and there.
Most of 2008 was a down time. I didn't return to full-time blogging until November and I've been going strong ever since. I think this burst will last for some time and, maybe, until the end of my days.
As I've discussed in various entries, I've recently come to grips with the fact I have Asperger's Syndrome (AS). While initially this diagnosis really threw me for a loop, I'm growing far more comfortable with understanding my quirky peculiarities. One of these quirks is that I don't belong to a face-to-face social network. Here in South Bend, there's no one I hang out with outside of my family (wife and pets).
But through the process of blogging I have found a sense of community that would otherwise be lacking. I've made acquaintances with Donna, Hayduke, Forest Wisdom, Berd (who I've actually met in person -- we're both Washington guys!), Twisted Branch, Casey, Howard, Tom, Wolf, Samson, ASpieBoy, the FallenMonk and so many others. Some of you I only know as Annonymous, but I often can tell the difference between the various ones who stop by here.
Every visitor who leaves a comment -- and especially those of you who I have had the pleasure of conversing with via email -- has enriched my life. For these reasons, I simply want to say THANK YOU to each and everyone.
Your virtual companionship has meant more to me than, I suspect, you will ever know!!!
Most of 2008 was a down time. I didn't return to full-time blogging until November and I've been going strong ever since. I think this burst will last for some time and, maybe, until the end of my days.
As I've discussed in various entries, I've recently come to grips with the fact I have Asperger's Syndrome (AS). While initially this diagnosis really threw me for a loop, I'm growing far more comfortable with understanding my quirky peculiarities. One of these quirks is that I don't belong to a face-to-face social network. Here in South Bend, there's no one I hang out with outside of my family (wife and pets).
But through the process of blogging I have found a sense of community that would otherwise be lacking. I've made acquaintances with Donna, Hayduke, Forest Wisdom, Berd (who I've actually met in person -- we're both Washington guys!), Twisted Branch, Casey, Howard, Tom, Wolf, Samson, ASpieBoy, the FallenMonk and so many others. Some of you I only know as Annonymous, but I often can tell the difference between the various ones who stop by here.
Every visitor who leaves a comment -- and especially those of you who I have had the pleasure of conversing with via email -- has enriched my life. For these reasons, I simply want to say THANK YOU to each and everyone.
Your virtual companionship has meant more to me than, I suspect, you will ever know!!!
I am very happy to have made your acquaintance as well, RT. I look forward to getting better acquainted as time goes by. Thanks for being here; thanks for sharing your musings with us, and also for the work you do at Greener Times.
ReplyDeletePeace to you
Hey, you're welcome!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it's a Tao trait, but I'm not all that social in person either. I think it has more to do with the shallowness of most people for me. If there's not something special there, I find it hard to get interested. If there is someone home, so to speak, I engage pretty quickly and get to know them.
I look for a recognition and awareness of the world that is just hard to find in a lot of people for some reason. I've known people who cared more about the fictional lives of the characters they watched on TV than those people right in front of them. Weird.
Forest: I look forward to taking this journey with you on my blog, on yours and all the in betweens!
ReplyDeleteDonna: I'm beginning to think that quirky and introspective sorts (like us) are drawn to Taoism mainly for the reasons you cite above. Because we look at and see the world around us differently than most, we're, by nature, more open to "non-mainstream" belief systems.
Whatever the reason, I'm glad to have made your acquaintance. :-)