“Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use.” - Thomas J. WatsonTime just isn't what it used to be. It goes without typing that I have been neglecting this little corner of the interwebs for some time now. Silence has replaced the ramblings, and little has been offered in terms of engagement with other bloggers. So it has been, and so it goes..
Yet I can hardly offer anything resembling an apology for such neglect. Over the last 12 months my personal life has never been richer or more intense. I have learned much and laughed more – which, most situations being considered, is justification enough for any such absence. I now know just how easy it can be to ignore ‘cyberspace’ in favor of the exquisite moments, challenges and pains afforded in meat-space. The Real intervenes in so many interesting and significant ways.
Among the many changes was, as many of you may know, a return to combat sports. In my early thirties I had moved away from high level training and competition as my vocation/career and family life evolved (see here for more detail). But in the past year I returned to full-time training in martial-arts and have competed and won a muay thai (มวยไทย) kickboxing championship and fought and won in front of large crowds at local mixed martial-arts (MMA) events. At 37 years old I never could have imagined I would fight at such a high level again, let alone winning championships and garnering the attention of the sports community.
The decision to return to combat sports was without a doubt the major catalyst for so many other changes in my life: entailing a dramatic shift in my sleeping patterns, diet and the amount of exercise I engaged in – all of which has positively impacted my ability to be a husband, father, friend and citizen. The only major downside of this reprioritization has been a severe decrease in attention to more intellectual pursuits, including reading and writing blogs. Pretty much all I have been able to keep up with is twitter (which I do enjoy), and these interactions more often only lead to rather superficial exchanges on ideas and arguments. This low grade engagement with academics and theoreticians has been the most disappointing side-effect of my new lifestyle.
During this quasi-hiatus from all things philosophical/theoretic I have continued to read widely, and have been working in isolation to refine many of my thoughts on a variety of issues. Some of this new ‘work’ has led me in unexpected directions, much of which I hope to share on this site in the near future.
I also began reading more fiction (classics and notable contemporary novels, as well as a considerable amount of graphic novels and science fiction) as a way to ‘come down’ after particularly intense training sessions – which is something I almost never allowed myself the opportunity for prior to this past year. I had always preferred my fiction via film and 'serious' comics, but I am coming around to the reality that novels and invented worlds have as much to teach me as speculative theory or dry academic factoids.
All these confessions and banalities are simply to say that without further pomp or circumstance I intend to shift gears and return to regular blogging. At this point my intention is to just start posting again. I figure I don’t need to be overly meditative or precise with my blogging, but rather I just need to start writing and sharing stuff. So I’m not sure just how much substance the next few posts will have, or if they will only amount to short commentaries, or sharing resources, or become promissory notes to the many friends and acquaintances who I already owe responses. But my hope is if I can begin to develop the habit of posting regularly it will only be a matter of time before I post something worth talking about.
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