Piling On

April 22, 2009


Welcome to "Attempted Blog" #36 or so - meaning that this is at least the 36th time in my life that I have made an effort to organize the exceedingly dwindling number of cogent thoughts bouncing around my head into blog form. Of course back in the day, during my initial few attempts at this kind of venture, when Zoobas were all the rave, cell phones (then known as mobile phones and were the size of TV remotes) were used just to make phone calls and En Vogue was still...well, en vogue, we called blogs "journals" and blogspots consisted of college ruled notebook paper, this magical instrument called a pen and the ability to covertly deliver this thrice folded sheet of paper to your snickering classmates sitting behind you.

And while I have no doubt that technology's helping hand will probably facilitate a streak of personal blogs lasting longer than two, I think I've also hit a juncture where not only am I comfortable sharing the various little "piles" in my life (hence the name - more on that in a moment) with other people but I also, for the first time in a long time, feel like I have something meaningful to share. Whether it's a rant about some burning geo-political issue threatening to tear the world asunder or just trying to figure out if the cashier at the grocery store is a she-male, it's important to me to get my thoughts out of my head and into my blog.

As a writer with a track record of past success professionally (by "success" I mean I earned a paycheck for my writing and by "track record" I mean I earned more than one) I can attest to the veracity of how the writing process can be very cathartic for the mind and liberating for the spirit. I have also heard from multiple sources that journaling (blogging, whatever) can be very therapeutic for oneself as well (I just wish my therapist would have been one of those sources especially before I racked up a huge tab with him). So I'm going to embrace those concepts once again and give this blog thing another shot.

As for the origins behind the name of the blog, I'm not deeply philosophic about a lot of things especially when it comes to life. I try not to look for complex metaphors for life nor do I seek out that warm, fuzzy tripe that fuels what's left of the flailing bumper sticker business ("Life's a beach, dude"...oh, bite my ass.) I have recently come to the conclusion that if you spend too much time trying to understand life or figure out life or define life then that process ends up defining you.

So for me, the best way I can define life (and then move on with it) is...life is a bunch of piles of stuff.

We all have piles of stuff, don't we? Everyone - young and old, rich and poor, smart and stupid - they all have their piles. Even the most obsessive-compulsive, organized person in the world has a pile somewhere. Whether it's piles of material things...piles of clothes...piles of paperwork...piles of bills...piles of personal experiences...piles of knowledge...piles of obligations...piles of issues...piles of feelings...piles of angst...piles of love...we all have our piles. Everyday we add and subtract from those piles and we're always trying to find things in those piles to help us live our lives better.

Some of the piles we have control over and some we don't. We can certainly whittle down some and get rid of some all together. We can shove the big piles in closets and desk drawers or sweep them under the rug. We can dress the uglier piles up and make them look pretty for others to see. With a little effort, we can even make our piles disappear completely, if for only a few scant moments.

But there will always be piles of stuff in our life and ultimately it is our piles that define who we are and you can't hide from them. Embrace them with a big bear hug! They are what makes you uniquely you!

The great thing is, since everyone in the world has piles, you are not alone in your struggle to manage them. Most of us have friends or family that can help manage our piles and often times contribute to their distinctiveness. And if you're lucky, eventually during the process of managing these piles you will stumble across that one special person who no matter how dissheveled you feel your piles may be will want to combine their piles with your's into one big pile and share that with you forever.

So that's why I'm here. To share my piles with the world...or at least anyone who gives a crap. The great thing about the Internet is if you don't like what you see, there's a back button with your name on it waiting to be pushed. My piles are not perfect. In fact, far from it. I have some piles that would put Gomer, Goober and even Denver to shame (apologies for the bad dated TV references). But what's mine is your's so if you like what you see, come back and sift through some of my other piles of stuff. There's got to be something you like.

My hope for everyone reading this is that my piles of stuff contribute positively to your life's piles and my wish for everyone is that you all find that special person (whether it be wife/husband, girlfriend/boyfriend, dog/cat, or just good friend) to share your pile with.

Now where did I put my ENTER key...oh yeah, here it is. Enjoy!