“Every Secret Of A Writer’s Soul, Every Experience Of His Life, Every Quality Of His Mind – Is Written Large In His Works”
By Paul Wein
A writer is defined as, “A person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing.” I find that definition to be quite vague. To me, a writer is, “Someone who sees that there are things in life, good, bad, indifferent, important, beautiful, horrible and interesting enough to put a pen in hand and let their thoughts and feelings of those emotions bleed through the pen filled with ink into paper like a needle full of blood that gets pushed into skin.”
For twelve years I have done this. From the first time I realized that my dad is with me as long as I have memories of him and his “13” charm around my neck – and 998 times after that…
…and now, twelve years to the very day – I am doing it once again – for the 1,000th time.
I have so many emotions running through my head right now that I can’t make heads from tails. I am honored, proud, amazed, excited, bewildered – and most importantly – thankful. I am thankful because there would not be even one of these Thoughts if not for the truly unique world that we live in and the people that exist in it. From personal events in my own life, to events that shook our society, to people I have met and places I have been – to friends, family, lovers, girlfriends, fans, acquaintances, enemies, bosses, strangers – and Spiritual Advisors – I would not have reached this amazing milestone on this very unique of dates.
There have been many people throughout the years that have been loyal fans and readers of this column that if I name them, I know I will leave many people out. But three people in particular I wish to name are Jessica Martin, a beautiful woman I met only once at a Beerfest in upstate New York and never saw in person again – but has, just by me mentioning my column to her the one and only time we met – has been an avid reader for the last decade. Montel Willis, one of my closest friends who lives in Alaska that, for close to a year – I talked to on the phone for three to four hours at a time each and every day – and loved to let me read a completed Thought to her over the phone. And, of course, my Julie – who has been an inspiration, fan and loyal reader of my column as a friend – and now a source of many well-deserved Thoughts over the last year-and-a-half as my girlfriend and now fiancée. These three amazing ladies, each in their different roles in my life – have all been a Muse of mine and, in their own way – been the life blood of this column’s existence and endurance – and thank you does my gratitude to them not even a fraction’s worth of justice.
The two other groups of people who deserve my thanks for this, one of the greatest moments and achievements in my life – are those who have read my Thoughts – and those who have inspired them.
The first group of wonderful individuals is everyone that has sent me a letter or an e-mail, commented on my website and my MySpace and Facebook page – or told me either to my face or over the phone – that my Thoughts have inspired them, brought them joy, made them think, helped them learn – or brought tears to their eyes. The fact that something I wrote was not just something they read and forgot about by the time they were done, means that what I wrote touched them in some way. For that, no paycheck, no award – or even no milestone can touch my heart that much. Whether you read just one or all 1,000 – thank you, thank you – thank you.
For those who have turned my encounter with you into a Thought – a piece of this milestone belongs to you. If one of my Thoughts was about how much I loved you, cared about you, hated you, missed you – or lost you – this day and this moment is for you. Each Thought I have written is a rung in a ladder that took me twelve years to climb, and by inspiring a Thought through your actions, whatever they were – a rung was placed there by you – and I was able to climb another step higher to the summit of this – the anniversary of Thought #1 – and the publication date of Thought #1,000.
Writer and Author Jane Vance Rule once wrote, “Writing is far too hard work to say what someone else wants me to. Serving it as a craft, using it as a way of growing in my own understanding – seems to me to be a beautiful way to live. And if that product is shareable with other people, so much the better – that increases the joy in it.” That is precisely how I feel about this column that chronicles the last twelve years of my life over the course of 1,000 Thoughts that crawled out of my head onto a piece of paper. This column has helped me grow in my own understanding of the truly unique life that the Lord has Blessed me with – and sharing the life I have lived with anyone who has done what you are doing right now – reading about it – has brought me immeasurable joy. And now that I have reached this landmark of having written Thought #1,000 – there is just one thing to do…
…start writing Thought #1,001 – and many more there after.
Here is to the rest of the journey – and the Thoughts that it brings – I can’t wait.