The Edge of Creativity

"An hour sitting on a park bench with a pretty girl passes like a minute, a minute sitting on a hot stove seems like an hour ... that's relativity." Albert Einstein

Well I am back from my little adventure - two weeks older and two weeks wiser. There is something about relativity here.

Not all weeks are created equal. 

Trust me, I packed allot of living into these last two weeks. I will definitely have to share my experience over this past fortnight ...  fortnight(?) - 1894 called they want their word back.

Whatever happened to words like "fortnight". I have mentioned my concerns about the deterioration of our language in a previous Post.

I was able to get some perspective on what is important in my life during my absence. I am approaching half a year of blogging. It has been a great experience and the realization of a long time goal. Every one has something they are naturally drawn to - for me it is the use, abuse and application of the English Language.

The right words, in the right order by the right person can change the world.  

A few weeks ago I stumbled across what I believe is the greatest short story ever written. It is by Ernest Hemingway, a fellow misfit and word nerd, and it goes like this:

"For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Used."

For me this is one of the great examples of the power of the English Language. Six words arranged in such an order that they evoke powerful feelings and spark the imagination. I read some Hemingway in University and I was struck by the powerful simplicity of his writing. I even had lunch at his favorite restaurant in Cuba with my wife during our honeymoon.

Another example is Mr Lowercase Highbrow himself - ee cummings - who took great pleasure in beating up on my beloved Language.

l(a

le

af

fa

ll

s)

one

li

ness

Here with the illegal rearrangement of the letters cummings has created the imagery of a falling leaf from the phrase "loneliness a leaf falls..." A simple and elegant work of art. 

And then we have Marshal Mathers a great 21st century poet and misfit extraordinaire who makes English his bitch (ebonics?) and proves you can rhyme with orange when he gets down to Business.

"... doors off the hinges, 

syringes

peach, pears, plums, or-anges,

 here I come, I'm inches, 

away from you, dear fear none... "

It is the art of using and abusing language that ignites my passion and sharpens my Edges. Over the years my passion for writing has faded in favour of survival and success. My life is marked by self destructive behaviour as a young fella and then obsessively playing catch up and building a career, home and family up until about ten minutes ago.  This isn't a bad thing ... just a thing. 

I had to go through that to get here ... and here is good.

By stepping back from writing for a couple of weeks I've been able to reflect on what it is that I want from my writing.  I realized that I want to contribute to this body of work that stretches our language to its limits and has inspired the Humans since our neanderthal cousins scratched out their dreams on cave walls.

"Notes from the Edge" has evolved as a Self Improvement Blog where I take selected principles, ideas, theories, philosophies and measure them against my life's experiences to illustrate how I am applying them in my life.  

I write from personal experience for three reasons:

1. My experience is unique - no one else has my story,  

2. I believe my story is worth telling and

3. If my story is not relatable to the Humans then really -  who cares?

I am certainly not breaking any records for readership, however, based on Google Analytics, there seems to be a subset of Humans that relate to my rambling at some level. So far I have been unable to identify any discernible pattern. Edgey Readers seem to come from all over the world with varying ages, genders and social standing. 

A group of misfits perhaps? 

So there it is - the "what" and the "why" of Notes from the Edge. I would like to say it's all part of my Master Plan but I am just not that strategic. I do believe that I have Muddled my way right to where I am supposed to be in spite of myself. If nothing else I am a better man and much more self aware for my efforts.

I crave an artistic outlet - it may be the missing link between me and Significance. As a Community Development Consultant I am paid a decent rate to write technical reports. I have a badly neglected Blog entitled Obis Unum parked somewhere in the Blogosphere that is based on my professional life. I started with some basics of my profession and Muddled my way into a pretty cool four part post on "Strategic Sustainability". 

BORING!

Don't get me wrong it's worth reading - but it's work. Both of my Grandfathers were accomplished artists. Their mediums were oils, water colours and the like. My medium is writing - and writing papers on Strategic Sustainability and Environmental Impact reports are not cutting it anymore. 

To this end I introduce my new blog - "Collateral Damn-Edge". 

Here I hope to muddle my way into all kinds of trouble. "Notes from the Edge" will remain my Experiential Self Improvement site and Signature Blog. I will continue to try to be a better Human one day at a time and share that process with the other Humans. 

"Collateral Damn-Edge" will start at a random point and move with Intention towards my Dharma. I will flex my imagination and do my best to do something different.  I will use this Blog for  Writing Challenges and anything else that doesn't fit in the "Notes from the Edge" theme. I have kept the content PG13 in "Notes from the Edge". In "Collateral Damn-Edge" I will say curse where appropriate, talk about God if he comes up and challenge conventions when I can - hopefully not in the same post.

This idea is a work in progress and the is the outside possibility that it will suck... lets keep our fingers crossed :) 

So, I am off to Collateral Damn-Edge to see what kind of trouble I can cause (and if that domain is available)

Keeping with the theme of "the right words in the right order by the right person" I will end this post with one of favorite all time lyrical works ... Imagine ... by the right person....

Respectfully, From the Edge