This website is a culmination of a few things:
place for me to organize my thoughts, experiences, and opinions
to collect the people, places, and things that have impacted my world
a venture into a world so foreign to me that I shake just thinking about it,
and lastly, a defiance to the fear of putting my writing into the world
Organization is my jam. It’s what has driven me and saved me. When my world spins, I put everything in it’s place. The items in my house mean nothing to me in a purging rage, save a select few items I have attached intense meaning to. Yet my thoughts, my characters, my work is scattered. On this site they will all find a home.
I have collected stories, people, and experiences for the better part of 37 years and some of these moments, these characters and their defining features, need to be resurrected. I find myself, washing dishes, driving children to lessons, or grocery shopping (I know, my life is so luxurious) and these moments and characters will crop up in my mind. These characters will visit, almost begging to be saved from my subconscious. I vow to, over time, resurrect each and every one to them: an old boss and his habit of picking at the top of his scalp; a body guard from Syria, his kind eyes and gentle ways; the elevator attendant from the best hostel in Egypt; the man who broke into my bungalow in Thailand, only able to grunt as he got caught watching me sleep; a dynamic friendship of women who love each other without reserve; an old friend who misuses the past tense of see, another who can’t get it together despite extensive support. They will all emerge, over time. Stay with me and give me time.
I am in the process of shifting my world, my mindset, into a new place. I refuse to retire having followed policies that make no sense and blindly ignoring this voice inside that tells me to reach - reach for more. So, here I am, reaching, stretching outside of my comfort zone and putting faith into no one but myself. Is it exhausting? Absolutely! Is the path clear? Nope. But everyday I wake up driven and determined and for now, I guess, that’s all I need. As I learn and grow, my writing will change, this site will change. I’ve got plans and if you want to, please come along for the ride. It’s always a good time.
I have titled this site write burn repeat because I have, for the greater part of my life, deleted almost everything I have written. This site, first and foremost, is in defiance to that history. I refuse to delete. I refuse to be apologetic for my work. This small act, this defiance if you will, spans larger than my work or this site. I am unapologetically me - always have been and always will be. Most people enjoy that. Most people enjoy that I will tell them how I see it. My views, however strong on a subject have grown and shaped over time, true. With every experience I collect and every person who impacts my world I take from it/them and grow. What has not changed is my delivery. My delivery is typically accompanied with some sort of smart-assed comment or analogy in which you can’t understand until it’s concluded. “Stay with me,” I say, as I work it out not only for you, but for me too. Stay with me, I implore you. Stay with me, and most do.
Stay with me.