Over the years, I have noticed that I have about as many people each week who view my “Who is Dr. John Persico Jr?” profile as read my blog. I suppose it is only natural that people would want to know something about me before believing anything I say. If only everyone did the same thing with the politicians that they vote for. But that is another issue.
I left Arizona about three weeks ago and have not posted anything since then. We took our RV back to Wisconsin for the summer to visit some friends and relatives. My previous record for living in this 26-foot RV trailer was 7 days. I am now going on 16 days and have not lost my mind yet. I have spent more time at the local hardware store looking for things that we either needed or thought we had brought with us than I have spent sleeping. I found out over time that homes were money pits, I am beginning to wonder if the same is true of RV homes. I have ninety more days to go to find out.
Anyway, we have most things straightened out and I started feeling the need to write something. It was like the need to exercise; I NEED to write. Something in my life was missing. Dozens of topics went through my head. Spinning around like a ball on a roulette wheel, which topic would my mind stop at. I must write something and soon. Spinning, spinning, spinning, it finally stopped at “Why Do I Write?” I suppose I feel somewhat like Hank Williams Jr. sang in his famous song, “Family Tradition”:
They get on me and want to know,
Hank, why do you drink?
Hank, why do you roll smoke?
Why must you live out the songs that you wrote?
Over and over
Everybody makes my prediction,
So, if I get stoned, I’m just carrying on,
An old family tradition.
I can’t say that I am carrying on a family tradition. More like I am starting one. But I have done and still do my share of smoking, drinking, and carrying on. I certainly try to live out the blogs that I wrote. But as I started trying to answer the question as to why I write, I came up with the following reasons. Some realistic, some not. Some mundane, some grandiose. Some memorable, some not. Some inspiring, some disappointing. Like’em or leave’em, here are my reasons for posting nearly 700 blogs over the past 13 years or so.
- To influence
- To persuade
- To change ideas
- To challenge ideas
- To share ideas
- To titillate
- To shock
- To inform
- To remember
- To celebrate
- To bless
- To find peace
- To find happiness
- To share joy
- To share pain
- To share sorrow
- To organize
- To rally
- To tell a story
- To have fun
- To be creative
- To act as a catharsis
- To become immortal
- To become famous
- To receive honorable mention someday
- To leave a legacy
- To leave a history
- To set some records straight
- To support causes that I believe in
- To honor those who I think deserve it
- To skewer those who I think deserve it
- To make a difference
- To find out who I am
- To help others remember who I was
Well, there you have it friends. My reasons for writing. Many of you who read my blog are wonderful writers. If you leave a comment, tell me why you write. I suspect some of you will have much better reasons for writing than I have. Notice, money was not one of my reasons. Not that money is not important to me, but I would rather be known as a great writer than a billionaire. Both titles have to date eluded me and probably will continue to do so.
Aging Capriciously 