Because We Can - Fulltime RV'ing

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Thoughts on writing the daily Journal

A few days ago the Daily Journal (which was being resurrected after a long hiatus) contained these words:

"Up early today, maybe because of what we are going to do, but I also was eager to get the daily journal finished and uploaded. I love writing the journal and miss it when I don't do it, but the real problem is the time it takes to do it the way I want it done. It doesn't happen by accident and neither does it come pouring out like some gigantic flood of letters which mystically rearrange themselves into words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs. Neither do the photo's just magically appear in the camera, then teleport themselves to the perfect place in the narrative for the day. I'm torn between doing what I think is something I am proud to have both Linda and my names on and just hammering something out to meet the daily deadline. Maybe I will write an article for the homepage about this."

As you can tell from the foregoing, it is obvious that I never worked in any field that involved publishing and deadlines for the written word. Not that I didn't deal with deadlines for written material in my former life because there were always reports and in an earlier phase of my life, technical papers to write. What I want to address here is something that is self imposed, and which deals with how each of us views ourselves as a person.

Long before we decided to leave the past behind and live on our own terms, we both had been copious consumers of the written word as produced by others who were already living the life we were only just beginning to dream about. Each of us reacts in our own way to what we read, judging its merits against our own standards. I judged what I was reading against my standards as they existed at the time, just as I judge what I read today against my current standards (which certainly have changed). The problem was (and still is due to the explosion of personal RV websites) that much of what is written is just not something I enjoy and conversely, I am sure that many of the people who happen across our website feel the same about how I write. To put these thoughts into perspective I'd like to quote from President Kennedy's speech he gave at Rice University regarding our nations efforts in space, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard...". Perhaps that is what faces me when I am trying to put words together in a coherent manner, something that is not easy, rather something that is hard.

I imagine the writers of the RV blogs who just type a few things, add a couple of images and call it good are quite pleased with their output. I'm sorry, but there is only one Tioga George, he was the one who broke new ground and to this day he stands alone. Then there are the ones who seem to be in it for the money, their pages bordered with ads and not so subtle plea to click so they earn some money, but what they have written is mostly designed to pander to their readers. There are so many variations on these themes that I could go on and on, but since it would lead nowhere we shall divert our energies to the original aim of this article, should I hammer out words just to post everyday, or should I write from the inside out, putting my inner self with warts as well as bouquets into what is written?

Our life is no different than anyone else who lives like we do, hence it is filled with special moments, moments that should be shared with others. Moments that can bring a smile, quiet contemplation or a sense of wonder to both ourselves and those who read of our life. What if I chose not to write about all that happened to us during the day, would it be easier, certainly, but would I be happy with the result? Quality or quantity? For some, quantity is just that, lots of words with little meaning. To them writing seems easy and giving the quote that is often associated (an erroneous association I might add) with Marie Antoinette a little twist, I will let them have their words and eat them too.

I have no answer to my dilemma, but I do know that I choose to design the website and write the Daily Journal, not because it is easy, but rather because it is hard.

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