Friday, July 29, 2022

A New Beginning

Although it has nothing to do with this, the title of my blog entry reminds me of the movie Friday the 13th Part V, which has the subtitle "A New Beginning". This is actually my favorite movie in the series for various reasons that aren't relevant here.

Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning
Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)

A "New Beginning" reflects the reality that my original conception (in the realm of online self-publishing) was not something I was motivated to sustain indefinitely. In fact, it was short lived. I considered deleting the entries from 2017 (five years ago as I'm writing this), but then I realized it serves as a reminder of what I started and then abandoned. Clearly, it wasn't meant to be.

As I look at this blog, I'm thinking about things to change (update, whatever), such as the logo that I spent so much time "perfecting" five years ago--and now looks not quite right for what I want to convey in terms of "branding." I even considered whether or not a blog is relevant? I quickly answered that with the realization that it is necessary for the same reasons I originally set it up--for example, this very entry. Technically speaking, a blog does serve well as a central communication point for various Web/Internet based "channels" (such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., etc.).

I originally tagged this blog with the description: "Random thoughts, opinions and commentary on science, computers, technology in general, superhero comics, fiction, literature, philosophy, creative writing--and anything else I feel like publishing here." As it turns out, despite being knowledgeable on all these subjects, I didn't really feel inclined to write about them extensively. So while I continued to actively cultivate my hobbies--while also working at the day job as a "computer guy" (a necessary evil for survival)--I wasn't motivated to write about this on a daily (or even weekly or monthly) basis.

So what brings me to this point now?

Two years ago a friend inadvertently introduced me to oracle cards (specifically, Colette Baron-Reid's Wisdom of the Hidden Realms). I have a lifelong, natural interest in things that generally fall into the area of esoteric, occult, etc. I had even purchased a tarot deck (the Ancient Egyptian Tarot by Clive Barrett) back in the mid-90s, but at the time it wasn't what I had imagined, and I didn't pursue it. Apparently, I simply wasn't ready yet (The Universe knew it). As it turns out, this act represented the inception point of a long-term synchronicity that would take a quarter of a century to play out. Hence, the Ancient Egyptian Tarot sat in a box of books during that entire time--until I retrieved it in March of 2020, prompted by my new friend (at the time) and unplanned free-time created by the pandemic.

Skipping over two-plus years of active self-education, I'm at a point where I'm interested in "branching out" with my spiritual pursuits. (I know people attached a lot of baggage to the term "spiritual", but this is how I personally think of it.)

So, this officially represents a New Beginning in this regard. 

If you're reading this, it probably stems from my effort to reach out to people and offer my... expertise? I'm still not settled on how to refer to myself, and "gifts" is an awkward word from my perspective. I'm definitely not comfortable with common stereotypes such as "psychic" or "fortune teller" because these words inaccurately convey what this "expertise" actually represents. 

In the meantime, one thing I learned with my earlier endeavors into online publishing is to not place too high of expectations on myself. Attempting to hold me accountable to a certain level of productivity will most likely have adverse results. Therefore, my objective is going to simply be to post "updates", "notifications", random comments--whatever--on a regular basis. What is "regular"? I guess more often than never.

As it stands, I feel compelled to be relatively consistent with this, so we'll see where it leads. Spirit suggests (Thank You!) that this is an important aspect of my journey to the summit of the Sacred Mountain, so I intend to fulfill my side of the bargain.

~ Jay