How To Wrestle With Faith Or Sex Doesn’t Always Sell

Five songs that are part of this post:

1. Wedding Song- Bob Dylan
2. Set Fire To The Rain (Live at The Royal Albert Hall)- Adele
3. America- Simon & Garfunkel
4. Hung My Head- Johnny Cash
5. Tougher Than The Rest- Bruce Springsteen

Keep Walking Mr. Frodo

Every time I hear The Breaking of the Fellowship from the Lord of The Rings pieces of me are pulled in a million different directions and I find myself lost in dreams about places I have been and places I still want to see.

And somewhere in these moments I get lost because I think about the things that inspired How To Wrestle With Faith and shake my head in amazement and wonder.

That post isn’t religious in nature. You won’t find me proselytizing or trying to convince you to become a member of the tribe. Nah, that is my thinking out loud about life and wondering how I would find my way out of the labyrinth I was living in.

And now I am looking back and wondering how I made it.

Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

If you want to understand all the parts and pieces of me you have to look at my love for stories and ask about what kinds of tales move me.

I love fantasy and action. Superheroes and dramas are a lot of fun too.

But sometimes what really grabs me are the tales of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It is part of what I love about Frodo, in the story the hobbits are not who you expect to lead the charge or do the things they do.

FWIW, this is not an analysis of Lord Of The Rings or really any movie. I tend to stay away from that kind of stuff, school is over and I like suspending disbelief and just enjoying what I am watching.

And as a writer I can tell you that sometimes when I write that the man wore a black jacket it is not because I am trying to invoke symbolism of any sort. It is because the character likes black and there is no more depth to it at all.

Sex Doesn’t Always Sell or Does It

I haven’t had as much time to write as I want to nor have I had much time to go visit other blogs. In concept neither one of those should be significant problems but in practice I am not so certain.

The lack of commenting elsewhere has an impact upon traffic here and that is something I remain aware of. It bears noting because it has an impact upon the monetization of the blog and more importantly it has an impact on my writing.

If you are among the long time readers you know that I write because I love doing it and that I will continue to write whether anyone reads it or not.

However I realized a while back that if my goal is to become a published author there are benefits in generating more traffic because that leads to more comments/feedback on my writing and that is not a bad thing.

The feedback helps me understand whether my writing is compelling to more than a few or the kind of crap that is only read by refugees from the land of the burning river.

When you add in other factors such as the space being crowded and cluttered you can see why sometimes I create crazy headlines that I know will bring in traffic, but the fact is that sex doesn’t always sell and sometimes it is to a very select crowd.

It Is About Stories and Storytelling

Great stories make people stop what they are doing and that is what I want mine to be.  I want people to see I Taught Frank Sinatra How To Sing  and make time to read it because they know it is the kind of thing they don’t want to miss out on.

I owe so very much to blogging because it is where I rediscovered who I am and what I am supposed to do. It is where I maintained some of the most important connections in my life and the place that provided me with work.

It is also where I have spent quiet moments venting, thinking and considering about the important things in my life. It is where I think about how sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and that faith isn’t always based upon a higher power helping us.

Sometimes it is just belief that if ordinary people work hard, stay focused and keep moving they can accomplish extraordinary things.

What do you think?

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