The pen is mightier than the sword!

If you've read any of my posts on this Blog, you're acutely aware of why I chose to venture down this trail. Should this be your first visit, I should tell you that this was a cathartic exploration of who I see myself to be, following a lengthy career in education and coaching. Once the "ball was rolling", I found the writing to be extremely satisfying, especially during this pandemic.

I've had a lot to say ... plenty of opinions.

When I reached the magic #100 post, I was pretty gosh-darned proud of myself, and I wanted to make the mark beside something that I've had on my Bucket List for quite some time. I recently checked that box when I picked up my "memoir" from The Publishing House, a book printer here in Barrie. I put the word memoir in quotes because I don't think my book really fits wonderfully into the actual definition, but I really couldn't come up with an alternate term for a collection of Blog posts that the printing service would readily recognize. TPH was awesome, economical (considering it was a single print), accessible, and looking at the finished product, a quality choice. 

When I was a younger version of myself, I fancied a number of different paths as life's ambitions, but the notion that I could venture into the field of authoring was NOT even a passing daydream. The inclusion of publishing a book in my personal Bucket List came much, much later when I was inspired by my teaching colleague Dan DeSouza's Blog (http://teach1coach1.blogspot.com/) to record the memorable events of that career, as the saying goes, for the sake of posterity. I quickly surmised that writing was something that really connected with some previously undiscovered part of my soul. While I had not previously felt sufficiently competent in any particular area to author a book, a casual conversation I had with my former BNC colleague, Kevin Simms, gave birth to the notion of eventually binding those thoughts into a book. The rest, as they say, is history.

I can recall quite vividly the first time the thought of entering the field of education crossed my mind. I was in Gr 10 at Barrie Central, and influenced by the many incredible experiences I was sharing with the teachers and coaches there, I felt a strong affinity to the calling. As the high school experience unfolded, I found a few other possibilities that sparked interest, thanks largely to experiences presented through my heavy involvement with sport. I always admired my father's chosen path of medicine, and I thought perhaps following in his foot steps could be a choice. In a related line of thought, I also entertained thoughts of Physiotherapy as a choice. Being brutally honest, I was never lured by potentially lucrative nature of business or entrepreneurship, and although Police and Firefighting Services seemed interesting, I can admit that they were never considered.

I've written in previous posts how I ended up choosing Queen's University as my post secondary institution ... if you missed that one, it really boils down to a case of indoctrination as I was immersed in my father's alumni escapades in my formative years https://coachpsperspective.blogspot.com/2019/09/its-been-13-years.html ... but I may not have mentioned that my mother had a short but brilliant educational career before deciding to sacrifice all that is teaching for raising 4 active and exuberant boys. Being an active fellow, it made perfect sense to me to study Physical Education in university ... although it's now given the much fancier moniker of Kinesiology ... and while I have no regrets choosing that direction, I did quickly become aware that dreams of Medicine or Physiotherapy were, for me at least, unachievable considering the other pursuits I included in my university experience ... Ahem ... Football and Alfies (Queen's grads will understand). As I transition into a new phase and, more importantly, no longer have to trade time for money, putting thoughts together into little stories is the bauble that catches this Magpie's eye.

The process of self-publishing was FAR MORE COMPLICATED than I thought it would be. That is not to say that it was fraught with turmoil, but the host of new learning, at times, was frustrating. My Blog is produced using the on-line platform of Blogger, so copying the 100 posts into Word was the first order of business, but researching the formatting for publishing proved to be a daunting task, compounded by the search for a printer service that was both Canadian and affordable. I discovered that publishing a book has a vast amount of flexibility that includes decisions surrounding size, paper stock, cover choices and printing inks. In the end, TPH proved most helpful and I would highly recommend their services if you have a similar epiphany.

I have ZERO regrets, when I use retirement's gift of time, as I take stock in the life I chose. I truly believe that it was the perfect choice as both a calling and career, but the transition into post-career life has provided pause, bringing with it a host of other pursuits that arouse interest, the most obvious being writing. 

I am very proud and satisfied with my book. You won't be finding it for sale ... it suits a personal purpose ... but that in no way tarnishes the shine of the task. I have lived through the meteoric rise of technology and its numerous revisions ... Betamax, anyone? Floppy disks, perhaps? ... and I was acutely aware that on-line Blogs could easily go the way of the Dodo. Books don't get a V2.0. Once my book was printed, it will stay that way as long as I keep it out of harm's way by fire or water. The hours I have invested in taking stock of my memories will be enshrined within the cover for a very long time.

This post is part of the second 100 so I'll be starting the sequel pretty soon since.