Last year I stumbled upon the year-end benefits of re-reading my last twelve monthly blogs, so I decided to finish of 2023 in the same manner. And I’ve made what for me is a shocking discovery…
This past year, I only blogged about myself!
Strange… Don’t get me wrong; I found the quick journey to be fun, thought-provoking and perhaps even a little enlightening - for me - but this revelation was probably the last thing I would have expected.
I usually devote at least a month or two to world events in need of being discussed. Every so often I’ll allow myself to rant about whatever celebrity news or oddball local story I might find interesting. And elections! Yes, I’ve been known to lose all sense of even-handedness by stressing the cataclysmic disasters we’re barely managing to avoid when allowing a certain someone to hold sway over the opinions of millions of our fellow citizens. Though my voice here on michaelaba.com might be small, I haven’t been shy about its forceful use on many occasions.
But, to my surprise, none of these avenues and detours were explored this entire past year…
I wrote about my time in the Vineyard. An adventure I had cooking a holiday meal. My round-about route in finding a New York City home. A short side-note on my newly-discovered fascination with the number “30”. Reflections on when my college professor advised me to become a writer. My recently-purchased car. A music teacher giving me my first-ever voice lesson. And again, my car…
For some reason, the subjects my mind seemed determined to explore were all personal in nature, I’m realizing now. And I can’t help but wonder - why should this suddenly be so?
Well, here’s a guess…
I’ve been hinting around about my intentions of getting back to writing - both fiction and songs - and recording ever since this new version of michaelaba.com got off the ground in early June of ‘21 (and thanks again to brothers Tom and Jeff for all their help two-and-a-half years ago!). Other than already-recorded song fragments waiting to be fleshed out, I really haven’t produced a damn thing. I’ve been a hospitality industry worker-bee, both here and on the Vineyard, for some time now. But seemingly I’ve been trying to coax myself into getting more personally involved with my “art” this entire year.
In my own way…
You’ve probably noticed some of the self-exhortations and promises made in more than a few monthly emails and blogs. I instinctively knew that the progress I’d been making in the “Waiting for the Next Surprise” collection would come to a complete stop when my time and energy was needed to re-do the website, and for me, overcoming the inertia of NOT doing something is always challenging. So these past twelve months of personal blogs perhaps reflect a renewed willingness to explore the ideas and music that will hopefully be uncovered as I become more of a full-time “writer” once again…
At least, that’s my momentary interpretation at the end of this extremely hectic year…
So - 2024 is about to arrive. My three jobs - at the Triad theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center and “Bar 135” in Tribeca - will be seriously slowing down these next two or three months. I’ve stored my acorns for the winter and am prepared to work on a more creative level. I have two complete songs ready to be recorded right away - and dozens of other fragments. And I’ve been encouraging myself to test the waters of fiction after an even greater pause.
Let’s see what happens.
Should next month’s blog wander into a completely random and out-there topic, perhaps this will be an indication I’m off to a good start.
I’ll be sure to let you know!
Happy 2024, everyone! And many thanks for your continued interest!
