On the Road: Fitness is a Metaphor

On the Road logo by Ruth Moore.

I once read somewhere (apologies to all my former literature teachers who would chastise me here for lack of parenthetical references) that “Solitude is a chosen separation for refining your soul. Isolation is what you crave when you neglect the first.”

I can’t say the above quote completely explains or excuses my column-writing hiatus for the past couple of months, but there is something to the notion of keeping personal refinement of one’s soul as a private and personal process that is difficult to expose to the masses (in this case, you, the readers).

The truth is, I am a brutally honest writer. That’s just my style. As Ernest Hemingway once asserted? Admitted? Lamented?: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is just sit down at a typewriter and bleed…”

Well, I do most of my writing from a half-broken laptop rather than a typewriter, but I’m usually right there with Hemingway — bleeding for what I believe needs to be said. It’s just not always that simple when the truth is difficult to expose, I guess.

With that being acknowledged, let’s get (re)started.

On the Road: The Fear of My Discontent

“People who are most afraid of their dreams convince themselves they don’t dream at all.”
— John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

Work in progress: On the Road logo concept 2 by Ruth Moore.

As the saying goes, before you can recognize where you are and be confident in where you are going, you must first understand where you’ve been. And for that reason, I have decided to extend my introduction a little bit. You see, the truth is that we’re all self-made; I guess it’s just a lot easier for those who consider themselves happy and successful to admit it. You might think from my first column that I am an eternal optimist who confidently embraces adversity with a smile and a relentlessly positive attitude, but that’s just not the truth. The truth is, I do try to make the best of my circumstances, but in the past year, I have let my circumstances take the best and leave the worst of me. I became self-made and self-destructed by my circumstances and I was full of fear and discontent. Read more

On the Road: Moving Foreword…

Work in progress: On the Road logo concept by Ruth Moore.

I would just like to take a quick second to thank the OGM staff for giving me the opportunity to write a column for the site and let me share my journey and connect with you. I would also like to prematurely thank all of you who decide to put up with me and read and support my column. It is my sincere hope that I will make your time at least somewhat worthwhile!

A quick disclaimer: This column will include an abundance of various literary quotes (I am a literature geek at heart), so please bear with me on the frequent allusions to authors far greater than myself. Also, the plan for the column is to address various topics each week (motivation, adversity, individual improvement, leadership and so on), and include personal accounts involving each topic rather than just share chronological stories of my soccer experiences.

With those pleasantries addressed, let’s begin. Read more