What’s In A Page?
Hi everyone. I’m Jamie, and this is my first time writing on Medium.
I’ll be perfectly honest: I don’t know exactly yet how I’m going to use this page. I have a couple of blogs out there already and have been blogging for years on and off. I’ve blogged about commuter bicycling at Carless Columbus, health and obstacle course racing at Mudlife Crisis, a combination personal blog and mindfulness study of sorts at Fellrath.com, and a few that are no longer with us (including a comic book /movie website from the early 90s that got me featured in USA Today back in ‘97). I was even a podcaster for a while back in 2015, for the Being James Bond podcast (along with a friend).
The key thing to know about me is that I can’t sit still, mentally. I think the biggest challenge I have in living in this world is that I cannot comprehend the idea of “picking one passion and doing that for the rest of your life.”
Yes, I do have a regular day job. I‘m an IT developer for a State of Ohio agency. That allows me to try out all sorts of cool stuff, which keeps my desire to always learn and try new things somewhat at bay. IT moves quickly enough that there’s always something new to do. And, the State of Ohio’s IT mindset is surprisingly forward-thinking for what people normally think of as a state government agency!
But that’s certainly not how I like to introduce myself, if you know what I mean. You know, you go to parties with other adults and the first question they ask you is “so, what do you do?” I never feel comfortable answering that question because the first thing that happens is this:
As soon as you identify as something, people want to stick you into a silo so that they can understand who you are and how you fit into their lives. But for me to pick one thing and say “this is what I am” makes gives me the heebie-jeebies.
I am a Renaissance Soul. I am a Rebel (a la Gretchen Rubin). And I really don’t like being pigeon-holed.
Yeah, I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD in the past. I think that’s simply dismissive — again, pigeon-holing. I think it’s simply society’s way of dealing with people who don’t fit into that “find what you love and do it” mindset.
Let’s face it, society does that in a lot of ways, and diagnosing people with some malady and drugging them into submission is just one. (And lest ye think I am dismissing people with real problems, such as autism or bipolar disorder or what have you, my son takes Ritalin to help with the anxiety he feels due to his autism. I absolutely understand that some people need the pharmaceutical help — I just don’t think everyone does.)
Okay, down off the soapbox. That stuff can come later — today we’re here to discuss how I plan to use this page.
Obviously, I don’t think like most people. And this page is probably going to reflect that. I’m going to be delving into topics that interest me at the current time. One day that might be the COVID-19 vaccine debate. Another day that might be a personal development topic like habit building. I might talk about my martial arts practice and how it’s shaping my life. I might wax philosophical about global population and some ways that others might not think about it. Or I might talk about the pros and cons of hitting my fifties.
There’s all sorts of stuff I might get into. And I like it that way.
