Hey everybody, welcome to my Blog. My name is Ray Conteur and this is just a bit of a "Hello and welcome to my blog." A quick glimpse into me and a few of the reasons behind my desire to put my thoughts down on virtual paper.
While I certainly don't claim to have any formal training, nor talent, as a writer, I've always had an untapped passion, a burning desire so to speak, for writing. And everything you read on my Blog is without a doubt written from my heart. Not always from my own perspective, nor my own viewpoint, but undoubtedly with a strong desire to stir the thought processes of others.
As far back as I can remember, all the way back to Elementary School, I enjoyed short stories and such. Both reading, as well as writing. I found it was easy to let my imagination take me away to places I'd never been and situations I'd never experienced.
As a kid I was a big fan of The Hardy Boys Series of books. Not sure if anyone else out there remembers them but for those unfamiliar, they were similar to the Nancy Drew Mysteries.
Similar in as much as they centered around a pair of young, psuedo detectives. Inquisitive brothers resembling Sherlock Holmes types, somehow always managing to find themselves involved in all kinds of mysterious adventures throughout their neighborhood.
It always amazed me how the police were never involved and how these guys were able to solve all of those crazy scenarios on their own. But I guess that's the beauty of writing Fiction. It takes all thoughts of common sense and throws 'em right out the window, while allowing lots of room for artistic license to ramble about.
Looking back now, basically they were teenagers with 40 years of detective experience under their belts. I'm sure if I were to read through one of those books today, I would instantly realize how utterly unbelievable their story lines were but as a kid with a very vivid imagination, I could definitely see myself in every situation and always from the edge of my seat. Both the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Series' went on to become television series' in the 70's, that's how popular they were.
As the years went by, I never pursued my dream of becoming a writer as I felt guilty about attempting to make a living at a career in which, although I was extremely passionate about it, I felt I was severely lacking in talent. And with that being the case, I surely had no possibility of eeking out a living. Let alone ever having a book published.
Right? I mean, only extremely talented and famous authors ever have their books published. Gifted writers, such as Steven King, who coincidentally I'm honored to share the same birthday with (NOT the same year!), could hope to achieve such lofty goals. But not wannabe also-ran's such as myself.
Therefore, I surely had no chance of making any money whatsoever with my writing. How then could I even consider making a career of it. Therefore, choosing instead to attempt all other forms of survival, in hopes of making it through life doing things that I already knew how to do. Rather than take a chance, pursue my passion and live my life doing what I wanted to do. Passionately.
After all, heaven forbid I actually took the risk and attempted to learn how to be a better writer, only to discover that I had absolutely no talent whatsoever. Talk about a dreamcrusher. No thanks, don't want any part of that action.
As I look back on that thinking process, I definitely have to question that logic. Especially now as I sit here, knowing that most of the choices I made along the way surely never turned out as I had planned. I can't help but wonder how different my life would have been had I followed my true passion as opposed to taking the seemingly easy way out.
But as we all know, the past is the past and we surely can't turn back the clock. All the wondering, the what if's and the woulda coulda shoulda's won't change the fact that I never took the chance and I will always regret it.
That's another wonderful part of having your own Blog, your own online journal so to speak. Who's to say you're a lousy writer? If it's how you feel, then it's how you feel and however you choose to express that is up to you and you alone.
And so, as I sit here now, many (OK, many MANY) years later, wondering what if I had taken that giant leap of faith, I've decided to finally start jotting down some of my past recollections, current thoughts and hopes for the future.
Random as they may be, just things that cross my mind, interwoven with all the up's and down's of life. A smorgasbord so to speak of all the good, the bad and everything in between. Situations that life has a way of throwing at all of us. Things that I hope others can relate to as well.
For the most part my writing helps to relieve some of my inner stress, helping to reflect on past decisions, both good, bad and indifferent. And while I can't change them, perhaps looking back will enable me to somehow learn from my mistakes and help me to avoid making them again in the future.
Who knows, might even allow me to enjoy those very few times here and there that I was seemingly able to make the correct decision and reap the benefits from those rare occurrences as well.
And to be honest, if I can help even one person along the way avoid some of life's pitfalls, to live their life without the regrets that I struggle with daily, then baring my soul and making a complete fool of myself in front of the entire world (OK, the two or three people that might read my Blog) will have all been worth it.
So have a seat, buckle up and hang on tight because you're about to go on a roller coaster ride the likes of which no one could nor should ever have to experience for themselves.
Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to comment on any of my Posts. I always appreciate others opinions, and believe me, constructive criticism is just what the doctor ordered.
Hey everybody, welcome to my Blog. My name is Ray Conteur and this is just a bit of a "Hello and welcome to my blog." A quick glimpse into me and a few of the reasons behind my desire to put my thoughts down on virtual paper.