This website was built with the idea in mind that it would become a vessel. I have pursued a photography hobby that includes both photos of deep space objects and terrestrial objects. Along the way, when my wife or I would show friends or acquaintances astrophotography pictures, they would inevitably ask if I had a website. Lacking an outlet for sharing a greater body of work, I decided a website would be of benefit. The idea of achieving a kind of self-actualization through blogging was not even on my radar.
Thus, many months ago, I began building this vessel to carry my pictures out into the world at large. The idea wasn’t to actively gain a large following. Rather, the site’s purpose was to provide a convenient place for those who desired to see a little more of my work. This remains the primary goal of this site.
Muse Drops
Abraham Maslow is famous for creating Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. One of self-actualization is located at the top of the pyramid, typically pursued in full after all other needs are met. Maslow said:
This has always resonated with me. When I was in school, math and science were where my interests lay. English and literature held little attraction. And to this day, I feel only average in my writing skills overall where grammar is concerned. Yet for some unknown reason, I’ve developed a desire to write. I was just drawn to it naturally.
In the mid-2000s, I would spend many lunchtimes writing short stories in a spiral-bound notebook that I would carry with me in the car. Eventually life got in the way too much and I stopped. Since retiring, I’ve taken up many hobbies that consume my time in other ways. So, my desire to write continued to take a backseat. In retrospect, I suppose it would be easy to conclude I wasn’t drawn to it enough to overcome the draw of other pursuits.
But strangely, I don’t think this is a correct assumption I’m making in my self-reflection. Rather, I think my scatterbrained approach to life in general prevented me from focusing on that particular pursuit, and it also hinders my ability to multitask. I have a hard time managing multiple simultaneous pursuits.
Which brings me to Muse Drops. While this website is mostly for displaying photographs, I can’t help but share my thoughts through writing. Having my own blank canvas, upon which I can write anything, is a kick to me. Even if I am the only one who reads it. So naturally, I included a blog for this purpose.
I’m hoping I’ll develop enough discipline to post fairly often. I think it would be good for my brain to go through the exercise of creating something from my thoughts. I don’t journal, so this is an alternative way to exercise that part of my brain.
With regard to the latent draw to writing, in some respects, it’s always been present. As a child, I played a lot of sandlot baseball and football. For a time, after each game, I would go home and write a sports story about the results. I loved reading the Sports section of the newspaper, and this was a fun thing for me to do. So while many people were drawn to write fiction, I was more in the realm of non-fiction. Maybe I should say that only the fiction part of writing was latent. Or, certainly more latent than non-fiction. This would also align with some future writings I’ve mapped out in my mind. But now I’ve got some great ideas for fiction as well! 😄
Does everybody feel a need to write to some degree? Maybe there’s an inherent inclination in most of us. Not sure about that. But as for myself, I do feel it is part of self-actualizing.
