Start it off.

I've never blogged before. I've wanted to. I've thought about what I would say, but until now I've been blogless. To be honest, I'm not even sure I like my title but my selfish ambition beat out my patience for creativity. It sounds like a Lord of the Rings reference, but I can assure you that was not my intention. I only named it such because I am "here" and someday I'd like to be "there", which I think is a common thread we can all connect to.

I'd like to begin by setting the parameters on what this blog will be like. I don't know, because like I said I've never done this before. I do know why I started this now. The other day one of my heroes (Jon Acuff) asked via twitter what our worst job was and his favorite response would get a copy of his latest book. On my way out of cell service I tweeted a last ditch effort. I had no thought that I would win, only that I had experienced a bad job that could be ranked high on the "worst job ever" scale.

I tweeted. It had the words: scoop, poop, and 10,000 parakeets; also that I now hate birds. There was a medium to large wave of shock and confusion that washed over me when Jon Acuff himself actually retweeted with a comment, saying he didn't even know parakeet farms existed. That's always a great leadoff into the world of large-scale social media, "What should my first words be about? I think poop is always an appropriate starting point. That's a great idea I just had!! Poop it is." Obviously, I didn't expect any response but it happened regardless. I have not been contacted to know if I won the contest or not, but I did come away with some clarity and a learned lesson. I want to be more focused on what I communicate before 63,000 people read about me scooping poop. This experience has definitely been a highlight of mine, and one that I hope to replace with another that doesn't include excrement of any kind.

The point of this first blog is that we all have a voice. It might seem small, but in the right moments with the right audience it can become much larger than we ever expected it to be. I want my words to count.

One of the standards I've learned is to always leave a place in better shape than when you first got there. I've carried that into the realm of people, I want to leave them in a better place than when I first interacted with them. That's what this blog will be about: me trying to benefit you with what I've learned from my own successes and failures...and other non-pass/fail types of situations. It will be the documented attempt to get from "here" to "there".

My dog is currently trying to chew up some garbage as if it were a special toy I brought home for her, so I must go before she decides what else nearby might be a trash-toy. Happy Independence Day!!