Tell me about a strange coincidence or an unusual occurrence and I eagerly listen, making connections, reading into the signs, imagining a special meaning to it all.  Usually, nothing comes of it; the moment peters out like a deflating balloon.  But those few thrilling moments pondering the significance of such occurrences are worth it—a little spice to my life.

 So when, in the last month, three unrelated people drew my attention to the world of blogging, I thought I should give it a try.  The only blogs I’d read had been my friends’ travel journals.  Actually, I did read one blog about seven years ago; but at the time the word blog wasn’t part of my vocabulary.  It was about a man dealing with polymiositis.  That’s what the doctors thought I had; so it was with avid interest that I read his entries. 

 More recently, my biotherapist lent me a few zines written by Chris, a young man with Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy, which led me to look up his blog.  And once again I was captivated by his reflections on daily life.  I might be 10 years older than him, a woman, and afflicted with a different health challenge, and yet I could identify with a lot of what he had to say.  It reinforced the feeling that we are indeed all connected. 

 Then last Sunday, my yoga therapist suggested I write a blog to keep her informed of my progress.  It seemed like a good idea.  As soon as I received her email inviting me to Livejournal, I started familiarizing myself with it. I was soon overwhelmed by the myriad of features and a little turned off by the blinking ads.

 But then I thought of a date I had had a month ago.  That too is a story of coincidences better saved for another entry.  He is a blogger on wordpress.com.  He writes (so eloquently!) about cuisine and culture.  I explored the site and was impressed by its simplicity.  I started reading different people’s blogs to get an idea of what could be done. I was so inspired that the original idea of blogging to keep my yoga therapist up to date has evolved into something much bigger. 

 This will be my story… my ups and (rare) downs, my highlights and acknowledgements, my challenges and solutions, my moments of synchronicity and unusual occurrences, my musings and reflections, and my progress.

 I like the idea of remaining incognito (at least for the time being), even from my yoga therapist, and my friends and family.  I suppose it gives me the feeling of freedom to write about anything that comes to my mind.

 I enjoy writing once I get started.  But it’s the getting started part that doesn’t always happen—I have a propensity for procrastination.  I think keeping a blog might provide some incentive to write regularly.  And I really do need an enjoyable and productive activity that I look forward to.  I used to occupy my after-work hours with dance, exercise and outings.  But as my muscles got weaker and my angst increased, I devoted most of my time lost in my work.  Then things got a lot worse, so I decided to cut back on my hours at work, and I was left with a little too much free time.  With too much time, my mind tends to wander and dwell where it shouldn’t.  I have a good feeling that blogging will be a positive and worthwhile activity.  I’m not sure if my posts will be read.  But I like the idea that they’re out there, nicely organized and available.  And who knows.  Maybe I’ll hear back from some interesting people.  There’s a whole new world out there.

 For leading me here, thank you to…

1. my yoga therapist,
2. my biotherapist who led me to Chris’ writings, and
3. to my one-evening date. 

 They say meaningful things happen in threes!