On Writing

A journey into the long tail

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From the Diaries of John Henry

4 min readMar 13, 2017

True story: Several months ago I had a reawakening of sorts. When you finally realize that your life is significantly broken, you take steps to change. In my case one of the changes was a professional sabbatical, a step back from the 9–5. On paper it was perhaps a little reckless, a leap to the unknown. It would be disingenuous to claim that it was well thought out. It was always intended as temporary, some time to regroup, reassess, experiment, and explore. Of course the funny thing about jobs is it’s considerably easier to step back than to step forward — they have a one-way permeability of sorts. Financially it was an expensive move, but how do you put a price on your soul?

The dream of escaping oneself can be realized, in part, by escaping other people’s ideas of oneself.
— Aaron Haspel , Everything

Bob Dylan — Duquesne Whistle

True story: Several months ago, while reading and sipping coffee at a local cafe as am wont to do, I gradually noticed the empty seats around me filling in. At a certain hour someone stepped to the microphone on stage (this particular cafe had a stage and microphone, actually a really neat place, sort of a bohemian coffee shop, bar, and used book store all rolled into one), and introduced themself as MC for the night’s happenings, which turned out to be a collection of authors, many amateur, sharing essays and stories on open mike. I’m still not positive if the night had a theme, I think it may have been something about the medium of film or life or something.

We usually find authors and teachers because of some sort of underlying likemindedness: they speak to something that we already sense to be true, but are not yet able to articulate.
— John Faithful Hamer, Blue Notes

Each of these authors had a different story to tell — some endearing, some cringeworthy, and some dry. Each of the excerpts on their own perhaps carried the weight of a pop tune in their brevity, but the combined collection was like the journey of some great album or triumphant rap collective. It’s hard to describe the experience of discovering new possibilities of thought and communication. Coming from the dry existence of an office drone swimming in books, contracts, and rush hour commutes, this collective triggered a hunger to be heard, for a connection beyond the printed page. What was missing.

In the time since these pivotal circumstances, have accomplished only some of what was set out for. I’ve experimented with entrepreneurship (definitely not a sport for the solo player), have explored a few industries and professional venues, and have perhaps made a couple of new friends. But for these last few months, the biggest takeaway and point of pride has been the discovery of a new channel and medium; I really enjoy writing. Some of these preceding blog posts may have even been half decent (although at least judging by reader statistics the ones that are the most embarrassing are the most readable). I’m not sure how wise it is to blog on personal matters while on a job search as have been for last few weeks. But you know what, if the price of some particular new job is a cage I’m not sure it’s a price worth paying.

Grateful Dead — Saint of Circumstance

Why blog? You can’t have any skin in the game if you don’t put yourselves out there. The life of a spectator is dry and hollow. I’ve found too that sometimes the best way to know what you’re thinking is to collect these thoughts and share with others. I’d like to think that there is at least potential for convex payoffs. At the minimum, the hope is that transparency will build trust. But most importantly, write because it’s fun!

Frank Turner — If I Ever Stray