Learning to Fly: An Introduction

Who am I?

My name is Dave and I live in Yorkshire in the north of England and have been here all my life. Since 2019 I have been a full-time carer for my wife, Donna, who has multiple sclerosis. I also live with three cats – Kain, Razz and Buggles. Three others cats, Charlie, Bilbo, and Frodo passed away in 2018, 2020 and 2021 respectively. 

Why this blog?

This isn’t my first time blogging. In the past I used to blog regularly and self-published a handful of books as well. If you did deep you can still find them. Then in 2015 I started training to be an English teacher and writing took a backseat. Teaching didn’t work out for me, nor did my next job as an assessor of IT apprentices, and I then had to give up work to become a carer which presented a completely different kind of challenge, both physically and mentally. So at the dawn of 2019 I have returned to blogging. It feels good to brush off the writing cobwebs.

What can I expect?

I intend for this blog to have a variety of content. I’ll hopefully be revisiting creative writing at some stage. I’m a keen runner so will likely blog about that. I enjoy music, films, books, theatre, museums and art galleries so you can expect some musings in those areas. I love travel so you can expect a blog or two about places I want to share once I travel again. I follow Barnsley FC (bring on the laughter!) and may be partial to the odd rant or effusive post about them but rest assured there won’t be many, not the effusive ones anyway.

Who is this blog for?

Essentially everyone. If you love running, books, films, music, writing, theatre, art or are a fellow Barnsley FC supporter then hopefully you will find something of interest here. A comments section will be available at the end of each blog so feel free to drop me a few words about anything if you wish. If you’d rather just read the blogs and not comment then that is absolutely fine. The doors to this blog are open to everyone. All I ask for in return is politeness and respect for one another. As individuals, we all have our beliefs, opinions and idiosyncracies. If we always agreed it would be a dull world indeed. Of course, if you feel the need to post something negative directed at me then no problem; just make sure it will make me laugh before you do. 

Hopes and goals?

I don’t have any set goals as such for this blog. If just a handful of readers find something of interest here then that’s great. Every reader is valued. In time, I’m hopeful I’ll have interacted with many like-minded people with similar concerns or interests that I have in this ever-changing world of ours.

Why All is Ephemeral?

I’ve always been fond of the word “ephemeral”, not just the sound of it, but its meaning of something that lasts only a short time. This is essentially true of everything. For all of us, our time does have limits, we are all ephemeral, making our individual marks on the world and on the lives of others and living on only in memory and the fragments of our lives that we leave behind. 

I wanted the word “ephemeral” in the blog title and came up with “All is Ephemeral” which I thought sounded good. It turns out that a Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius (Russell Crowe’s Emperor in Gladiator, the old one, not Joaquin Phoenix) beat me to it with his Meditations with such quotes as, “All is ephemeral, both what remembers and what is remembered.” Hopefully, Marcus Aurelius won’t mind too much if I borrow a line.

Happy reading everyone!