Warming-Up for the WordCount Blogathon

"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
Jesse Owens

Today, in search of inspiration, I googled quotes using the keyword marathon, and came upon the above quote, which I liked best.

I could replace the word "running" with writing, replace "the wind" with self-doubts, "feet" with imagination and "lungs" with will, then it will read for me:

I always loved writing...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power.  You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting self-doubts as they come, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your imagination and the courage of your will.

 This quote could also apply to biking, my other passion but that is another topic altogether.

When I think of this year's WordCount Blogathon (my first!) , I automatically have to think on how I can compare it to running a marathon.  An endevour I would very much like to do in the future.

I feel that with patience and persistance, I could train for a marathon, and with will I could join and eventually finish it.  I started training 5 years ago, and every year I had to give up my training due to health and other personal reasons.  Still, I have never given up on this goal.  Someday soon, it will be achieved.

This somehow mirrors my dream to be a writer.  I know with patience and persistance I could create a body of work worthy of being recognized.  But I have had to battle health and other personal issues in my life many times during the last two decades,  that at one point the stress of it all disabled me to even write a simple personal letter.

In 2006 when I discovered blogging it was like learning to stand up again after what seems like half a lifetime paralysis, and as the years passed with anonymous writing online, I learned how to walk slowly back towards the path of my dream.  The first quarter of the year of writing on this page felt like a joyous jog.  With the participation in A to Z Blogging Challenge 2011, it was like running a half-marathon in preparation for  the WordCount Blogathon 2011.

I guess with this post, it is like waving at the other participants of this event just after we all left the starting point of this blogathon, and saying, "Hey! It feels good to be writing with all of you!"

When you wave back, what will you be telling me? ☺

365~ self-portrait for today, entitled: catching the last ray of the setting sun