Welcome to The Wicked Hitch!
I’ve had the idea for this blog for a while, but never seemed to be able to find the time to get it off the ground. But as fate would have it, I lost my job last fall and suddenly, my schedule opened right up.
This blog springs from some deep and dirty work on the question of “who do you want to be?” I was always one of those kids who wanted to be everything – I mean, who wouldn’t want to be ballerina/baker/fashion designer or a singer/architect/race-car driver? I read a lot of biographies as a child, and was fascinated with Ben Franklin and Leonardo Da Vinci. I loved the idea of being a “Renaissance Man.” And I set out to learn things, and try things, and do things, and make things.
I blundered through high school and college, applying myself to things I liked, paying average attention to the things I didn’t, and working a series of retail and food service jobs. After college, I stayed in retail, and eventually made a pretty successful career out of it. But as I rose through the ranks of the corporate world, I lost or pushed aside almost all of my interests. Some of this is just growing up, but many were set aside due to lack of brain-space and/or time. Having to make a living is a pretty cold bucket of water on pursuing dreams, especially if you’re not entirely sure what your dream is, or whether it will pay the bills. It has also has a bad effect on settling you into a bit of a comfortable rut, and it can dull all of those interesting edges.
About 5 years ago, unhappy in my work and unclear on my future path, I started thinking again of who I wanted to be – not what I wanted to do for a living. And I wanted to be a world traveler, and a writer, and a baker, and an artist, and a photographer, and a music lover, and an avid reader. I also wanted to be a mentor, a good listener, a reliable source, an excellent partner, an entertaining raconteur, and a thoughtful friend and family member. I wanted to be more involved with and aware of art and culture in my community and around the world. I wanted to learn new skills and information and put them to use for myself rather than someone else. I wanted the space to pursue all of my passions, not just one. And I wanted to have more fun.
So here we are.
The Wicked Hitch is my outlet (or dumping ground) for all of those little avenues that strike my fancy and have me hurtling headlong down a rabbit hole of obsession. Being that my attention span is about the same as your average squirrel, there will always be plenty of stuff to check out! Of course, I still have a lot to learn about how all this works, so expect a bunch of trial and error on my part. It’s very likely to be messy, ridiculous, and maddening. Hopefully, it will be also be hilarious, educational, and entertaining. If nothing else, it will be interesting. Because life is too short and the world is far too fascinating a place to spend your time being dull, darlings.
