It is now over a year ago (13 months in fact) since my daughter Babette urged me to start writing a Blog, and I must say I am glad she did because I have been enjoying it all the way and still do.
I am of course well and truly retired and have written most of the material for my various music courses and therefore have plenty of time to think and write about other things, keeping my mind alert and occupied.

But writing a Blog is much more than just filling in time. You become much more aware I find, about what happens every day simply because you keep thinking : "What shall I write about today ?" Also your mind goes back to the past or latches onto ideas, interesting thoughts which sometimes come to mind out of nowhere.

Furthermore thinking about things is one thing, but writing your thoughts down is something entirely different. As you write memories suddenly flood back into much greater detail than you ever thought possible, and ideas which were up to now only vague cloudy blobs in your mind expand and come truly into focus as you try to formulate them into words. Writing a Blog is therefore (certainly in my case) an enormously life enriching experience.
To complement the writing you make photos of sometimes very mundane simple things, like plates of food, a tree, cafes, you would normally not even think about, which add to the overall picture you paint for each day.

Well, there you have the perspective of the writer. But what about you, the reader ?
I very much hope that when you read some of the things I write in my Blog you start asking yourself : "Do I agree with this ?" and if not, "What do I believe myself ?"
When you do start thinking like this (and regardless whether you agree with my views or not) I have reached my goal : you are becoming more aware about your life and your place in the world and the universe we live in.

So why not go one step further ?
Perhaps you have not had the years of writing practice (throughout my entire professional career) that I have had. I therefore challenge you with this simple idea :

1. Purchase a small Diary
   
2. Write at the end of each day just one thought you had that day.

Take your small diary everywhere you go, on business, holiday, wherever. (You can also use a laptop if you carry that always with you like I do.) The daily entry can be anything, but try to make it the most significant, or least insignificant, thing that struck you during the day. For example as simple as :

• I thoroughly enjoyed that delicious vanillas slice today, or
• I am sorry I said ......... to John today. It upset him very much, or
• It suddenly occurred to me today that ...........

Unless you throw a line in the water you will never catch a fish. That small diary is your fishing line. It will start you thinking "What shall I write today ??" and therefore make you more aware of each day, each moment you live. And you may surprise yourself, soon (I bet) you will catch fish much bigger (more interesting) than you could imagine.