Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
Things I Don’t Do: Write Enough; Live Enough; Be Bold Enough; Be Brave Enough
I have 4 writing clients, I’m contracted to ghost-write a book (I wish I could tell you about it but, well, “ghost-writers” can’t share that stuff), and I’m writing another guy’s memoir. I met with a guy on Thursday who runs two really great little businesses and he might hire me to write his blog, his Facebook statuses and tweets, and tell his story.
“Tell your story.” That’s what I tell my writing clients. I say, “you … you’re business …it has a story.” And I always pause for dramatic effect like I”m acting in a made-for-TV movie. I’m not going to lie, I might even sip coffee between “you” and “you’re business” just to make the point more powerful and warm. I’m forever a salesman.
However, I don’t always follow my own advice. Maybe I think things in my head like, “well, I’m writing so much for other people … (sigh, sip coffee) …maybe I don’t have time to write for myself. And ….well …(pause, look up-right, shrug shoulders) …who wants to read what I write, anyway.” I want to write a blog that is part #DaddyBlog, part writing advice, part humor, and part life advice. Not to mention some posts that I want to write to market my writing business and ghost-writing services, and some other blog entries simply about my kids and their soccer teams. Who would read a blog like that?
Maybe I need 5 or 6 blogs?
Maybe I just need to write a blog that caters to the unmotivated and slightly scattered among us who call themselves A.D.D. or A.D.H.D. simply because society told us all we must have a condition since we automatically chase shiny things for as long as it takes until we see another shiny thing.
Or maybe we’re chasing rabbits to a wonderland.
What’s better? A blog with lots of posts, written from the heart and whenever ideas pop into your head? Or a blog with nothing on it?
Take that one step further . . . what’s better? A life with lots of adventures, trials and errors, stops and starts, old friends, and a constant stream of new friends and acquaintances, experiments, and big ideas all mixed in with grace and humility, some silliness, huge belly laughs, building Legos and playing Nintendo DS for hours at a time with your kids, a few glasses of wine every now and then and, sometimes, a few too many glasses of wine, dancing and singing (even if the dancing and singing is a little off beat and out of tune) . . . or is it better to have a well focused life with nothing in it?
My new year’s resolution is this …I won’t be afraid to write on this blog random things that I know very few people will read. But it will be a metaphor for the rest of my new year’s resolutions …to not be afraid to do random things that very few people will do, and I won’t care if I do them well, fail, or make history. I’ll just have fun doing things.
I’ll write your story if you ask me or hire me . . . and now I’m going to write my story, too.
Oh, and if I was 17 or 18 years younger, I’m guessing I’d love this song, I’d learn all the words, and I might even find myself singing this very loudly in a bar along with a bunch of other people. Agree?
Don Kowalewski 
Bravo