“My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.”

I have already been in Spain (round two) for five months, and this is my first blog post. What a tragedy, really, to have experienced so much and neglected to put it into writing. After reading quite a bit about the life of Ernest Hemingway over the past months though, I have found myself relating very much with many of his life principles. He never kept a journal because he claimed that everything that was worth remembering, he remembered. This certainly has merit, though I would prefer to keep a record of my time because as time goes, some things will undoubtedly slip from mind. SO, right here and right now, I PROCLAIM that this blog will be BETTER than my blog from Spain (round one) because I WILL post frequently and thoughtfully. Yes, I have already been here for five months and this is my first posting, but (and please forgive me for being unfaithful to Hemingway for just a moment, as I must quote a different great mind) as Montesqui once said

"It is never too late to be what you might have been."

So, now I shall be what I might have been five months ago. And let me say that as we are still only about one month into the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a tremendous 2012. This year, I have decided to do away with resolutions, to be me, raw and real! Every year past, I expended too much energy thinking about how I could change. This year, I have noted that I would like to simply get to know myself better before deciding on anything that needs to change. After all, how can we ever really know who we are if we are constantly looking ahead to what needs to be different?  Once again, I must be disloyal to Hemingway in order to utilize a quote from Erasmus:

"The chief happiness for a man is to be what he is."

I suppose I had been avoiding beginning this blog because I was concerned about writing beautifully and inspiringly (which is not actually a word), and interestingly, and many other -ly's. But as was Hemingway's goal to write with simplicity and truth, the same will go for me with this blog. I shall write what I see and feel, nothing more and nothing less. If it is not beautiful nor inspiring, so be it. This shall be me, raw and real.