Back From a Looong Vacation

Almost two years ago I had this vision: why not have my own website? I could write about things related to my vocation, offer some friendly advice, and maybe highlight some music that I was writing. Thanks to the technical help of my children, I started this website in January of 2020.

Oh my, how quickly things changed. This strange virus called COVID-19 began sweeping the world. Suddenly my vocation changed. My job changed and actually felt a little threatened for a time. The ideas and visions I had for this website and blog changed. I wasn't sure what to do next.

Then I had an idea based on an interview I heard from a musician who records under the name of Japanese Breakfast (I have no idea what that even means). She said that during a time of creative doldrums she challenged herself to write 30 songs in 30 days. I thought that was a great idea and something positive and meaningful to do during all of those strange days when I was forced to stay home. So, my youngest son (who is an outstanding musician and composer) and I initiated a "30 Songs in 30 Days Challenge". We didn't make it, but we wrote some pretty neat stuff. You can find some of mine on the "compositions" part of the website. Some of the lesser quality efforts I consigned to the ether.

Then I just fell out of the habit of keeping the website and blog up. I've been away for over a year. But over the past year something interesting has happened. I'm responsible for managing a daily devotional series that our church presents. On the days when no one has volunteered to write a devotional, guess who has to fill in? Well, people seem to enjoy my writing. That's humbling and gratifying at the same time. I never set out to be a writer of any sort, but I find that I enjoy it.

So that's the point of this website. It will serve as the home base for stuff that I write about and some of the music I write. I can't promise that I'll write something every day. I can promise that I'll do my best to write regularly. I have no idea what the topics will be. They will be things that I'm thinking about, things that I notice, things that give me joy, things that give me concerns, etc. There will be little to no politics at all. There will be some religious stuff from time to time because being a Christian and pastor partly define who I am. I can't help it. The religious stuff just leaks out. There will be articles about music. There will be things you agree with and things you disagree with. That's okay. That's what makes rich conversations. Sometimes my grammar will be bad, and sometimes my writing style will descend into an annoying folksy tone.

If you read something you like, feel free to share it. I would hope you would give me credit and point people to the site, but that's not my main priority. I've left most of the earlier blog posts up for you to look at and get a glimpse of how I was thinking before and during the pandemic that hopefully we're coming out of.

Enjoy, and keep in touch. We'll talk soon.

Mike Stallings