I wrote this back in February ‘07, several months after the concept of e-volvedliving emerged.

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Starting in my teens I’ve written about my life in a blank book of one form or another which I carry around with me whenever I’m out and about. Over the years, though, the responsibilities of life have grown and the time for sitting down and thinking/writing has shrunk. As that time has decreased it has become more valuable to me. What is most beneficial for me to write about with the time I have? And beyond just the issue of time, what purpose does the act of writing serve?

Along the way I’ve started thinking about the output of these sessions – the words on the page. There is a box I carry around each time we move, keeping it close to my desk, full of those books of words about my life. I don’t venture into it often, but what a treasurehouse; those words describe my evolution during it’s most rapid phases – the teens and twenties – where each day and my purpose on this planet were huge mysteries. Existence will always be mysterious, that is the challenge and joy of life, but snugly into my thirties now, I am interested more in what is succeeding and failing in the world, my impact upon it, and taking actions to improve it and design a life in harmony with it. The purpose for my writing is to research, explore, and document these themes. But it doesn’t feel worthy of my time anymore if the words just collect in another blank book which will end up in the box by my desk.

As I’ve grown I’ve become more and more aware of the challenges facing planet earth, the critical choices/opportunities given human beings, and my limited time to make wise choices/take wise action and learn from the unwise ones. These themes are universal and it behooves me, as a creature of the universe, to share what I learn, and engage others in the exploration. That is what I have arrived at after all these years of words on a page.

This is not a selfless pursuit, though. I’m not sure I believe anything is. If we don’t understand, center, and take care of ourselves, how can we really embrace life, and be of service to others? In that regard the biggest challenge and necessity for me has always been to have my work – my livelihood – and my life be intimately connected and on the same path. That requires, and also affords, the freedom and independence to focus on what really matters. (It’s like the chicken and the egg – you can’t have one without the other.)

So, I am taking the words to my laptop because from there they can move to the web and be shared with others. The web is also a great vehicle for conducting research and connecting with global communities; not a substitution for seeing/experiencing/interacting, just a complementary method.