My name is Paul Tadalan. At the dawn of 2011, I told myself I would start a blog and attempt to write in it during my free time. As you can see from the fact that we’re crossing halfway through February, and I’m JUST putting up my first post, “free time” isn’t something that comes very easy to me. But regardless, I try my hardest to accomplish the things I set myself out to do, so here I am.
So why the desire to join the online blogging community?
Amongst many other things, I really enjoy writing; love writing, actually. I have no such talent in regards to the visual arts; my painting and drawing abilities equals the skill of a 5 year old, and even then I’m talking too highly of myself. But While a picture is worth a thousand words… a thousand words can paint any picture imaginable. I’ve found that writing helps me express myself, organize my thoughts, and simply help me remember everything. I’ve experienced a lot in the 25 years of my life, and one of my only regrets is that I failed to record my endeavors by not taking enough pictures or not taking the time to write about them. And unfortunately I’ve been both cursed with a poor memory and blessed with too many good memories to remember them all. So, about a year or two ago, I started keeping a journal.
If you know me well enough you’ll know I’m constantly on the move. My days are packed with countless obligations, errands, and personal projects for my own enjoyment that help me keep my sanity. Well, even -IF- I had an opportunity to do absolutely nothing, I’d probably fill it with something I would deem as being productive. Sadly, there are very few moments in my continuous grind that allows me to see, or even communicate with, my friends. Over the past year, I’ve found that many of my friends have created blogs, and I enjoy being able to check up on them and see what they’ve been doing in their own lives. But also, I find value in the aesthetic exchange of ideas and its really nice to experience the insights (whether it be about culture, music, sports, politics, or just plain fun for the hell of it) of those that take the time to share them. So to all of you that own a blog- thanks. I owe my crossover into the blogging community to you.
Maybe it’s appropriate to give a bit of insight into who I am. From March 2004- July 2009, I worked for the Government as both being active duty enlisted in the United States AIr Force as well as a military-civilian contractor for the Department of Defense. For 4 1/2 years I lived in the Bay Area of California, did a few tours overseas and eventually decided to find a new walk of life outside of the military. It was filled with some of the best and worst times of my life, a chapter of my life I wouldn’t trade for anything. But eventually, I moved back to the city of my birth and residence of my family- Chicago, IL.
Let’s see… my basic rule of thumb to life- Be happy with what you have, but strive for more. I really don’t need a lot to be happy. Just positive vibes that stem from positive people and positive action. But just like everyone else, my life is filled with complicated and unavoidable stressors that seem to keep accumulating as time goes on. That being said, I try to take life light-heartedly with a smile; and luckily I’m blessed with amazing people in my life to get me through the tought times… people who have impacted me in moreways than I deserve to experience through their friendships.
“For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.”
- Victor Frankl.
(Existential Psychotherapist and author of novel- “Man’s Search for Meaning,” which has had a pretty decent impact on my life and way of thinking )
I live life by the moment, knowing at any given second the source of these words will cease to be anything more than a memory. So I take chances and risks, getting the most out of what I put my hands on, and sometimes-okay, usually-make mistakes. But what type of people would we be without our regrets? And i’m still trying to learn; Learn from those mistakes (which takes a few times before getting the hang of things), but also just learn about myself. I’m still trying to figure out the type of person I am in relation to everything else that’s going on in the world. Every day I find myself with new interests, desires, and passions. As I continue to live and learn, I look forward to the people I’ll meet and the things I’ll discover on the way… enjoying every second.
But anyhow, welcome to my blog. I hope whatever I decide to throw up on here will be a justifiable reason to take some time out of your day to forget about everything else going on. I’ll try my hardest not to waste it… but I make no promises.
