Two months ago, I announced that I had decided to make A Change of Pace to my trip reports and blog essays. It has been a fun and worthwhile change. After a couple of weeks of experimentation, I settled into a selection of titles that corresponded nicely with my adult ADHD (undiagnosed). While not intending to adhere to a schedule strictly, one developed that so far has kept me interested and the creative juices flowing. I generally hike on Tuesdays and Fridays. So those days naturally gravitated to trip reports that have been the bedrock of my blog articles for the past eleven years.
With the introduction of the non-trip narrative variety, I quickly felt overwhelmed trying to fill in the gaps, i.e., M, W, Th, S, S, with essays of a general nature. One day while laughing at a meme on my news feed, I decided to introduce Meme Monday to help reduce my anxiety. I have collected cartoons over the years and marveled at how creative everyday people can be since the introduction of memes. Memes that make me laugh or remind me of a story will get some exposure on the site as part of my weekly schedule. Initially, my reason for moving to a daily blog post was to provide a way to introduce a series called "Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) using TheBrain." So far, I have written eight episodes that appear every Wednesday and will continue the series until I feel I have covered the topic to my satisfaction.
I added a filler article entitled "What I'm Reading (The Week of:)" that appears every Saturday to complete the weekly schedule. At this point, I only write two general blog ideas per week; the resulting number of essays, the time devoted to writing, and the divided repetition between topics appear to be sufficient to keep me busy and interested.
Last week while posting yet another backlog trip report due to my inability to get out and hike (monsoon season is in full swing), I decided to look again at my decision to leave the trip articles unchanged. Part of my revisionist attitude toward my anecdotal hiking notations was a review of the Medium.com blog site and a prolonged search for reports of a similar nature. They exist; however, the pieces are few and far between. As a result, I decided to start a new series on hiking, which I originally intended to call "The Road Less Traveled," from Robert Frost's oft-quoted poem. However, a quick search on Medium.com of the tagline caused me to reconsider my approach. It seems that everyone (and their dog, too) is taking "The Road Less Traveled."
Due to this title, reporting on The Road Less Traveled has now become the Road Most Traveled, and I decided to look elsewhere for something unique with fewer commuters. I spent considerable time this morning trying to find just the right sentiment. I will be the first to admit that I was disappointed at my failure to create a tagline on my own and resorted to searching for various quotes that reflected the meaning penned by Mr. Frost. I ended up with the following alternative titles:
Losing sight. "Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." ~ Andre Gide
Going too far. "Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." ~ T.S. Eliot
Risk the unusual. "If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary." ~ Jim Rohn
Mishaps and Memories. "It is not the destination where you end up but the mishaps and memories you create along the way." ~ Penelope Riley
Longer ways to go. or The Road is life. "Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life." ~ Jack Kerouac
Where the path may lead. Or Leave a trail. "Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Long way home. "Every journey taken always includes the path not taken, the detour through hell, the crossroads of indecision and the long way home." ~ Shannon L. Alder
The space between the lines. "There's a much deeper and meaningful conversation being conducted in the space between the lines." ~ Dave Cenker
I played around with the shortened alternative titles, searching on Medium.com to determine the popularity of the various sayings. Without a doubt, "The Long Way Home" by Shannon L. Alder had the most posts, along with "Where the path may lead." "Going too far" held the most diverse topical references, while "Mishaps and Memories" contained only one. I highly considered "Mishaps and Memories;" however, the wording didn't seem to flow with the list of potential blog essays I have already created for possible consideration. P.S. The single blog title under "Mishaps and Memories" made me laugh out loud, "Hannah Feist Vomited A Dandelion And Blamed The Dog. " [1]
"The space between the lines" appears to hit that happy medium between working as a tagline for hiking stories, considering topographical maps consist of elevation lines showing contours and the flow for future topics I was hoping to find. Paul Moran wrote an excellent title where he said, "I play in the space between the lines," and I thought about "Playing in the space between the line." However, it was too long in the end, and I settled with Dave Cenker's quote. I'm sure others have said these words; however, I'll give Dave Cenker credit as this was the first time I considered the comments for my use.
My use will be a change in direction for trip reports and the new hiking series mentioned above. I will plan to introduce topics about hiking, climbing, ATV/OHV riding, geocaching, finding, and preparing to enter the backcountry surrounding us. Living, laughing and playing In The Space Between the Lines.
Written August 19, 2022
[Hannah Feist Vomited A Dandelion And Blamed The Dog | by David Klinger | Embarrassing Childhood Memories | Medium](https://medium.com/embarrassing-childhood-memories/hannah-feist-vomited-a-dandelion-and-blamed-the-dog-8ee15d668ac)
[So interesting – sometimes I feel like I play in the space between the lines (I’m sure there are… | by Paul Moran | Medium](https://medium.com/@pjmoran/so-interesting-sometimes-i-feel-like-i-play-in-the-space-between-the-lines-im-sure-there-are-8c39a0cc6725)