Brookline/Boston Massachusetts |
Blind author and blogger Robert Michael Jacobs soon to release PLUCK: A Bird's-eye View
www.robertmichaeljacobs.com
In 1995, the rapid onset of total blindness drastically altered my life, ending a lucrative career and devastating my emotional health. Once the condition which had been the cause was stabilized, I needed to re-invent myself.
I chose to escape the harshness of a blind life in a cold northern city by buying a second home in a warm and congenial climate. I sought safety and physical comfort. This environment offered an opportunity for a more carefree and hedonistic existence.
IN Key West, I became a published author of a popular weekly newspaper column. Songs of the Blind Snowbird was later released as a collection of these pieces. It intertwined a narrative of further turmoil which illuminates the column's thematic twists.
In Pluck, I reassess what had appeared as a detour. In retrospect, I derived the subtle message from indulging in this lifestyle awash in sex, booze, dancing and flirting. Once I had acknowledged the superficiality of this existence, it was time to move on. The days of Bloody Marys and naked volleyball in the Florida sun had grown wearisome. I aimed to re-embrace spiritual growth, personal development and reconnect with the cultural and intellectual community which I had virtually abandoned.
The Blind Snowbird voluntarily clips his wings. New challenges become obstacles reviving my Fortitude. The road is bumpy. Relationships demand closer scrutiny. However, I do find new avenues which beckon me toward enlightenment, communities which offer roads to peace, fraternal love and places of safety and greater fulfillment.
Pluck is presented primarily in chronological order, however some segments defer to thematic content. The formats of the items vary from satire to memoir, and may appear as essays, prose or poetry. I employ humor and real-life anecdotes intended to encourage others to summon inner strengths, enabling them to face trauma and adversity.
My material appeals to a readership which is mature, curious, progressive and sophisticated.
I am blind, but I can see. My words make that quite clear. Language is the craft used to weave thoughts in a unique lyrical style.
I love observing, analyzing, dissecting, interpreting, seeking and finding.
I view life through two perspectives. I get close enough to see things which others tend to overlook. People are often in awe of what I can show them, even when it is right under their proverbial noses. Yet, I am set apart from the mainstream just enough to employ a wider view.
I am curious. Life astounds, provokes and puzzles. Mysteries are gifts. Solutions are rewards. I see complexity in the simple, and the simplicity in the complex.
I express a special sensitivity to the world in which I struggle, over which I fly, through which I crawl and on which I run.
My words are the colors of the rainbow. The spectrum of emotions fills out my compositions, essays and anecdotes.
My words can sting. , They can also soothe, caress or tickle.
I love irony and satire because they reveal truths.
I appreciate and respect pleasure as well as pain. Each is very well known to me.
Wit is the streetcar on which I ride. Anxiety is a shadow which makes me run faster.
My writing may be candid, sharp, pointed and edgy. Likewise, some of my work is best expressed via silliness and absurdity.
Pluck is a mirror which shows more than mere reflection. Everybody will recognize something of themselves in me.
I bring readers to places both familiar and otherwise previously unexplored. In this endeavor, some of my pieces may shock. That is not my intention. I write so that I may encourage others to seek their own strengths and resources in order to cope, and hopefully to conquer.
I pay attention, enticing others to do the same; to be involved, to open their hearts and minds.
I am a solitary individual and a member of several communities. I embrace spirituality, sexuality generosity and humor.
I have Pluck. I want to offer it to you.
Email us at: rmj01@galaxy.net
Visit us at: http://blog.robertmichaeljacobs.com |
|
