Because we separate
Like ripples on a blank shore
In rainbows
Because we separate
The ripples on a black shore
– Radiohead

I said on Facebook yesterday that I was feeling like paddle blogging again. Something that for me had lost its charm in the last year or so.  It happens to all of us at one time or another.  A change is as good as a rest as they say, and  I needed a change, a rest… and a shower.  So now that I’ve jumped back in, let’s see where we go, shall we?

One of the reasons I cooled to paddle blogging was business. You see, I’m not in the business.  I’m a coach.  Nothing more. I’m a web guy, photographer and graphic artist actually. I don’t produce paddling products, I don’t own a paddling magazine or offer guided tours.  If anything I’m just some dude who writes about my experiences, with paddle in hand as it were.  That’s it.

The thing about blogging however, is that If people get a sense that your ramblings are being read, then some will also sense that there is a buck to be made.  Hey, I’m so totally cool with making a buck!  But here’s the thing, bloggers are enthusiasts.  Which means we can easily get all starry eyed over an email from an industry insider or a bit of free kit now and again.  As far as advertising goes, We’re cheap dates. Anyway, what was bugging me, was this sense that a couple folks here and there were simply playing me for “air time”.  Stuff like wanting me to talk up their product while at the same time never actually reading anything I’ve written. Whatever dude!  Not most of course. In fact the paddling industry is full of amazing and wonderful people as the recent Canoecopia show reminded me. But there’s a few in every bunch of course, and those few seemed to all show up at once.  Enough that I felt like I couldn’t write about paddling without sneering.  I hate being chumped. And I also know that all of you guys are out there are reading.  When I don’t feel good about what I’m typing, I’m suddenly holding my ears against the “beating of the hideous heart”.  That’s usually (I said “usually”) enough to make me stop writing all together, run to the bathroom to throw up, then come back and start over… or more recently not come back to it at all.

Thing is, I was just sucking the negative feelings down and letting it fester against everyone and the sport I once really loved, instead of slapping up the ones who deserved it.  There was so much “yuk” rolling around in my head that I didn’t even want to paddle or coach.  The thrill was totally gone.

What changed for me was actually having a chance to spend some time with people in the industry that I really, really like. Honest folks that don’t spend half of every other sentence trying to sell me on their products, or at least if they do they are upfront and professional about it.  I talked to friends who own shops around the country, paddle makers, coaches, writers, filmmakers, web guys like myself and others. These were all the folks that made me really love paddling back when I got started, and who reminded me why I started writing KayakQuixotica.com in the first place.  It’s because paddling is life.  And a good one. You just look out for urchins and keep your hands off the pricks…

Related Posts:

1. Be Still My Beating Heart
2. mantle of the rebellious proletariat
3. And The Sparrow Sings…
4. Is Your Name Lance?
5. Paddling from the Beginning – Fitness