Endings are Beginnings

            It’s interesting that this is the season that’s thought of as marking the end of the year when it’s also marking the beginning of the year as well. Why is it that there’s such a focus on the end of the year, when the beginning of the year happens at – literally – exactly the same time?

            I suppose it’s probably because endings come before beginnings, and what’s right in front of us is easier to see than what’s lurking behind it. It’s all rather arbitrary, anyway, since it’s simply a time someone in the past chose to start counting from, yet we shape our minds around it.

            For example, the end of the year is when it’s important to be with family and to be generous, showing people how much you care. Which is silly, because you should care about people the whole year round, but I feel it also says a lot about humanity as a whole.

“Look! The year is coming to an end, better get together with family before time runs out!” Then the New Year comes and everything becomes about taking strides forward – making this year better than the last. And all the important things, like friends and family, get pushed into the back of the mind until we realize that another year is almost over, so we’d better get together.

            As a species, we love symbols and traditions. Having a checkpoint that we pass every year is a nice way to tell ourselves that we can keep growing and improving, and it gives us a point to use as a starting line. Yet, we’re also supposed to put our best foot forward, so wouldn’t it make more sense to get together with friends and family at the start of the year, rather than procrastinating until the end of the year?

            We could even split the difference. We could shift the New Year to the beginning of winter, rather than the end, and have our traditional get-togethers at both the beginning and end of the year. Or we could move the New Year to the most sensible place to have it start, at the beginning of spring, and we’d get together in the middle of the year.

            Or, of course, we could simply decide that what’s important to us is important for the whole year. Not everything has to have a set time or place. Time is just an imaginary construct we have so we can organize things, anyway. Perhaps we should stop using time as an excuse.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

The Magic of Shiny Objects

            I spent this last weekend selling chainmaille at the Oxford Renaissance Festival and there were a few things I simply had to share. Namely, the magic of shiny objects.

            Friday was the first day of the festival, at least for school kids. It was Education Day, so a bunch of schools came out on trips to have some fun, watch some jousting and maybe learn something. Only a few of the vendors were present for the show – in fact, we were the only ones in the indoor location (our tent is annoying to transport – plus it is still broken from last year).

            Now, it should be mentioned that the festival was at a new location this year, which means that there is a lot of trial and error in figuring out what will and won’t work. For example, having a barn with only one vendor off to the side of where the majority of the festival’s activities take place doesn’t work.

            Because we were the only ones there, Colleen and I moved our whole setup right into the doorway of the barn, where we could be seen from outside. There were plenty of kids there, but because there was nothing else where we were, no one even looked in our direction (except one bus driver, who dropped by to chat for a bit).

            Until the end of the day. The sun had shifted enough to shine into the barn, glinting off the armour shirts at the front of our display. Finally, a few groups spotted us and came over. They didn’t buy anything, but that’s okay – the rest of the weekend made op for that with the normal festival days.

            Ah, yes. The rest of the weekend. The first thing that needs to be said about it is that it was hot. Outside, the sun was beating down – though a nice breeze kept the heat from being unbearable.

            Inside, there was no breeze. The barn we were in wasn’t one of those wooden barns, no. It was a metal barn, with metal roofing that the sun was beating down upon. Inside, it was an oven – even with doors open at both ends in an attempt to catch some of the breeze.

            A number of the events attendees commented on the heat in the barn, but there was one couple that went a step farther. After noticing we had an electrical outlet behind our table, they actually went home and brought a fan back for us. Isn’t that amazing? They left it with us for the whole weekend and came back to pick it up at the end of the show the next day. Needless to say, we were enormously grateful.

            Anyway, back to the magic of shiny objects. Along with the event’s move, the festival got some new partners – namely the local(ish) Boys and Girls Club. One of the new people involved came up with a wonderful idea. He’d grown up in an underprivileged household and he remembered loving events like these, but being sad that he never had any money to spend with the vendors. So he made “Coins of the Realm” that were given to underprivileged families along with special festival packages.

            All the vendors were asked to accept these “Coins of the Realm” at a value of $5 – which we’d be reimbursed for at the end of the festival. From the moment I heard the idea, I thought it was an incredible way to bring a little joy to people who have difficult lives. I can’t express how happy I was when they were used to make a purchase from me. Not only was I proud to be able to help these people, but the gratitude I could see in the eyes of the parents who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to buy something for their child – it was truly the best part of my weekend.

            Shiny objects really do have a magic all of their own.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.