Words

What’s in a word? What’s in a name?

Everything.

Names are important. Words are important. Ideas are extremely important and words are the handles by which we grasp at them. The ancient Celts and Germans recognized this fact (though they may not have fully understood its implications) hence the strong association between Magic and Poetry in Northern European culture.

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It’s been a month since I last posted on Elhaz Ablaze. I’d planned (and promised) to write here once per week, but another online project has recently begun to consume the bulk of my attention. I’ve begun writing an Autobiography, of all mad and crazy things, on the website that was originally intended to promote my business as a Personal Trainer.

There’s no accounting for it. At the end of the day, I’m just not as smart as I’d like to be.

On the upside, I’ve actually been writing (fairly a lot, at least by my standards) and consistently about five days per week.

For years, I’ve dreamed of becoming a writer. Now, finally, at the age of thirty two I have found the courage to begin doing the work required to make that happen. The results are not yet to my satisfaction, but I am improving and growing in confidence with every day that passes by.

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And what of “DubhGhaill, the Warrior”? Oh, he’s still around, though my “warriorhood” takes a very different form these days.

I first got into the Martial Arts because I wanted to learn how to fight. Over time, I became obsessed with visions of glory and an early death. Now I train because it makes me a better man. The Martial Arts, like Physical Fitness and proper Nutrition, are just one factor in the building of a full and complete life. Art, also, is important…and Religion, too. I wish that someone could have explained that to me when I was younger, though I doubt very much that I could have understood.