A New Look for the Tenkara Path Blog is Coming Soon!

But First...
-A few words about the last 6 months.
or as I like to call it...
             ..."Where the Hell Have I Been?"

Since my hermitage in August, I have been a little less available and because of the retreat, less interested in putting anything out there to include on my blog. The retreat was absolutely fabulous. It was a life and mind changing experience. This said, I was overwhelmed by the place I found myself in coming back to society and the busy world we live in. 

Taking some time away to just meditate and look at my life was such a gift to be able to do. Coming back from that deep place of quiet though, I had much to process about myself, my mind and my life. There is a kind of "Culture Shock" you experience coming home from a long retreat. There is a point in which you realize that the idea of coming back to "the real world" is backward thinking. The "real world" is the one that you just spent your time living, working and meditating in. As a society, we wallow in a world that surrounds us and pretends to be "the real world".

Trying to write a blog post about my experiences was difficult because the experience was quite personal. Some thoughts and feelings just can't be put into words. I know, I have tried and the process is one of many starts and stops. As with any process of looking for answers you always end up with more questions instead.

Over the last three months I have been making shifts in my life with varying degrees of success.  The process of finding peace, joy, happiness, love and fulfillment while trying to live in that society of push, work, grind, and fight to survive is not an easy one. I have been trying my best though.  It is important to keep the practice of coming back to ourselves and to find a quiet place. This means you may have to self advocate for it in spite of what the outside forces are pushing upon you.

Over 2022 I realized that my life was moving way too fast. There were days that felt as if life was living me and not me living it. Turning 55 in June was a milestone that may have made me put my foot on the accelerator when it came to living day to day. 2022 certainly had some great moments that I will not forget. Namely, my retreat. It allowed me to put the breaks on take stock of what is actually important in my life.

As we enter a new calendar year it is a good time to start something new. Not as a resolution but as a new birth or milestone in our lives.  This year I will be making some changes to the blog.

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What to expect this year.
After months of not writing, or publishing here I realized that this was as good a time as any to maybe shake things up a bit.  I want to keep writing but I also wanted my blog to do a lot more than just serve my own needs to share my personal thoughts and experiences.  I want others to see this blog as a way to walk their own tenkara path. I want them to find inspiration and joy through the things that I post here.

In short, I want the blog to remain a place for my personal expression but also open it up as a resource for what and who the tenkara community has to offer. I want more entertainment value and more content value for my readers. The Tenkara Path blog will be a place where people can get a little food for their own tenkara angling practice and experience.  Tenkara as a community is so important. This blog will hopefully inform as well as entertain.

New Formatting with FEATURES!
Tenkara Path blog will be shifting to more of a newsletter style of format. It will still contain articles as I write them but it will also feature links to other articles that I think speak to the things I think make our tenkara experiences more valuable. It will have some regular features that I hope over time will each become favorites for readers to look forward to. Here are some of the features I have in mind.

"ON THE PATH" This will be my own shout out for the month. I will open each posting with a few words, thoughts or ideas. Talk about my own life a bit? Share a photo or two, maybe even share a bit about something that inspired me on my own path.

"FEATURED ANGLER PROFILE" Remember those old Dewar's Profile ads of the 70's and 80's? This fun profile feature will be a snapshot of a dedicated tenkara angler. They are intended to be fun and celebratory of the person featured.

"TIE THIS!"  So many times I see a fly on social media and I want to imitate it. This will be a chance for me to ask those great fly tiers to share their insights and recipes.  Maybe highlight an interesting design or materials.

"READ THIS" These will be articles from a variety of places on line that are interesting or that you might have missed or maybe even forgotten. I will be scouring many online sources for great information that is relevant to tenkara and fixed line fishing. There is so much out there written already and still so much also being written.

"OUT THERE"  Here will be wonderful things to enhance your trips and outings. From recipes for trail snacks, gear, hacks and creature comforts that will help you make the most of your tenkara experiences.

"COOL STUFF!" In this feature I will share some of my favorite products. These aren't reviews so much as my picks for products I use both on the stream or trail, at the bench, and more. It may also be a hack that I want to share or even a person of interest I think you should know, or follow. I will also share regional gatherings and events as I learn about them. (*cough-cough) I learn about things very fast when you tell me about them. These are just the first few ideas for the initial features I will have. You can submit ideas at any time though the contact page.
                                                                   THESE AND MORE!

I hope you will enjoy these upcoming changes
 Each feature will have an introduction and a link to take you to the article, feature topic, or event link. The first edition of the new format will be posted very soon. Of course there will be some logistics to figure out but I am excited about this new format idea and I hope that you will enjoy it as well. This is going to be a different kind of experience for the community and I hope to help others grow their projects and have some fun sharing my love of tenkara, simple living and embracing the outdoors.

                                   See you next time...in the New Edition!