MY WRITERS SITE: The life less ordinary

The life less ordinary

To experience anything that is important in this life takes courage. What is important is often not easy and nor is it popular.

To be kind and compassionate and decent takes courage because the world is often none of those things.

It takes courage to live a life filled with passions because society encourages uniformity, advocates the safe route, applauds the cautious and often rewards the mundane.

Don’t look back on your life and try to recall how many times you failed to live a brave life. It takes time to develop courage. You aren’t born with it but you are born with the potential to become courageous and every day the world challenges you to put that courage to practice. You’ll have a lot of opportunity to prove yourself to yourself.

When those instances do come, expect to get knocked on your kester a few times because it is not easy to live a courageous life. You’ll fail occasionally. The day will come, I assure you, when you will compromise your convictions. That doesn’t mean you are a moral failure, a coward, or a quitter or a bad person. It means you’re human and you goofed up, you dropped the ball. That’s all it means. Nothing more and nothing less.

Try again some other day and when you do perhaps you’ll succeed or perhaps you will fail. It is often in the effort that we find glory.

To my friends....

A referral point for my friends (personnel friends, meaning people I know in my personnel life) who want me to “Take a look at my stuff.” For years I’ve said sure, I’ll look at it, meaning edit it. But I have always forewarned them that I take the processes seriously and I won’t pull any punches and not to get angry with me. They always, always, always assure me that they want to a professional edit and that I shouldn’t pull any punches just because we’re friends. Then I edit their work and they get angry at me. So here’s what we’re going to do. If you want me to give my opinion on your writing or edit your work, the charge is $50.00 an hour with a four hour minimum. That should stop most of you from asking me to look at your work and while preserving our friendship.

Why this blog is here.

I am largely self-educated, and this blog is continuation of that education. I have an MFA, but that doesn’t have much to do with an education, not the kind I’m talking about. An advanced degree means I am able to follow instruction.

Never ending self-education means I adore knowledge and enlightenment of both the ordinary and the odd and that’s what this blog is about. It is by me, written for my benefit. You are more than welcomed to drop by as often and for as long as your heart desires.

John William Tuohy

I was born and raised in Connecticut and now live in rural West Virginia with my wife, Mary, and my dog Eli.

I hold an AA and MA in literature and an MFA in writing from Lindenwood University. I spent most of my career as a political consultant and hated every living second of it.

I am produced and award-winning playwright. (Cyberdate, The Hannigans of Beverly, etc.)

I am the author of 12 books on traditional organized crime, an autobiography (No Time to Say Goodbye) two books of short stories (Short Stories from a Small Town, Washington Behind the Monuments) a novella (Imago Summer, 1971) and several books on Connecticut history. I proud to be the historian of Ansonia Connecticut. I sit on the board of Mt. St. John's School.

I occasionally and reluctantly work as an editor but only when I need money to travel.

I am an accomplished amateur photographer, a frustrated painter and not a half-bad gardener and I cook. I collect coins, stamps and political memorabilia. I love film so much that I built a large theater in my home. (I also wrote "On the Waterfront: the Making of a Great Amercian film")

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The life less ordinary