Was it worth it... Hell yes!

 Greetings,

It's been a while, I know. I have been busy writing for my Patreon page which has been keeping me occupied on the writing front. Not much there on FM to tell you the truth. Mostly stuff about fencing and social stuff, though there are some interesting things about disability considerations, and more coming no doubt. I tend to write what I am interested about. Enough of my waffle, let's get to the point...

Story:
Late May, I went to the Bundaberg Show for four days to help some friends with a demonstration of Renaissance fencing, which if you haven't read my blog before, is the thing that keeps me going. I write, and I fence, this is my life. So this experience resulted in me fencing twice a day, for about half an hour against two friends. Camping on a camp-bed. Oh, yeah, and travelling 5 hours by train to get to the place in the first place.

The weekend after this there was an event I went to, for another four days. More fencing all of the days, well most of them, but I am getting to that. Sleeping on a bunk that was too short for me, and travelling to and from by public transport again, as I am medically-disqualified from driving due to my FM. 

The result:
Fibro-flare. I ended up with my arm in a sling for one of the days of the second event, and not fencing. Oh yeah, and a week's recovery, which I am just coming to the end of as I am speaking. Not to mention desperately needing to go and see my physio.

Things I know:

1. Next year the same two events will happen again.
2. Next year I will likely go to the two same events again, and do it all over again.
3. Next year I will likely have the same result unless my FM is gone (yeah, right), or I am much fitter (maybe).

Conclusion:

Some would say I haven't learnt a thing from my experience because I am willing to do it again. Some would say I should learn to look after myself better. Some would say I shouldn't push myself so hard. I say they are "Nay-sayers."

The only question I have to ask is: Was it worth it? If the title of this article doesn't give you the answer, let me repeat that, "Hell yes!" I had one hell of a lot of fun fencing with my friends at the Bundaberg Show and spending evenings with them chatting. I had a lot of fun fencing with old friends and making new ones at the event that followed the weekend after. 

Momento mori - you will die. Yes, so go out and live while you have the chance. Take life by both hands and squeeze every drop of life out of it; be in every moment. Marcus Aurelius said, "Live every day like it was your last." 

Cheers,

Henry.

Monetisation: A Question of Requirement

Greetings,

I have previously discussed the question of what my time is worth, and also a post about whether or not my time at university was a waste of time. I have been happy cruising along with my payments from Services Australia, under the auspices of the Department of Social Services. Yes, regardless of their re-branding, change of logo, or whatever, they are still the Department of Social Services, or DSS in Australia. However, more recently, there have been comments about what advantages I have, what privileges I have, and quite frankly with the way that the government has been managing the country, I have been feeling the squeeze on the more social/comfort parts of my life.

The result of all of this consideration? 

There needs to be a little background before I get to that. I write four blogs at the moment, this one, "A Fencer's Ramblings" my fencing blog where I discuss fencing and training in fencing, and all of the details that go along with that pursuit; "A Life with Fibromyalgia" where I discuss some of my medical history, and how I deal with my chronic illnesses, primarily fibromyalgia; and "Olde Wordes: An Examination of Elizabethan English" which began as a foundation for writing the Elizabethan portion of one of my books, which I published, His Practice in Modern and Elizabethan English. This was the second book that I have published, the first one was a book version of a series of my fencing blog articles, plus some extras added in, entitled Un-Blogged: A Fencer's Ramblings.

I write a lot most of my writing does not see the light of day, unless I find that the articles are of particular interest to a particular group. You can find a profile of me on academia.edu with more of my articles; these are more of a scholarly bend to them, though at least one of them is a bit of fun. The point here being that I have written a lot and seen very little in the way of financial recompense for the hours of work and the thousands and thousands of words I have written.

I have begun a profile on Patreon. I will be putting my more considered and researched articles on this site where people can pay me for the effort that has gone into producing the articles. I will not be removing articles from sites where they are already held, unless I do updates or improvements. In this case the newer versions will appear on the Patreon site for access to those people willing to pay me for my time and expertise.

I have no doubt that there will be some who will scoff at these efforts and who will make comment about the monetisation of my writing. To these people, I will say that I am simply expecting to be paid for the work that I am putting in, for the information that I am supplying, for the expertise that I am supplying in the process. If that is not sufficient explanation, then they can simply go elsewhere, as they are not my concern.

I will still put articles on my various blogs, but they will not be of the same size or quality that they used to be, they will be shorter, and likely pointing to more significant articles on the Patreon site. If you want someone to blame for all of this, you can blame the government; all the rich individuals who don't want to pay their taxes; and all those who still believe that people with disabilities choose not to work, and choose to allow their disabilities to impact their lives so much that the government keeps disability payments low, so low that they are under the taxable threshold, while the prices of basic food and accommodation rises.

Cheers,

Henry.