I haven’t been here lately. I’ve been thinking and planning and mulling a lot but until I got a few things straight in my mind it didn’t seem like a good idea to write about it. It seemed self-indulgent and wasteful of your time.

However, I’ve made some progress in the thinking department and I’ve made a few decisions. Here they are.

First, the book is on hold for the moment. Reasons? My eyes have made it difficult. It’s hard. It’s taking a long time. My head hurts. I have a faster way to get to the main points. Life is short. Pick any of the above.

Second, the faster way is a podcast. It’s something people who know me have encouraged. It doesn’t involve reading, detailed editing or even spelling correctly, a fact which warms my slightly dyslexic soul. But I tell stories like I eat and breathe. Seems a no-brainer.

The question is, which stories? What’s my topic?

So, I’ve begun the first steps, starting with a website: CourageMaking.com. There’s very little there at the moment but you’re welcome to take a look. The big idea is to get to the point and my main lessons about courage now and finish the book as I can.

So who’s it for?

Anyone with a big idea and big challenges, but I repeat myself. They come together. If you want to do anything good, you will need courage. If you want to be creative, courage. If you want to stand up for your principles or love someone or improve yourself, you will certainly need courage.

Love requires courage. Parenting is pretty much home base for courage. Relationships of any kind require courage, to be yourself, to put your heart on the line, to risk. These are the best and most wonderful parts of life and even they require courage.

Your working life requires it, whether you are starting a new job or starting a company. We spend huge amounts of time at work and few things affect our lives and welfare as much. This means more is on the line than a paycheck. To get anywhere requires lots of courage.

Your faith requires courage. In fact, in many ways the opposite of fear is not fearlessness, which is an impossibility, but faith. Jesus did not look at the disciples after He calmed the raging storm and say, “Oh ye of little courage.” Instead, he asked, “Where is your faith?”

Writing this requires courage. It means I’m staring into a truly HUGE monitor for my eyes. It means I’ve taken time to rest and take clearer aim. And, more importantly, it means I’ve made a commitment to start again. It means I’ve challenged myself to see if I’m up to the task.

I suppose, one way or another, we will see.

And soon . . .

P.S. In the name of getting moving and not straining my eyes, you may have to do without pretty pictures for a bit. I feel progress is urgent and Photoshop is a trip into the quicksand of procrastination and perfectionism. I’ll get back to it after I’ve gotten these cats in a herd. Hi-Yo, Muffin!