Something Important To Me and a Little Charity

The Thinker

What is something important to you?  What is something that drives you on a regular basis?  When you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing your mind turns to?

Granted, what I am going to share isn't quite to the extreme that I wake up and immediately begin thinking about these, but throughout the course of my day my mind does tend to linger on this topic.

A quick little story:

My life is fairly simple.  I like it this way.  I like being able to keep control over my environment; however, a little chaos is never a bad thing.

For me, my chaos comes with the animals I have taken in.  One in particular that my brother rescued back in 2005, a pocket sized orange and white medium haired cat.  Within in a year this little bundle of fur became one of the most invigorating and inventive creatures in our house.  And when I say inventive, I mean I have never known a cat that could problem solve the way Peach did and does.  But, the essential point is that as Peach truly bonded with me and not so much the others in the family, my world began to change.

I have always loved animals of all kinds.  However, as Peachy and I spent more time together playing and investigating the backyard I began to realize how truly amazing animals can be.  Then, when I had to return to work full time in the fall I went to find Peach a friend.  I found Bama one cool October evening at a PetSmart store and something about her just ate me up.  Her story can be found here:

PetSmart Charities

Anyway, what does all of this have to do with writing?

It has often been said that when we wright we need to write about what we know about.  Personally i don't believe that statement.  In truth we need to write about we we want to learn about and what we're passionate about.  A few years ago I began writing a book about my animals, but there's no real focus, so I have been trying to learn more about animals in many respects.  I've worked and spoken with owners, vets, wildlife rehabilitators, game and fish specialists, game wardens, religious leaders, and many others trying to find a focus for my book.

However, that just maybe the right angle.  There is no focus except how these "beasts" become family and how they are more human in many ways than some of us realize.

So...what's important to you?  What do you want to learn more about?