I Wander As I Wonder

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For years, I have explored the idea of writing a book about my life. If you’ve ever read my work, then you know at times, I have shared poignant moments that have shaped me into the person that I am, and writing a book seemed like the logical next step.

As I dove deeper into the book idea, I never could quite decide what I wanted the focus to be. Would I talk about my blindness and how that has enhanced my life? Would I talk about losing my father at 14 and being raised by two grandparents where the generation gap between us, often led to some very difficult (and funny) moments at times? Would I talk about Morehouse? Football? Friendships? Fatherhood? Being a husband? Being Black?

The easiest answer was “Yes, (loudly and boldly with my chest sticking out)” to all these things. But the most difficult answer was also “Yes, (a little more quietly with my back hunched over just a bit and my shoulders not as straight)” because all of these things could each be their own book and I wasn’t sure how to truly give these blocks of my life the proper page count and focus in order to fully delve into each topic.

As I mulled over the ever-evolving book, I realized that I didn’t necessarily want to write an autobiographical account of my life and shenanigans just to be done with it. That felt so final. I felt like I had so much more life to live that there was no need to finalize it in one document that would eventually become static, dusty, and frozen in a moment in time.

So instead, I chose to create what I call my living piece of art that would continuously grow, as I explored the world internally and externally, sometimes through my lens. At other times through the view of others. Sidenote, I don’t have multiple personalities, but I do have writing personas. You will meet them all eventually.

But there would be more.

I decided that I would share other pieces of my art at times including short stories, poetry, scripts, essays, other works of prose, interviews, music, and film reviews (occasionally); the entire gamut of the art that I produce on a regular basis. I figured that this living blog would be the best place to house my work, allow me to share it with the public, and build this network that I’ve wanted to create.

In my mind, I will also highlight other artists, who are busily perfecting their impossible-to-perfect works themselves in hopes of increasing their visibility and reach. Eventually, I hope that our community reads this blog and shares it with the world.

I’m not interested in discussing politics or even the latest news and gossip. I express those opinions elsewhere. Here, I want to live in a creative space. I want to move your entire range of emotions with my work and hope that you find something compelling, entertaining, enlightening, and even relatable at times.

So, this is why I have started this blog. The timing is perfect, and the moment is right for where I am in my life.

Langston Hughes, who happens to be one of my favorite writers (Edgar Allen Poe is my all-time favorite) wrote a two-part autobiography titled, “I Wonder As I Wander,”

and “The Big Sea.” If you haven’t read these books, you should. They are incredibly entertaining and engaging as he describes the nomadic life that guided his spirit and led him on adventures worldwide. My title is an homage to him and his influence on me and so many other storytellers, artists, and soul searchers.

That book moved something within me. I poured over it and finished them both in a couple of days (this was when I could actually read books in print and not have to magnify them on a computer screen). I hope that something that I write has the same effect on someone else in this world one day.

That’s all that any artist ever wants. We want people to be affected by our work.

I have a lot of things on my mind and a lot of stories to share. Thank you for wandering with me.

Ayinde Moir Waring