Seems it’s standard blog behavior to launch your blog by explaining the title you chose for it. Well, OK then, I’ll follow suit…
I’ve had this unsettling sense the past few years that I’m turning into a “vanishing man.” I even thought about writing a song by that title. It’s as if I find myself… disappearing. From people. From relationships. From responsibilities. Increasingly withdrawing into my own internal world. Vanishing man. “Whatever happened to him? Don’t see him around much anymore. When I look for him he’s not around, not like he used to be.” For better or for worse, I even pictured that picture in the motion picture “Back to the Future,” the photo Marty has of himself with his siblings, and he finds (distressingly) as the movie goes on that the three of them are slowly vanishing from the image, and there’s (seemingly) nothing he can do about it.
So I chose as the title of this blog “theunvanishingman” (emphasis on “un”) because I’m trying to take steps lately to reverse that process. Trying to find ways to make changes, to be more present, more real, more solid, more alive. Changes of body and soul and heart and mind. And maybe, just maybe, typing out some thoughts here in a blog and clicking “Post” (or whatever it is you click) will be one of those steps. A way of thinking out loud that just might make a difference.
So here’s to not vanishing. Let’s see if this works. Things certainly turned out well for Marty.