A Blog is Born

Coming from Sweden I sort of started collecting clogs after a few years living here in the US. I felt it would be a fun way of representing the Swedish culture, so I started buying clogs wherever I saw them for a reasonable price, in thrift stores, or on clearance while visiting Sweden.

The thing about clogs is that they’re hard to sneak around in. They’re sort of loud. You’re making an announcement of your arrival: Here I am, here I come. You also have to tread carefully while wearing clogs so you don’t twist your ankles. Growing up in the 70s in Sweden, a lot of kids were running around in clogs, boys and girls. Back in the days, clogs were definitely not a fashion statement. It was just something you threw on to run in and out of the house. A lot of twisted ankles followed along, although, fortunately, I never experienced that myself.

Last year I had my “Year of Jubilee” as I turned 50. It might have been the favorite year of my life so far. All of a sudden I felt this freedom coming over me. I stopped caring about people’s opinion about me. I started sharing more things I created: songs, writings. I finally felt confident enough that if people didn’t like my stuff, it wouldn’t change my confidence. I felt grounded enough in myself that I could put my expressions out there without feeling threatened. I still like to be liked, but I am. I am liked. I have enough people liking me already. Actually, I like me even! It’s funny, or maybe sad, that it took me 50 years to feel at home in my own skin. Now I laugh at my sagging skin and deteriorating vision. I marvel over the wisdom and grace that our vision deteriorates at the same pace as our bodies. I can’t even see my flaws now, unless I purchase a 10 times magnifying mirror (which I have done).

A few weeks ago my ear got clogged. It’s never happened to me before. Another sign of my aging body. I confess: I was cleaning my ear out with a q-tip. I know I should have listened to the doctor’s advice: “Nothing smaller than an elbow goes in your ear” but who in their right mind has ever tried to clean their ear with their elbow? I made a doctor’s appointment, but it took me a few weeks before I could see my doctor. For a few weeks I was walking around with a thick, muffled head. It was like I could hear the blood rushing around in my head with a high pitched, whistling sound. It made music less enjoyable and communication harder. When I finally got to see the doctor, he put this pink liquid in my ear that unclogged the buildup. He let it sit for a few minutes and then rinsed it out, and I was as good as new. I could have done that at home, which I will do, if this happens to me again.

That whole experience gave me inspiration to the name of this blog. I want this blog to be that pink liquid that goes into your ear and unclogs things for you, so that you can enjoy music from the universe and hear your creator communicating with you more clearly. I want this blog to be like clogs heralding the truth I’m discovering about life. I might trip up, but I’ll try to tread carefully, yet loud. Cloppety, cloppety, cloppety, clop. Here I come. Declogblog is born.