In the beginning......

Where to begin? Where and how does one start a blog? I am still baffled and amazed by this, by this tool, this technology, this venue. Why am I so amazed, a man who has been around for as long as I have? because up until three and a half years ago I had never seen the internet, never sent or received an e-mail, never googled anything.
Why was I so isolated? Was it self exile? Did I live on an island far from shore? Where was I?
One word.... Prison. And for the record nobody put me in prison, I did that all by myself. This was back in the day when I thought I had all the answers, when I thought I was smart, slick and more deserving than anyone else. This was when I thought I was the captain of my own ship, when I believed in nothing and only cared about myself.
Today I see things differently. It is quite amazing what 12 years in prison can do to shape... or reshape ones beliefs, ones values and ones view of themself. It was, if nothing else a humbling experience.... although for me it was so much more. I would not be where I am now had i not gone through what I went through then. A friend of mine, a man who spent a significant portion of his life in prison, a man who found God, found peace and found serenity told me one day that if changing anything that he went through would mean that he would not be where he was today then he would not change a thing. And so it is with me. To get where I am now meant that I had to go through all of that pain and suffering then. But then again I was not alone. Think of the "footprints" poster. That was and is me.

More to follow, so much more.

Peace, love and joy,

Mark