Why I started my blog? When I started Susan Taylor Brand I wanted something that would allow me to post about what I was learning these days, these days in which there is so much new and yet so much can be missed. In particular I wanted to talk about changes in life that come without our wanting them and without us seeing them arriving.

The famous Italian renaissance poet Dante describes this type of moment at the beginning of The Inferno, where he opens the poem by describing himself, somewhere in the middle of life, and finding he has lost his way:  

“When I journeyed half of life’s way I found myself within a dark forest; I had lost the path that does not stray. It is hard to speak of what it was, that savage forest, dense and difficult, which even in recall renews my fear, so bitter, death is hardly more severe.”

And what did Dante do then? He walked through, he journeyed, he found out. His own kind of spiritual journey, if you like. That’s what I’m trying to do. That’s why I started my blog. 

Lifestyle and Wellness

I wanted to start a blog about lifestyle and wellness because I felt there was a lot to share about how to enjoy the good things in life. I wanted to create a blog that would show that you can have fun and sophisticated experiences without being the Queen of England or a movie star or a millionaire. In fact I’ve read some of their biographies and some of those people don’t have very much fun at all. Things don’t always get easier when you have more prestige and money. 

But there’s also that question of dealing with things that we need to avoid, things we need to not believe, things that drag you down. In this regard the post lying to others is the exception is a critical understanding. And also can you just say no to your bad relationship? And then there’s the post loyalty which talks about what we owe to others.

Travel and Relationships, Yoga, Hiking, Fashion and Philosophy

Maybe that’s a lot of storm and draung. I also wanted to talk about things like exercise especially yoga, about family relationships, adult children, you name it, all the things that make life meaningful. I write about travel because as mother of six kids most of whom have moved away I had some traveling to do and I learned quite a bit since I first stood shaking and scared at the gate ready to take Frontier flight whatever, stepping onto a plane with a grizzly bear painted on the tail, leaving for California.

I write about philosophy and meditations on dare I say it “the truth” because there is a truth, even if we don’t know what it is. I write about lifestyle, including fashion. Oh fashion is big here. I suppose I must admit I was always an aspiring fashionista and now I still love getting dressed up and I love evaluating clothes and I have some interesting points to make. 

Philosophical Questions

I like to meditate on philosophical questions and ask about things like good and evil. I’m not afraid to say that AI is bad because I think it is! And I can explain why. 

I think about Socrates every day and how he said that he was not afraid to die because either it would be nothing in which case what problem is there or it would be better than this… now that was a man who would think. He also said everyone believed he was so smart, but the only thing he knew that was remarkable was that he didn’t know. 

Book Reviews, and Other Reviews

I like to read books and so I included book reviews and then I included movie reviews. I read books every day. I’m usually working on two or three of them. I think books may be read by fewer people these days but I don’t think books are ever going away. The pleasure of reading a book while you’re having lunch alone is just too exquisite. 

So that’s why I wrote Susan Taylor Brand to share all these ideas with you and maybe inspire you to try some of this stuff. Upcoming blog posts I’m hoping to write are calorie counting for real what it looks like and does it work. What do you have to *do* to lose weight around here? I finally found some clues. What are they? Well, they’re not expensive, but they’re not easy. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. Still, the truth will set you free. 

And Relationships

Like I said, I like to talk about relationships. There are some situations which I think you should probably try to stay out of. And then there’s other relationships that you just wish you could stay out of but you have to be in. You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your relatives and I’ve learned that family relationships must be managed. 

This is the wisdom of our ancestors but somehow it’s gotten lost in the modern discourse and people are talking about “family of choice” and I have a family of choice. I’ve belonged to a solid support group for decades which qualifies as such a thing. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have to deal with my real family. I mean, the very nature of family is that you don’t get a choice. 

My life got a lot better when I realized that I was going to have the family in my life whether I wanted to or not. SI’ve written about estrangement. And I’ve given up on estrangement too. 

Mostly what I want to say is welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy it. I think about what you would like to read every day and I come up with the best ideas I can. Well, sometimes I just write what I feel like, but I try not to do that too often. 

I Use AI Only When Necessary

For the most part AI does not generate blog post ideas around here and I would never put AI generated writing on my blog. But interestingly this post topic that I’m currently writing was suggested by Chat GPT. By which you can tell that I am not a Luddite or refuser of technology I just feel technology needs to be kept in its box. It’s supposed to free us, not to enslave us, and in order to make sure that happens we have to watch carefully.

My Blog is a Hobby

Because after all the blog is a hobby for me and a resource for you, and it’s also supposed to be some kind of a work of art. Well, a piece of craftsmanship anyway. When I was young I was planning on being a great American novelist and being famous. Now that I’m no longer young I just want this blog to run correctly. I’ve decided that that’s what I’m going to try to do right now, work on this blog, and see if I can get it to run better.

So That’s Why I Started My Blog

At the moment I’m working on posting more than once a week and adding comments. I hope you let me know what you think! I’m really interested in you, your life and whether you’re seeing the same things I see. 

Welcome to Susan Taylor Brand. Oh, and where did the name come from? I’ve written that story on the About page. Check it out if you’re curious. 

Thanks for stopping by.