Tillsontitan Interviews hawaiianodysseus
Insights from a talented and genuine family man, eBay seller, and online writer
Hawaiian Odysseus has been with HubPages for just over a year and in that time he has become an admired member of the community as well as an outstanding writer.
You write about your eBay experiences and the behind-the-scenes human interest stories of your family. Could you tell us how you started on these particular niches and why?
When our nation’s economy tanked a few years ago, I was compelled to find employment in the Seattle area. My wife and children remained in the Walla Walla Valley due to work and academic considerations. It was definitely not an ideal situation, but for the greater good of the family, it had to be done. I was hired as a bagel baker and was soon able to send money home every two weeks. I lived with two other men and commuted to work via bus, light rail, and walking.
To supplement the income, I struggled to keep my eBay business alive, which was a huge challenge because the inventory—mostly fly tying supplies and equipment—was back home, 250 miles away. It got pretty tricky at times, but with the help of my wife I kept creating interesting descriptions and used old scanned images as well as a library of templates I’d accumulated since I started the part-time business in 2000.
To cope with the intense loneliness and sadness, I started to blog. Sleep-deprived after working the graveyard shift, I’d stop in at coffee shops and use the free Wi-Fi services liberally. Like a drowning polar bear who is suddenly ecstatic to find a small chunk of floating ice, I stayed adrift on my writing platform for almost four years. I wrote like a madman, most definitely because I’d become one, about anything and everything. Invariably, though, the basic themes were the lifelines I clung to for dear life…my family, and my eBay business.
A writer produces his best work when he excavates his heart and unearths its powerful passions. It’s the best explanation I have as to why I fearlessly mine these dual mother lode niches. And I’m always amazed at the life vignettes that spring from them.
In the summer of 2011, I had had my fill of a thankless job with cruel hours, working for a man who constantly bitched and put his workers down while maintaining a pleasant public image. After several family discussions and lots of prayer, I closed that chapter of my life for good and leaped off a cliff, all the while asking God to catch me.
And He did. I spent a few months rejoicing and charting the next Odyssean course while the equilibrium of returning home took place. Within a few months, I was working full time at my eBay business and writing my first article for HubPages.
You have said you "stay open, receptive and sensitive" to other writers here on HubPages. Has that changed how you write?
I certainly think it has. You can’t hang with winners without some of that fairy dust rubbing off on you. Yes, I have my own unique writer’s voice, and I think people that read my work over time will recognize certain aspects or trademarks of my style. But the greatest gift I’ve received as a result of joining this literary community is the incredible amount and quality of social connection. I’m not talking about the bubble gum infatuation of being liked on Facebook or retweeted by that silly blue bird or thumbtacked to a board. I’m talking about substance and virtual eye contact and soulful conversations in the comments section that transcend the poem or article like a Robert Downing cameo that appears after the Iron Man 3 credits have rolled at the end of the movie.
I enjoy the privilege of being a goodwill ambassador on HubPages. Encouraging and motivating fellow writers is as important to me as getting my work published. Each one of us is at a different milestone of the literary marathon. The upstart sprinters have run out of gas. The I’m Only in This to Promote Myself takers have grown impatient and are presently seeking other platforms to self-procreate. The naysayers and complainers are chasing after penguins and pandas. Me? I’m hanging out with the coolest people on the planet—the ones who keep plugging away on HubPages.
Your "talking story" or way of sharing knowledge is so full and each story you write brings us closer to knowing more about you. Is it difficult to write so personally and about your own life?
Talking story is the island way of communicating with family and friends on the front porch of the old sugar plantation homes. It’s all about a down home, barefoot, somebody, strum on your ukulele, and let’s start singing kind of lifestyle.
There’s no need for therapy when you can embrace the social intimacy of talking story. I try to bring this element into each Hub I write, wielding it invitingly like an old, reliable WELCOME mat.
That said, it isn’t difficult at all for me to write personally about my own life. I’m simply perpetuating the old-style spirit of talking story. As I share that which is personal, my readers discover nuggets of relevance that evoke their own familiar memories.
You mention how you are drawn into a realm of fascinating reminiscing about the good old days. Can you explain...what led you to this fascination and how old are those old days?
I’m a true blue Baby Boomer! As a card carrier of mankind’s most memorable generation, I’m definitely biased towards the idea of the fifties and sixties being crowned as the good old days.
At 61 years of age, the chronological needle of my mind is stuck at 35. I suppose that makes me a young man trapped in an old man’s body. It could very well explain why I reminisce about the good old days so much.
I suspect that the actual reason for this fascinating reminiscing about yesteryear, however, might very well be the increasing awareness of my mortality. We all pass away. That’s a given. But as a writer, I want to be certain that I scrawl a few word pictures on the global cave wall before I go. It’s that writing, you see, that has a fighting chance at immortality.
Or not…
Like your cat, Kona, you have marked your territory here on HubPages. You and your writing are loved, admired, and enjoyed by so very many. What advice or words of wisdom would you give to other writers? Would it be different for new writers than for "old" writers?
Kona will be pleased that you mentioned him.
On that note, the advice I’d like to share with other HubPages writers, both veterans and newcomers alike, is to liberally mention other writers and their works. This can take the form of links, backlinks, sharing a Hub that’s moved you with your followers, casual mention in the body of the Hub, special dedications, comments, and even entire articles honoring respected peers.
What Might Happen as a Result of Promoting Others
- It reinforces the good writing of others
- It invites other members to check out this good writing and its authors
- It piques the interest of others who are not yet members of HubPages
- It sets a positive tone for this literary community
- It promotes a sense of ohana (family)
- It underscores the significance of social connections on HubPages
- It is an effective way to promote yourself
This "cast your bread upon the waters" approach has complemented my writing in helping me to establish a presence here on HubPages.
Best wishes to all of you for continued success in your writing endeavors.
Blessings and aloha!
Hawaiian Odysseus
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