THE PATH OF THE RONIN
Welcome to Sellsword
Art by Amir Briki
ro·nin /ˈrōnən/
noun HISTORICAL
(in feudal Japan) a wandering samurai who had no lord or master.
I remember being a kid when I first found out what a ronin was. Something about the idea of a masterless samurai spoke to me even as a child. It wasn't until I was older that understood why it did beyond me thinking a ronin was just cool.
I'm a loner by nature. I'm also a creative. It's who I am. Being those things put me on a certain path in life. Walking that path at times has been a hard one. But there was no other way for me. The scars accumulated along the way are many. You can see the obvious parallels I'm drawing.
Another name for a ronin is a sellsword. Which means what it sounds like: someone who sells their sword for the money.
If you break sellsword apart you get: sells word. Which is what I do.
A writer sells words.
I love names will dual meanings.
Is it self-mythology to compare one's life and/or journey to that of a samurai? In a word, yes. But I'm a writer. Sue me.
I don't carry a sword. I'm not living in feudal Japan. I don't kill other men for money.
But like the samurai, I have a code.
This code is simple. Embrace the path. Do things on your terms.
I don't want to be that guy who quotes Confucius. But it was Confucius who said, "Be your own man. Don't dick ride."
Okay. He didn't say that.
But I'd like to think he'd see the validity in the sentiment.
I carry a pen, not a sword. I live in the midwest, not feudal Japan. I kill men in stories for money, not in real life.
Most importantly, I have no master.
When I had my son I named him Ronin. Well, his name is Riley. His middle name is Ronin. A compromise I made with his mother.
I don't know how true it is that people take on the characteristics of the names they're given. But I do believe there's power in a name. My thinking behind giving my son that name was that he would embrace it. That he will grow to be his own man. Master of his own destiny.
That's what this newsletter is about. Being the master of one's own destiny.
To all the ronin wandering out there walking the path, the creatives, this newsletter is for you.
Welcome to Sellsword.