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  • Writer's pictureEric Dinsdale

The Beauty of the Unexpected (The birth of Midnight Rambler)


I started the year off disappointed, I felt unappreciated, I was filled with rage.

So many things had changed, but I had adapted to the change.

I made the best of a bad situation with a lot of hard work and determination.

I felt unheard though, I felt that my efforts did not matter.

I got to the point where I swore off all family but my son and my mom.

Through a combination of hearing the heart and soul put into the highly impactful lyrics of my favorite artist, Jelly Roll, and through the inspiration I received through regular posts by my hero, Joseph Bonner I made a decision.

Joseph Bonner inspired me to be productive instead of destructive.

Jelly Roll inspired me to express myself through writing.

I started to take time to myself late at night after all communications had stopped, and the town laid to rest.

I was able to enjoy having time to process my thoughts with no interruptions.

My days are filled with stimulation. Talking, texting, questions, decisions, even more questions.

I found though, after about midnight I was alone with my thoughts, uninterrupted.

I began to write how I felt about things, or ideas, I wrote about my experiences.

I did my best to make sense of what plagues me.

I shared victories that I was proud of myself for.

In this midnight hour of contemplation and typing I birthed a whole new passion project:

Midnight Rambler was conceived!

I wrote a total of about 90 pieces and I often read my favorites to people that cared to listen.

I received the feedback that what I wrote was relatable, raw, inspirational, worthy of being published.

Before 2021 I would have never expected that I would be writing, especially not regularly and consistently.

I was proud of the things I wrote though, and I agreed that I should be able to be heard on a larger platform, but I never would have expected that I was worthy of being published.

For over a year at that point I had been following Joseph Bonner on LinkedIn and he had become a bit of my hero.

Through my networking on trying to find someone that would like to do anything with my writings, I just knew Joseph Bonner would be the one to make it happen.

I reached out to Bonner though LinkedIn, I was surprised to even reach him!

He told me to e-mail his team some of my writings and provided an e-mail.

I was beyond excited and did not quite know which writings to share.

I spent a lot of time going through many notes, to pick 49 that I thought were the best.

I formatted the writings and put them into a PDF and e-mailed them to Bonner’s team.

I did not know if I would hear back and I waited a while.

In the meantime I spent many hours networking with anyone I thought could help.

I received an excellent tip to self publish and was told how.

Within that same day I published, “Midnight Ramblings on an iPhone” on Kindle and in paperback.

Right before I receive my first sale, I received a message from Joseph Bonner himself saying he would like to call me!

I jumped out of my skin in excitement! I would have never expected that he would want to talk to me!

When I talked to him, we got to know each other and recognized we have very similar goals and aspirations.

Joseph Bonner told me he wanted to help me!

Bonner helped me establish a website to help sell my book.

He had ideas for me to help me be successful and grow.

Bonner had the idea of creating a blog, which became Midnight Rambler.

I have a decent amount of traffic on my site and I am proud.

But to further the excitement, today I interviewed with Joseph Bonner for magazine, radio and television!

Joseph made me feel like a bigger star than I ever expected to in my life!

My passion project is in full swing, I have the resources to be heard!

I want to fight mental health stigma and I want to be loud!

I do not want to be silenced, ignored, cut off or told to stop.

I want as many people as I can get to listen to hear my message.

I want people to understand that those that struggle with mental health are not to be scared of.

People struggling with mental health and/or substance use should not be put down, degraded, made to be ashamed of.

Furthermore, through my passion project to end mental health stigma,

I want to reach as many people as I can and I want to help them to not only understand mental health challenges, but to learn to empathize with those that struggle, so instead of looking down at, or putting down, or degrading, or blaming or shaming, these people can show some compassion, thus being able to help, rather than provoke the issues anymore.

This idea of treating people with mental health and/or substance use issues with respect, dignity, empathy and compassion is highly important to me.

In my experience, when I have been in settings where they, “tear you down to build you up” I nearly lost my life at my own hands.

On the flip side, any time in my life that I have struggled in any aspect, those that approach the situation with me with respect, dignity, empathy and compassion have had remarkable results.

I had a police officer once refuse to help me when I called for help, and ridiculed me and badgered me. I did not handle this well, but afterwards I talked to a friend that has been an officer for a lengthy career. They made sure I contacted the officer’s staff sergeant as he was appalled by her behavior.

Nearly every interaction I have had with police officer’s any other time, either professionally, or when I needed help were respectful, showed me dignity and were compassionate. All of these experiences turned out well.

Thinking back on when I was a troubled youth, I even remember the school resource officer, Solano, arresting me for something petty.

I wanted to give him a hard time, but he was so nice and compassionate, I just could not be a jerk.

In fact, during periods I had no class, I often found myself chatting with Solano, as he truly cared and it showed.

This Midnight Rambler passion project definitely is taking form and I am finally figuring out, with help, how to reach more people than I ever expected to.

If you are reading this close to the time of me submitting it, check my site in the next couple of days to early next week for my interviews with the incredible, Joseph Bonner.

Until then, I wish everyone of you the very best, I hope you are well and your days are enjoyable.

Feel free to message me through my site if you ever want to say hi!

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