New Blog Direction

I have been thinking about the direction of this Hawkeye Ovals blog for a while.  I haven’t had much to say as far as racing content the past couple of years, as you can tell.  I’m so immersed in the social media aspect today with racing and the lengthy blog doesn’t seem like the place for a weekly or monthly blog for me, especially when I can share thoughts immediately via Twitter.  The other thing is that time hasn’t been on my side with a baby and two jobs.  I also have to save some things for my bi-monthly column in FlatOut Magazine.  So I am headed into a new direction to keep this blog relevant.

For some reason I feel inspired to write about my own life right now.  For one thing, I find writing therapeutic. My English teachers in school of all levels would fall over in shock knowing this today. I hated school from second grade until my last year or so of college. But I’m ready to tell some life stories and I am hoping that I can help some people along the way.

Here’s the short bio of me. 

I was born in Albia, Iowa on February 13, 1974 to Stephen and Carol Arnold. We lived in Lovilia, Iowa which is about 20 minutes south of Knoxville on highway 5.  That is where my parents grew up. We moved to Newton in 1976 since my Dad was working at Maytag in the factory. From there we stayed in Newton for a long time, my sister Stephanie came along in 1977. I graduated from Newton in 1992 and went to community college.  My parents decided to move to Knoxville in 1994 and so I followed them there with me still being in college. In 1996 I ended up working at PPI in Pella and still do. I got married the first time in 2002 and moved back to Newton. My Dad died in May of 2010 and then I got divorced at the end of 2010. That led me to move back to Knoxville with my Mom to help her with things after Dad died, and it was good to be around her at that low point in my life. I remarried in 2013 and moved to Oskaloosa where I am today. 

I grew up loving sprint car racing and bowling. Those were the two things I really cared about in life until I had children.  I retired from bowling in 2013, and then became more involved in racing by first volunteering to work at Knoxville Raceway and now it’s a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, and I love it.

There is a lot of other stuff that’s happened to me that connects all of those dots. We will explore more of that later.

I have struggled with depression since I was 7 years-old after a tragic car wreck that killed my Grandma, two of my cousins, and nearly took my sister.  That was a major turning point in my life, but it took me several counseling sessions to learn that.  I have made one suicide attempt which thankfully did not end my life.  I have never spoken publically about it.  I feel like now is a good time to start talking about it though.  Yes it is embarrassing, but suicide is a big deal and I don't think we are doing enough about it in this world.  I've lost friends in recent years to suicide and I would like to start helping people if I can somehow.  We all have bad days.  Life can suck and seem pointless at times.  But trust me when I say that there is always some light down that dark road that is so hard to see. So I hope to help people who struggle with depression and anxiety like I do.  I’m no doctor, but I am an advocate of seeking professional counseling. I have been in and out of counseling for years and it’s been a huge help for me. If there is one thing I want for people to get out of this in the end, it is to not be ashamed of seeking help and counseling.

More to come in the future.  I need a new name for this blog. Any suggestions?

My personal email is ericarnold21374@yahoo.com if anyone feels like contacting me.