Welcome to the beginning!

Here we are.  Standing before the dark forest.  Unsure whether to proceed.  So many of life's decisions, be they major life changing events or simply what flavor of Skittles to eat next, begin with the uncertainly of choice.  With choice comes decision, and with decision comes consequences.  There's a good reason why Dante claims that those remaining indifferent have a special place amongst the damned, especially in times of great crisis.  Whether one takes this view as scripture depends entirely upon how you engaged with the piece of literature La Divina Comedia.  And that, my friends, will be a central theme of this blog/project.  I am of a mindset that every once in a while, something is created by humanity that it has the capacity to alter one's consciousness and truly affect an individual's perception on the life they lead.  It confronts us and demands that questions be asked.  It may not provide concrete answers.  Indeed, it's quite possible that it will lead to many more questions, as Dante's masterpiece has done for me.  But life is all about the questions, and searching for the answers to those questions.  So when one of my friends acquaintances, relatives, co-workers, etc. ask me just what is it that attracts me to this piece of poetry written 800 years ago, my initial response is that it acts like a mirror.  The deeper i gaze into the work, the more i find out about myself.  This happens with many, many great works of creation.  Certainly the major religious texts can act this way.  I am certain that there are pieces of music that have informed me of aspects of my inner self, as there are paintings, works of architecture, ballets, plays, movies, televsion shows.  The list is too long and too subjective. 
I have started several Dante blogs, and abandoned them for a variety of reasons, mostly my own neglect and lack of follow through.  I begin this blog with a slightly different approach. Call it the breaking bad approach.  I know the ending, or rather, the bookend.  I have, after this first introductory rambling, limited myself to 100 postings, each coinciding with the 100 Cantos of The Divine Comedy.  I don't intent this to be a retelling; in fact there may be posts that seem only to allude to the Canto of the day.  There are far more adept literary critics for that type of analysis.  If you want a recap of the story, well, Dante is having a midlife crisis, finds himself in the afterlife, journeys from hell to purgatory and finally to the throne of God in Paradise, all the while learning about his own need to transform his desires.  No, this is my meager attempt to explore many different aspects of the work as mirror to one's own experiences.  I want to look at the many layers, sometimes gazing at the numerology, other times the hisotircal significane, still other times the mystical connotations, and yes, even the plot itself.  All that, plus whatever connections I can make with modernity.  After all, these dusty old tomes are considered "timeless" for a reason.  I hope i can bring some of that out.  Until the next, first post, when I theorize as to why I believe there are actually 99 Cantos, plus an introduction.