And I don't mean "academic" in the stuffy, yes-quite kind of way, either. I mean that the decision to start this blog--a decision that came suddenly, without much by way of any warning--was a decision to speak. It was a decision to move from "Yes, that's something I care about, and I wish there was something I could do about it" to "Yes, I care about that, and here's what I think about it and here's what I'm doing to change things."
I love blogging. It has opened doors for me. It has allowed me to say things I wouldn't have otherwise had the space to say, to people I want to hear those things. And if I sometimes go a little overboard on extolling the virtues of blogging, it's only because I hope for everyone to experience a similar falling away of the weights and chains that for so long kept me close to the earth.
I have a dim memory of the person I was before--a much smaller, much timider person who was horrified at the prospect of taking up too much space or too much of your time. I know that version of me is killed for good, and I'm glad for it. I hope that all of you have the chance, at least once, to experience this kind of total transformation. I hope you get the chance to experience the power of some tool, some network, some community, some practice, online or off, to change your life and trajectory and goals and plans for good.
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4 comments:
Yay!
Congratulations!
Having and maintaining a blog is part fidelity, part love, and part addiction.
If a blogger doesn't write regularly, people stop reading, and that's a tragedy for any blogger. Also, if a blogger doesn't write regularly, the list of things that are blog-worthy starts piling up, and where do you begin when you return to the page?
The best part about blogging is that you get to think about something, and examine it, and hold it out to the world, and say, "Here, I got you this."
Happy blirthday!
I'm going to ask my students to read your post when they come into class tomorrow. They often see little point to writing, maybe because they're "trapped" in high school. Your reflection will remind them that words change things, and when writers exercise their voices, people listen.
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