The road less cycled

Why keep a blog? My sister thinks blogs are stupid – why go to the effort of publicizing your thoughts? If people are truly interested, there’s this device called the telephone… and something called “face-to-face communication”… (which our frenzied lives don’t seem to allow time for anymore…)

Garth Turner blogs because he’s an M.P. and what he thinks matters. Ditto for Christopher Bennett, former Green Party of B.C. leader (see my Blogroll for both). Which isn’t to say that only politicians and leaders have reason to blog – far from it. Everybody has something to contribute. The question is, is a blog the forum in which to do it? Many blogs I read don’t seem to have a definite purpose, and as far as I can see, aren’t much more than, “Gee, I have some really profound thoughts that the world should know about.”

Some say blogging is about developing writing ability. To some, it’s a free and convenient soapbox (nothing wrong with that…more people should have one (a soapbox that is, doesn’t have to be a blog) and actually put them to some use. Stick your neck out. Create an intellectual mess. Get yourself burned a few times. Set some wheels in motion. And then listen to the responses you hear coming back. It’ll become second nature).

To others, blogging is simply the easiest, and most efficient, way to stay in touch with friends and family, where you can transcribe a sanitized version of your true self.

Where does mine fall? I think it’s about the sharing of ideas. A way to get some feedback. A measuring stick, if you will. It’s not about who’s dating whom, or that the Canucks lost a nail biter and I’m devastated, or who annoyed me on my drive to university.

As much as my blog is a window into my life, it’s a smörgåsbord of ideas. A palate of possibilities. Yes, it’s a soapbox, but it’s also a tuning fork, a sharpening stone, a vehicle for the mind, an interactive forum. Please, if what you read intrigues you, leave a comment. Put in your two cents. Make your mark. Come back for more. If you’re bored shitless, tell me that too.

In Dutch we have a beautiful saying, which, roughly translated, goes, “The tongue runs over with the contents of the heart.” So, consider this an overflow of my heart – well, as much as I think people want to hear, anyway . Expect lots of internal musings – salmon and streams, community and culture, power and politics, mundanity (my spell check says that’s not a word – if not, it should be) and insanity, the simple and the sublime. If that’s your cup of tea, well, come along for the ride.

The future is ours. Dare to dream. Share your dream. Live your dream.