This strikes me as a fair question. After all, if I am going through the trouble of writing these blogs and then posting them on a website, for all the world to see, I must have a purpose. Right?
I suppose. I suppose some people are expecting a big reveal at some point. Maybe I will show the solution to some long-puzzled problem or have a clever idea or insight to offer at the end of the road. This is where I show off my as-of-yet, previously undiscovered talent. Or secret.
Perhaps there is a secret project that I have been working on in the basement. Perhaps that is what I have been doing for the past too-many-to count decades.
Perhaps. But I don’t think so. Nor do I think of this as some sort of therapy, where I finally figure out and then get to announce – it was really mom’s fault! Or Sister Marianne Joseph’s. Or maybe Mr. Crazy Appleseed. Or none of the above.
No, I don’t think so. That is what I have dreams for – to figure those things out.
Rather, I think the real reason I am writing these short pieces is mostly to see where I am going. Kind of like walking with words. One foot in front of the other, one word after another, and see where you end up. The logic of the trek will reveal itself, with myself as a passenger as much as anyone else.
It is funny – if you see someone walking along the street – maybe a neighbor you see while you are on your front porch – it would be perfectly natural to ask him or her a question along the lines of “where are you going?” That is, if you are curious enough and you know your neighbor well enough.
You probably wouldn’t ask him or her the question, “why are you walking?” At least not as a first question. You might, as a follow up, though, ask, “why aren’t you driving?”. Of course, that wouldn’t make much sense as a next question if their answer to the first question was, “to see where I am going.” That would kind of be like asking me, with regards to this blog – “well, why aren’t you reading a book?”.
I don’t know why I am not reading a book. I have plenty of them. Some of them do take me to very surprising places. Most (many) are written better than this page is.
I guess it is the act of doing. And sharing. It is hard for me to write without at least some sense of awareness of who it is that I am writing for – even if it is not for a specific person.
So, perhaps this is my way of reaching out. And being communal. And participating. One more way – those are things I try to do already anyways. But, I kind of like trying to do those things this way as well. It is good exercise, I get to breathe some fresh air and see interesting things along the way.
And maybe, if I am doing it right, get to tell you about it in a way you, too, find interesting.
Enjoy!
July 5, 2023
Interesting selection of topics!