Blogging Reboot

I seem to have failed in my resolution to blog more last year. Let me rephrase that—I definitely failed in my resolution to blog more last year. In fact, three posts in the 2013 year and none since January are a pitiful representation of blogging. Considering that this blog only has six posts in the last two years, I would not be surprised if many readers assumed that the author was a derelict author who might never return. Well, the author certainly was derelict, but he has returned. I will make no pretensions this time about regularity of posting. However, my shift in focus may induce a greater quantity nonetheless.

In contemplating resuming blogging, I perused most of my previous postings. I realized that my focus was varied in the past, which is to be expected from someone like me with a variety of interests and passions. However, I was drawn to my very first post in which I stated my goal for the blog: 

"I do not seek to instruct others or even to entertain for the sake of those actions themselves; I merely communicate my thoughts, perspectives, and opinions in order to better understand them myself. If through my ramblings others find benefit, then my time is well-spent; if not, it is still well-spent, for I will be wiser about myself. Such is the desire of a philosopher."

In the past year or so, I have had ample opportunity for introspection, but I have too often done so only in my mind. As a natural writer, I find my thoughts to be more cohesive when they are written. Perhaps I would be well-served to write more of my thoughts down rather than trying to sort them out internally. I hope this blog will provide the appropriate outlet for these musings.

Of course, there are dangers associated with posting anything online. Facebook and Twitter have especially brought the dangers of instant communication to the forefront of social consciousness. In my opinion the greatest flaw of those mediums is their instant nature. People find it very easy to blurt out anything that is on their minds, no matter how irrational or insensitive or heedless of consequences they may be, because they lack the natural inhibitions of face-to-face communication. I have had to censor myself many times in those cases. 

The advantage of blogging over Facebook and Twitter is two-fold. First, blogging allows for significantly longer posts, which ideally should led to more well-thought-out posts. Second, blogging is much less time-sensitive than Facebook. A blogger can type a draft and then analyze it to discern if inappropriate emotion or logic is evident. 

I hope to follow both these guidelines in my future posts about my internal musings. I am certainly conscious of my responsibility to project a professional and Christ-like aura, both in person and in virtual space. Both my job as a car salesman and my role as a youth pastor require professionalism and a Christ-like attitude and demeanor. I certainly invite accountability on future posts in both of those criteria. However, I will not shy away from sensitive issues just to avoid conflicting opinions because that is not intellectually honest. If this blog is to truly be an outlet for my musings, I will relate musings of all stripes, some deep, some light-hearted, some existential, some very practical. I invite you to participate in my musings, but that is not my purpose for them. A philosopher may wish that others will be impacted by his thoughts, but he cannot place his success on the responses of others. A true philosopher thinks in order to better himself. Such is my goal. If anything beyond that occurs, it is by the grace of God.