Blogging without having the answers

Mon, 30 Jun 2014

For a long time I was reluctant to write a blog.  Part of my fear was a fear of saying things that I’d regret, or offending people, which I guess is fairly easily understandable (though so far, 43 posts in, I’m yet to have reason to regret anything I’ve posted on here).

The other part of my fear was that in thinking about things, and expressing my views, I’d become less flexible in my thinking.  There’s a theory that when people write down their beliefs on a topic, they start to see these beliefs as something to be defended, and attacks on their ideas as attacks on themselves.  I know it is possible, and I’ve certainly seen people take this stance on social media, clinging to ideologies longer and with greater strength than they should.

But I’m pleased to say I’ve since come to the conclusion that blogging won’t turn you into someone you’re not.  Just as caring, generous people stay caring and generous when they blog, if you start off curious about the world and flexible in your thinking, blogging about your thoughts won’t ruin that.

In my case, I’ve tried to approach my blog posts as an excuse to think about issues that I care about, that I know are more complex than the simplistic sound bites that are so often thrown about.  And generally, as I’ve thought and written, I’ve spotted even more dimensions to the issues or consequences.  My thoughts are clarified through writing, but that doesn’t generally mean my conclusions become set in stone.  And far from the idea that readers get bored by complexity and want strong conclusions (generally those that the reader already holds), I’ve been grateful to see that my readers are comfortable letting me hold back from making conclusions that I’m not comfortable reaching.

So, thank you for sticking with me.  I’m sure, just as with most things in the world including life itself, it isn’t clear where I’m ending up, but I’m enjoying the opportunity to take this journey.