Everything I’ve ever learned about writing points to the comfort and convenience of the reader. Consider your audience before you start throwing words at the page. Years ago I belonged to a writer’s group in Michigan that had thirty to forty aspiring writers. There were a few published authors and others who earned their livings as technical writers but the rest of us were trying to hone skills, wishing someone would take notice. Those people who laid eyes on my work and offered their best advice, they identified as writer-readers. They asked questions about why this and did you think about that. We all wanted the same thing, effortless reading with good story. I don’t enjoy that luxury anymore.
In the 21st century my following has shrunk to single digits and from that shallow pool get little or no feedback. But that's alright. I write in self defense, quoting Ellie Wiesel, writing to understand more than to be understood, and I do that. A handful of friends and family check on my blog to learn where I am, sort of like Carmen Sandiego. But with Covid pandemic my travels and activity have been curtailed. So why write at all? It is still a case of self defense, of processing ideas and making meaning.
At this point I have very few secrets or untold stories. I read opinions and general interest articles in the news but that is how those writers earn a living. My views depend on my experience and much of that is what I read. Take my opinion and $2.60 and you can swap them for a cup of coffee. Me delving into controversy serves no purpose. I have fact-checked my feelings and conceded that by definition conservatives are not as bad as I want to believe and that progressives are probably no better. Trusting your feelings is unreliable at best and changing the way one feels about anything is a mysterious thing, more an after-the-fact discovery than an in-the-moment decision. Indirectly (or directly) religion influences discussion and generates strong opinion. Organized religion is very important, like grease on the gears for civilization to function but as individuals, one can take it or leave it, however it makes you feel. I have been leaving it.
In the 21st century my following has shrunk to single digits and from that shallow pool get little or no feedback. But that's alright. I write in self defense, quoting Ellie Wiesel, writing to understand more than to be understood, and I do that. A handful of friends and family check on my blog to learn where I am, sort of like Carmen Sandiego. But with Covid pandemic my travels and activity have been curtailed. So why write at all? It is still a case of self defense, of processing ideas and making meaning.
At this point I have very few secrets or untold stories. I read opinions and general interest articles in the news but that is how those writers earn a living. My views depend on my experience and much of that is what I read. Take my opinion and $2.60 and you can swap them for a cup of coffee. Me delving into controversy serves no purpose. I have fact-checked my feelings and conceded that by definition conservatives are not as bad as I want to believe and that progressives are probably no better. Trusting your feelings is unreliable at best and changing the way one feels about anything is a mysterious thing, more an after-the-fact discovery than an in-the-moment decision. Indirectly (or directly) religion influences discussion and generates strong opinion. Organized religion is very important, like grease on the gears for civilization to function but as individuals, one can take it or leave it, however it makes you feel. I have been leaving it.
Now I’m getting into troubled waters. I remember Madalyn Murray O’Hair from the 1060’s, an atheist activist, committed to the separation of church and state. At the time she was generally portrayed as being both evil and unAmerican. At the time, if you were not WASP (White, Anglo-Saxon & Protestant) you began with two strikes against you. Catholics (beholding to the Pope) only had one strike, not Christian enough. I was never a Big B Believer but neither did I trouble the water. The fact that I can express doubt (unbelief) without consequence, it speaks to the times and not so much about me. That tolerance makes life a lot easier for folks like me than it was for Madalyn O’Hair.
My grandpa was an endearing old man. He loved us and we loved him back. He was a racist misogynist but he could repeat the Lord’s Payer which, at the time, covered a multitude of sins. Racism and misogyny have both wained in my lifetime but like winter’s chill, have come back around. In terms of lifespan, mine has surpassed his by nearly a decade and I think it gives me some perspective. He enjoyed some affection but not much respect, just an old man whose time was running out. All he had to feel good about was an alcohol buzz and a few like minded bigots who thought their self righteous prejudice be ordained by God. Whatever my shortcomings they are neither gender based nor racist. My feelings stir to the phrase, Liberty & Justice For All. The All part should actually mean just that, all, everyone, every gender identity, every color, every ethnicity. So said, I understand how difficult it is to change the way you feel and like my grandpa, I don’t have any regrets in that regard. He had his compass, I have mine but we would never agree on where to find true north.
I don’t think this exercise qualifies as a Rant. It is not a spontaneous outpouring, it has been thought out and lacks passionate overkill generally associated with rants. I have even left the door open with regard to change and ideology. After all, there was a time when social conservatives were deeply rooted in the Democratic Party. Things change and I want to be part of the change rather than choke on a hardboiled loyalty that has lost its salt. I have friends (people I know and get along with) and even family who think of me as a well meaning but woefully misguided old fool. Some even pray on my behalf that I regain my senses. I can’t dismiss that chance; stranger things happen but neither would you want to bet on that possibility. Nothing new here, not really but I wouldn’t want anyone, no not anybody to misread either my compass or my purpose.
My grandpa was an endearing old man. He loved us and we loved him back. He was a racist misogynist but he could repeat the Lord’s Payer which, at the time, covered a multitude of sins. Racism and misogyny have both wained in my lifetime but like winter’s chill, have come back around. In terms of lifespan, mine has surpassed his by nearly a decade and I think it gives me some perspective. He enjoyed some affection but not much respect, just an old man whose time was running out. All he had to feel good about was an alcohol buzz and a few like minded bigots who thought their self righteous prejudice be ordained by God. Whatever my shortcomings they are neither gender based nor racist. My feelings stir to the phrase, Liberty & Justice For All. The All part should actually mean just that, all, everyone, every gender identity, every color, every ethnicity. So said, I understand how difficult it is to change the way you feel and like my grandpa, I don’t have any regrets in that regard. He had his compass, I have mine but we would never agree on where to find true north.
I don’t think this exercise qualifies as a Rant. It is not a spontaneous outpouring, it has been thought out and lacks passionate overkill generally associated with rants. I have even left the door open with regard to change and ideology. After all, there was a time when social conservatives were deeply rooted in the Democratic Party. Things change and I want to be part of the change rather than choke on a hardboiled loyalty that has lost its salt. I have friends (people I know and get along with) and even family who think of me as a well meaning but woefully misguided old fool. Some even pray on my behalf that I regain my senses. I can’t dismiss that chance; stranger things happen but neither would you want to bet on that possibility. Nothing new here, not really but I wouldn’t want anyone, no not anybody to misread either my compass or my purpose.
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