This afternoon I was sharing a late lunch with a couple of friends, including fellow blogger Edward Carson. Carson is an active blogger, posting several times a week on various topics that interest him: history, politics, religion, teaching, etc. Today he said something interesting that I hadn’t really considered before. Allow me to paraphrase:
“I used to journal. My study at home is filled with notebooks. One day I started putting those thoughts up on a blog. It’s nice. I just get my thoughts out there…”
This attitude runs counter to how I have traditionally treated my blog. Honestly, dear reader, I agonize over most posts on this blog. I proofread things multiple times because I want there to be a certain undeniable level of polish and professionalism. I go to great lengths to create footnotes and to research and document many of the things that I write about.
But why?
I’m not saying that this post signals some kind of sea change, and that I’ll be posting whatever drivel runs through my whenever it runs through my head. No, that’s not my style.1 Instead, I’m thinking that I may allow a bit more of me to shine through these posts, rather than the carefully masked Stephen that hides behind well-documented research.
If I can’t go out on a limb on my own blog, then where can I go out on a limb?
Footnotes
- By the way, I do not mean to imply that Carson’s posts are drivel. If you check out the comments, you’ll see that they are often thought-provoking for me. ↩
I made up my mind when I started this blog thing not to get too caught up in writing posts that might appear at some academic conference; I probably should do more in the polish dept, but writing in a free “fold” manner has been nice. My blog goes from A to Z on topics, though most center around me as an active academic type with an interest in politics, teaching, and history. Nice post brother!!!