On writing a blog

I am finding that writing a blog is a challenge that requires careful consideration of several things.

The subject, of course, is the most important. I could write on many topics, but I choose ones that I think would interest my readers while reflecting the theme of Turn-Stone: how to be human and humane in an increasingly complex technological society. As I write my posts, I also think about how much of my own life I want to share with readers, an increasing number of whom are strangers.

Related to subject is tone. Given the concerns I have not only about contemporary American society but also about the human race in general, I try to avoid the pitfall of curmudgeon-ness, the addictive tendency to be a chronic complainer. Similarly, I keep in mind that cynicism is simplistic and reductionist, a luxury of the college sophomore on a full-ride scholarship. That doesn’t mean that I don’t grumble or serve up my ideas with a helping of skepticism, but I try to balance my criticisms with humor, self-deprecation, and hope.

That reflects my own nature. While I have deep doubts about contemporary society and fear for the future of my children (and at times myself despite my age), I begin almost every morning with a sense of possibility, an optimism that buoys me throughout the day. I may be in a handbasket and concerned about where it is going, but I savor the view of the passing countryside.

Nearly forty years ago, I read an anecdote, probably apocryphal, that has stayed with me; it in a way describes what I am trying to do with this blog:
One chill rainy night a well-to-do couple are walking along Fifth Avenue in New York City and come across a young man, all alone, holding up a sign protesting the Vietnam War. The couple stops and the older man says, “You don’t think you’re going to change the world by doing that, do you?” The young man replies, “Probably not, but by doing this, I want to keep the world from changing me.”