Intro: Why I Am Starting a Blog

In my first post, I laid out all the reasons why I shouldn’t start a blog. It was a real downer- but it ended with the obvious question: So why do it? Why add to the cacophony? Well, in spite of all the reasons why I should just shut my big yapper- I’m going to give it a go. Here’s why:

Sanity

First things first. I’m weird. Imagine that you had a magical mind-reading machine that could read thoughts. What if you pointed it at people walking down the street. What might you hear?

• “I need to add bread and milk to my grocery list”

• “I can’t believe she said that! She is such a brat...”

• “3 more months of busting my butt at this job and I better get a raise”

But what if you took that magical mind-reading machine and pointed it at the tall brown-haired guy sitting on the bench? You’d probably pick up an altogether different set of thoughts. You might even wonder if your machine (or the brain in question) was broken:

• “Was Augustine a pre-figure to our post-modern discontent- and does he hold the solution?”

• “Is it worth developing a meditation habit- and if so, how would I make it o’bvious, easy, attractive, and satisfying’?”

• “What are the real pros and cons of a smartphone and how easily could I mimic the functionality with a laptop?”

How do I say it?

• In a world of thinkers, feelers, and doers- I am a thinker (for better-or-worse).

• John Steinbeck would say: “Some men think big. Some men think little.” I think big.

• David Allen would say I’m a “50,000 ft.” thinker.

• Isabel Briggs-Meyers would say I’m an ENTP

• Clifton would say my strengths are Input, Ideation, Strategic, Woo, and Connectedness

• Most people would say I’m a bit of an absent-minded professor.

I remember one time a college roommate walked into my room, saw me on my couch staring out the window and after puzzling for a second, asked: “Are you just... thinking?”

Yes, Erich. Yes, I was.

If I’m honest, the allure of a blog is simply a place to get my thoughts out of my head. A real-life pensieve that alleviates the pressure of what feels like approximately ten trillion thoughts per day bouncing around between my ears with nowhere to go.

And if I’m lucky the ‘pressure release’ function of this blog could be two-fold by helping facilitate...

Better Conversations

Even if you’re not a ‘thinky’ person, I’m hoping you can at least empathize with this situation:

It generally takes two interested parties to have a conversation about something. But what if your mind is regularly in a different place than the people around you? This isn’t meant to be a sob-story and I actually have a number of people in my life with whom I have great, interesting conversations- but even there, I often find my capacity for exploring ideas is 10x that of those around me - and the overlap with an individual person is hard to encompass the breadth of all that I just find interesting.
I think the reality for people who think about ‘different stuff’ a lot is a sense of loneliness. It’s not a lack of great people in your life- it’s a loneliness of thought- a sense of only really sharing a small portion of who you are.

Even if you are intent on having a conversation of substance, there’s a whole slew of sticky social norms fighting against you. Conversations tend to rise to shallow levels to meet up at some shared common denominator. 2/3 people are generally not interested in abstract thought and even those that are abstract thinkers may not be interested in expressing those abstract thoughts via conversation.

And even if you do happen to be around someone who’s interested in something you’re thinking about- life may not give you the context, time, or energy to have the conversation you’d like to have.

But what if I had a blog? What if my friends and family, at their own leisure, could read with full context all about what is going on behind these eyes?

For one, I would just be thrilled that they read it and that they know. But the other thing that could happen (which would be incredible) would be something like this.

Instead of: “Hey man- how are the kids doing?” one of my friends could lead off the conversation like this:

“Hey man, I read that post on Atomic Habits- where you talked about setting up an environment that facilitates the person you want to be. Do you think that could that help me with my weight loss goal?”

or:

“I read that thing you said about secularization in America and I didn’t agree with that part you said about the differences between America and Europe. Here’s what I think.”

In my wildest fantasies, the presence of this blog would double down on the therapeutic aspect of getting thoughts out of my head. I wouldn’t just be writing my thoughts- but the arc of my conversations could change by giving people a free ‘pre-glimpse’ into who I am and what I think.

We are at a cultural turning point.

A lot of things are getting better and a lot of things are getting worse. Different people will have their opinions on which is which- but no one denies that the world is changing at an ever-increasing rate and that we are living- and will live through- things that our grandparents couldn’t even conceive of.

With all the that’s come in the last twenty years and all that it enables- we are changing- quickly- how we perceive and process the world. Some changes are good. Some are not. This blog could end up being a total dud- but as crazy as it sounds I want to attempt having some kind of positive influence on the conversations that we’re having as a culture.

I will not be around forever (but this blog could be)

What if I got hit by a bus tomorrow? It would be sad. It would be difficult for my wife and kids. And yet, one of the thoughts that strikes me as most sad is that my kids wouldn’t know me. Yeah, they’d have a few pictures and some stories that people would tell. But they wouldn’t know me- my thoughts, how I would have guided them or thought about all the things that life will throw at them. With a blog, they could read and then completely disagree with my take on life and go another way- but at least they would know.

Even if I am around for my kids, the reality is that when they are 18 I’ll be almost 50. But if I write- if I freeze my 33-year-old thoughts before I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be 33… or 18 for that matter- then my grown kids will have access not just to my present 50 year old thoughts, but also my 33 year old thoughts as well.

The reality is the metaphorical bus is heading for all of us- we will die whether it’s tomorrow or in seventy years. Writing and creating has the magical property of being able to transcend time to speak to people years- or generations- into the future.

I’m no Charles Dickens and so while high school classes probably won’t be reading me for 10th grade comp- it’s a crazy thought that my great-great-grandkids will be able to see my facebook profile, watch me grow from a kid to an elderly man through Google Photos and- if I write them down- know my very thoughts.

It might even help someone

Ok, so a lot of those reasons are about me. My desire to ‘express myself’, feel known, have better conversations, etc. etc. A hope, a wish, a prayer, though- is that my writing might help someone live a better life, make sense of things, or even just feel less alone.

So, there you go. Success? Failure? We will see.