Writing, although enjoyable, have never been my strongest ability. In school, I knew how to get by, placating teachers with essays that I knew they would like. I really enjoyed mathematical and scientific thinking: the objectivity, the discovery process, the "rules" that the natural world had to follow. It wasn't just the written word either. My sister and I devoured books growing up, developing a love for reading when we didn't have Television. But the writing part of English class was just something I had to do pass my classes. Never enjoyable. Never easy.
In the list below, I've tried to outline the reasons why I want to write and become a better composer of the written word. The list is as much to encourage others as it is to remind myself that I do indeed want to continue writing.
1. Sharing my Life with My Family and Friends
Much of the original intention with this blog was to share my antics with my family of friends. I don't know if it will ever grow big enough to have a larger audience than that; I don't know if I want it to. There may be future pursuit of that elsewhere, but I want a small, personal, and very informal place in which to share my thoughts and aspirations. My extended family is pretty widely spread over the country and I don't see them very much. This documentation allows frequent "life updates" without scheduling phone calls. Also, I wouldn't describe myself as a very good communicator (see item number 3 below) and when I do have conversations via phone or email this blog hopefully provides conversation stimuli.
2. Documentation of my Outdoor Pursuits
I read a lot of blogs online, note the "Blogs I Follow" links in the right hand column, as well as various climbing and outdoor magazines (see item number 4 below). Naturally I developed a desire to document my own outdoor endeavors. It's probably a pipe dream, but to actually get paid or get gear compensation some day from an outdoor sports company or publication for my writing would be amazing. In addition, I have really enjoyed reflecting on the trips that I have been taking over the course of the last year or so. Writing stories down and posting them with pictures reminds me of how good the event actually was and I can go back and remember the time with more accuracy and vividness. Reflection on the events also allows me to go beyond a "Wow" phase that I often have during the course of the day and into an "Oh yeah" phase, connecting events and applying them to other parts of my life. They can't help but make me grateful for a creator God who has blessed me richly. I hope this is mirrored in my writing. And who knows, maybe all this will be material for a book that I write some day...
3. Become a Better Communicator
I find that I haven't been able to express myself very well in the past. Extended phone conversations were exhausting, coffee table-type conversation was a struggle, and any kind of debate was unheard of. By formulating my ideas and thoughts while writing (see also item number 5 below) it has allowed me to have more confidence in verbal communication. I can better express my feelings, desires, and opinions if I have thought about them in advance and then actually synthesize strong stances on new items more rapidly.
4. Provide some Output with all the Input
It was my senior year in college when I decided to start this blog, just under a year ago from writing this post. I was having discussion with a roommate of mine about how we are amazing consumers of media in this day and age. We are constantly being bombarded with information through books, magazines, the internet, television, and radio. But it doesn't truly affect us until we output something ourselves, when we wrap up all of the other opinions and facts out there and make it our own. Our college professors and other teachers have it figured out: you can lecture students all day long and assign them reading after reading but they won't actually learn the material unless you force them to react to it, whether that's writing a paper or solving a bunch of problems. Application of knowledge is when it really sticks in our brain.
5. To Develop my Ideas and Beliefs
Along the same lines of becoming a better communicator and balancing the output with the input, when I write I gain more control of who I am as a person. When I put my thoughts and feelings and opinions in words where I can reread them or change them, instead of flying randomly around in my head, it grounds me and lets me choose where I really stand. I find that I waffle a lot on tough issues, going along with the argument that I've heard most recently. But if I take the time to really think about an issue from all sides, taking into account all arguments that I've heard or read, and formulate them into my own statement or belief then later I'm am better prepared to communicate in conversation what I think. Certain topics of conversation, particularly politics and religion, seem to be considered taboo in a lot of settings. I imagine this is because those beliefs come too close to define who we are as individuals and any discussion or conversation that would question them or make you take a stand for them makes us uncomfortable because we feel like like it is questioning who we are or we have to defend ourselves. Through writing, I find that this discomfort is somewhat diminished.
