Just start already.
The Law of Inertia has a powerful, mystical hold over me in most circumstances. It takes a massive force to get me from rest to go, and from go back to rest. In the case of writing this blog, I've been muttering about starting for a couple of months now, jotting down post titles on napkins and thinking about things that may inspire me to write. However, little inertia demons kept holding me back - I don't have the perfect title, I don't have the perfect image, I don't feel inspired to design the page. All of these reasons, as you may surmise, are pure horseshit. All can be changed later without, say, decimating the ozone layer or disrupting foreign policy. It's a bloody blog. So here I go, without the safety net of perfection, or even preparation, muddling back into the world of writing for the interwebs.
Why start a blog? Mostly, I want to recapture the excitement and fun I used to feel in writing. I'm a PhD student in history, and there is nothing that will beat the joy of writing out of you faster than going through grad school. When every single word you put on the page is torn apart for the sake of clarity and accuracy by approximately a dozen people, none of whom agree on what clarity and accuracy actually are, expediency replaces spirit. Brevity trumps luxuriating in the prose. Often, I reread my old work, and I realize that although I am a much clearer writer now, I am a far less inspired one.
Solution? To the interwebs! Where everything is ephemeral and has no consequences! Right? Right...?
In all seriousness, this is my space to play around with words and to work on articulating my thoughts that have no place in academia, but I feel are worth voicing anyway. There will be some sarcasm and biting social commentary. There will be some navel-gazing that might (and should) induce eye-rolling. There will be goofiness and pop culture. There will be pictures. But, most of all, there will be fun with words.
The Law of Inertia has a powerful, mystical hold over me in most circumstances. It takes a massive force to get me from rest to go, and from go back to rest. In the case of writing this blog, I've been muttering about starting for a couple of months now, jotting down post titles on napkins and thinking about things that may inspire me to write. However, little inertia demons kept holding me back - I don't have the perfect title, I don't have the perfect image, I don't feel inspired to design the page. All of these reasons, as you may surmise, are pure horseshit. All can be changed later without, say, decimating the ozone layer or disrupting foreign policy. It's a bloody blog. So here I go, without the safety net of perfection, or even preparation, muddling back into the world of writing for the interwebs.
Why start a blog? Mostly, I want to recapture the excitement and fun I used to feel in writing. I'm a PhD student in history, and there is nothing that will beat the joy of writing out of you faster than going through grad school. When every single word you put on the page is torn apart for the sake of clarity and accuracy by approximately a dozen people, none of whom agree on what clarity and accuracy actually are, expediency replaces spirit. Brevity trumps luxuriating in the prose. Often, I reread my old work, and I realize that although I am a much clearer writer now, I am a far less inspired one.
Solution? To the interwebs! Where everything is ephemeral and has no consequences! Right? Right...?
In all seriousness, this is my space to play around with words and to work on articulating my thoughts that have no place in academia, but I feel are worth voicing anyway. There will be some sarcasm and biting social commentary. There will be some navel-gazing that might (and should) induce eye-rolling. There will be goofiness and pop culture. There will be pictures. But, most of all, there will be fun with words.
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