Writing into the Void

When you write who knows who is reading. There is no visual feedback, no conversation. Unless you receive a letter or a comment you might as well just be journaling.

Before I became the feature editor at the Sentinel I had never written a column before. It scared me, to be quite honest. When you are writing news stories it is easy to hide behind the ‘facts’. Facts can’t be disputed (well they can, however that is why you take notes). Facts are solid. Facts are rock like.

My column isn’t. When I write my column I am exposing myself to ridicule, to disagreement. My column is all me. It’s my opinion, my thoughts. It’s scary. I’m not the kind of person who enjoys disagreement or strife. I would much rather people like me.

Well that’s not possible. People will always disagree with you. And to simply not speak your mind out of fear of disagreement is terrible.

If the framers of the constitution had not spoken up, simply out of fear of disagreement, where would we be now?

If President Lincoln had not insisted on maintaining the Union, where would we be now?

If Martin Luther King had simply taken the abuse, if he had taken the path of least resistance where would we be now?

That’s what I’ve been thinking about. I don’t mean to say that I’m in league with those great men (funny, I chose to just mention men, I guess that speaks to my basis). Just that it’s good to have an opinion. It is good to disagree and question what the authorities tell us. Thomas Jefferson believed that there should be a revolution every ten years. Well, I don’t think violence is the answer, but I think we need a revolution of thought every 10 years at a minimum.

So write, read, turn off the T.V. Step out of your car, ride a bike, take a hike, experience reality. Stop blindly believing all the crap that is shoveled into our consciousness. Stand up for your right as a human being to experience human feelings.

Writing is the great equalizer. If you are literate you can write. You can document your human experience. Now, with the age of the Internet, it is even easier to get your voice out there. No media conglomerate can or will stop you from saying what you want. So write something. Write anything. Start a blog. Publish yourself. Take part in democracy, question authority.

"I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude," Thomas Jefferson.