Revisiting some thoughts I had last year on blogging for a year, making discoveries, and on Columbus Day, which is tomorrow, 13 October…..

This year on 14 October we are celebrating, or not celebrating, depending on your world view, Columbus Day.

Either he discovered something, or was terribly lost, and then found by people who already lived where he landed.

But since it is also the day that marks one year since I have been blogging for Reflection and Choice, I am here to tell you: sometimes, whether you know it or not, you are both lost and found, unsure and triumphant.  Clueless, yet on your way to the epiphany that you never saw coming, the shore that you thought you would never see.  It’s the price of the ticket, the risk of the voyage.  You don’t know how it will end.

When I was asked to start blogging, I have to confess that I dragged my heels for about two months.  Like Columbus and his voyages, I wasn’t exactly ready to say “Bon Voyage.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want to do it:  it was more that I did not know what I was doing. When Columbus was asked to find the East Indies, I am sure he said, “Sure, where are the East Indies?”  Much like I said, “Sure, what is a blog?”  Whenever I have a student say, “I have never written anything like this before,” I can honestly say, “I know what you mean.”

So it is true, I admit it, I was a little intimidated, and unlike a paper that you hand into a professor (as in, ONE person), you have no idea how many people will read your blog. Like landing on the shores of an unfamiliar island, there is no way of knowing if the natives will welcome you like a god, or harpoon you like a whale.  It can get dicey. Continue reading →