*Author’s Note:* this is admittedly a bit of lazy work today, but I’m posting this to show how far I’ve come and provide some clarity to where I am going. I wrote this tiny piece sometime around 2012 (roughly 4 years before this post). It’s cute that I thought 400 words was an acceptable length for a quality blog post: now I am bobbing around 1000, and even that is a bit on the low side. Read on and see how silly I was – and in four more years I’ll look back at this and see how silly I am. Still… onward!
Direction (Or Lack Thereof)
Before I had direction – that is, before technical school, before meeting the perfect woman, before Christ (all Christians have a BC era), before Dave Ramsey and Dan Miller and Craig Groeschel and Francis Chan and all the other public figures I chose to inspire myself by listening to – I had no idea where I was going.
I was like all the other high school graduates. I was happy that school was over. Happy to finally move on to the “adult life.” But now that the twelve years of trial and hell were over, the big question for all of us was… now what?
This is the most critical point in the period of youth: time to make a decision. Would I choose to grow up or continue to act like a child? Let things happen to me or make things happen? Be tossed by the waves of the ocean, or work my happy little arms off paddling in a certain direction?
I was like everyone else for awhile. I waited for wind when I had no sail. Tried getting jobs. Tried going to college and “picking” a major. Even tried going to church. As if any of this would actually help me, I showed up and did what I was supposed to do and hated it. I eventually got so fed up with the motions that I quit it all.
I couldn’t explain the totality of the process in 100,000 words, let alone a blog post. But if I had to sum it all up in one idea, I’d say this: I chose a direction. It took a lot of experimentation and I had to go in a lot of different directions before I found one that was promising. To be honest, most of the time I was running on empty (and that sometimes is still true today). Yet here I am.
This blog is now in a similar position. It needs a direction. Although I have chosen a theme, it remains to be broad and rather ambiguous. It will take some whittling and sanding before it finds the style that best suits it. And although it will be ever-changing, it will take some experimentation to find an area that works well.
And that in itself will be an experience. Experiences being one thing which I originally planned to write about (and still do), we can’t go wrong.
*And this one is even older: my first post on that craptastic free blog:*
Blog Life (Original post)
This will be my third or fourth time attempting to start a blog. When I did it before, I would make four to six entries and stop writing in it. Why?
Well, for one, I wasn’t committed. I told myself I was, but I wasn’t. Additionally, I was not at all disciplined (which is why I couldn’t commit) and was fairly apathetic. Another reason that I’m sure of is that I chose the wrong subject matter. There was either too much to write about or too little; I would either be overwhelmed with possibilities or overwhelmed with trying to think of something. Also, I had no accountability. I didn’t ask enough people to read it. I didn’t try to share it much.
What makes me think this one will be different? Well, I don’t necessarily think that for sure. I’m just sort of hoping. But a lot of things have changed since those first failures. I’ve learned a lot, time has passed, and I now am much more disciplined. Perhaps this will be the one.
As far as subject matter, I suppose I chose a fairly broad topic this time as well. But I don’t think it will be too incredibly difficult to choose what to write about; after all, only so much can happen in life at once, right? Well, that’s my theory anyway. My only regret is that I didn’t start this blog last Autumn. School was an extremely fun and eventful time for me. Perhaps I will have flashback posts, like a filler episode in a long television show.
We’ll just have to find out.
In the Now
Something interesting about the first post above is that it sounds confident and optimistic. Since then I have felt so hopeless and desperate about the whole “life direction” thing. I don’t know what I thought I was doing with that old blog, but I guess I needed to try it to know I enjoyed it.
Anyway, my official Boothe Blog was born of it (eventually) and within a few months I was sure of its themes and purpose. I know that this one is actually “the one” and I knew that when I bought the domain name. Boothe Blog is here to stay and I’m even pretty confident in its mission and direction.
I am excited to see the growth of the blog and anxious to see it fit into community of believers while also speaking meaningfully to those outside the faith.
If you’re one who has hopped on so early and read, commented, or shared, I can’t thank you enough. You’re apart of the foundational building blocks it takes to get a site like this off the ground. You are greatly appreciated and my deepest gratitude goes to you.
Sentiments aside, I welcome you all to join me in this exodus as we continue to explore matters of life, truth and freedom.
God bless,
Tennyson Boothe