For years (and years) I have attempted to keep a blog. Without fail… I always fail. This track record of unkept blogs, however, has not deterred me from attempting to keep one again.
Given that I have set the bar so low, perhaps this time around I can be more successful.
Much of my writing has come in the form of mostly-finished short essays saved in Word docs– essays which never see the light of day. I keep telling myself that I will return to them, that I will take the time and finish them and post them, but I just never do.
The last time I had anything resembling an active online writing presence (2012?), I pulled back for a few reasons:
- I had just gotten married, and wanted (read: needed) to focus on my marriage.
- I had just started seminary, and wanted (read: needed) to focus on my formation, my vocation, and my studies.
- “Exposure” just wasn’t paying the bills. (I’m looking at you, HuffPost. And RELEVANT. And just about every other online thing that demands constant streams of content.)
- People aren’t super nice on the internet.
And while the 4th item hasn’t really gotten much better in recent years, the 1st item is going pretty well and the 2nd item is complete, so I thought I’d give this whole blog thing another go.
As for the 3rd item, I’m not looking for “exposure” or to grow a personal platform or “build my brand” with this site. I’m not interested in playing the “who can blog about it first” or the “who can have the hottest take” game that one has to play in order to get clicks and increase traffic. Instead, I’m just looking for a place to post my thoughts, a forum to share observations and pieces of writing.
Some of the things I will post will follow more conventional blog rules (e.g. stay within a certain word count, make paragraphs short and skimmable, etc.), while others might not. Some posts might be short works of fiction. Some might be thoughts or essays told best in long-form. Some might even come from sermons I preach. Basically, I’m not going to fuss over this thing too much.
This blog is what it is, and I’m glad you’re here.
CAMERON & SURPLICE 