Why do I blog?

Some of the discussion in my essay from yesterday caused me to think a little more deeply about why I blog. I must admit that those reasons have changed and developed over time. I know that it differs for each person, and it’s probably true that their reasons for blogging might have changed over time as well. That being said, blogging is different for everyone, some people like to get the most followers (some even use things like this instagram followers service to help them become more popular), whilst others prefer to just blog about what they like and don’t care about their social media followers. But I’d like to talk a bit about my thoughts today, knowing they might change later.

Probably like most of us, my reasons for blogging are tied to the way I think and the kind of person I am. One thing that’s been true of me all my life is that I like to dig deep and ask tough questions about the big picture. That’s why Nightprowlkitty has dubbed me “Pandora.” Yeah, I’m always trying to open the box and see what’s inside.

Another way of looking at that is a story I’ve heard so long that I have forgotten its origins. If someone knows, please tell me in the comments. Anyway, the story is about two people who notice there are dead bodies flowing down a river. They furiously work to rescue the bodies until one notices the other is leaving. When asked why, the person responds that they are going upstream to see what’s causing all this. I’ve always been one that wants to head “upstream.” In my professional life, I work to support those who spend their days trying to “rescue the bodies.” But I also spend a fair amount of time trying to understand the root causes. I think both actions are needed. Its just that I’m better suited for the later.  

All this reminds me of a wonderful poem that has, at times, been a lifesaver for me. Its from the Northwest Native American tradition. The author is unknown, but it has been translated by David Wagoner.

Lost

What do I do when I’m lost in the forest?

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you

Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,

And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,

Must ask permission to know it and be known.

The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,

I have made this place around you.

If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,

You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows

Where you are. You must let it find you.

I don’t think any of us would dispute the fact that we in this country are lost. What I hear in this poem is that we need to pay a kind of radical attention to the world in order to understand where we are and find our way.

To bring this to political terms, I have always been a strong advocate for impeachment. That’s why I was so intrigued by an article written by Gary Kamiya about six months ago titled Why Bush Hasn’t Been Impeached. Here are a few snips:

Bush’s warmongering spoke to something deep in our national psyche. The emotional force behind America’s support for the Iraq war, the molten core of an angry, resentful patriotism, is still too hot for Congress, the media and even many Americans who oppose the war, to confront directly. It’s a national myth. It’s John Wayne. To impeach Bush would force us to directly confront our national core of violent self-righteousness — come to terms with it, understand it and reject it. And we’re not ready to do that.

Bush tapped into a deep American strain of fearful, reflexive bellicosity, which Congress and the media went along with for a long time and which has remained largely unexamined to this day. Congress, the media and most of the American people have yet to turn decisively against Bush because to do so would be to turn against some part of themselves.

A society without memory, driven by ephemeral emotions, which demands no consistency from its leaders but only gusty patriotism, is a society that is not about to engage in the painful self-examination that impeachment would mean.

I firmly believe that until we find a way to come to terms with this violent self-righteousness, nothing much will change, not matter how loudly we yell.

So I blog to learn, have my thinking challenged, and to find the support necessary to keep on keepin on. But mostly I blog to see if we can find ways to go upstream and locate some of the root causes of what is happening in our communities, our country and our world.