Why This Blog?

I don't consider myself to be much of a writer. In fact, it's something i'm incredibly slow at. Despite this, i find two reasons leading me to keep this blog. The first and more interesting of the two is for the sake of honesty; both to keep myself accountable to living a year of honesty and to encourage You to do the same.

Something which seems ingrained into us is the propensity to lie about and hide our flaws. Not only does this create a culture of deception and isolate us from those around us, it's actually harmful to our attempts to improve ourselves. For me, it's as though i think i can hide my flaws from others while working on remedying them, leaving my friends to think i'm doing better than i really am. However, the wall i put up to hide the parts of me that i don't like, also keeps those who love me from being able to truly see me and either come to my aid when i have trouble or to help check me when i'm getting ready to make a mistake. The result is that i'm left to struggle on my own, proud and isolated, and my friends don't really know me. It's a sad price to pay to keep our egos intact (and who do we think we're fooling, anyway?)

Secondly, i hope to use this blog as an outlet for sharing and developing my ideas and hopefully find some companionship in those who think about life similarly. 

Over the past few years, as my philosophy and approach to life has become more developed and personalized, i've felt increasingly alone. Due to my naturally outgoing personality, the pool of my social life is more than large enough to supply me with people to spend time with. If i ever feel lonely, i have many loving friends, all of them truly beautiful people, who will be there for me. But there are precious few souls i feel a kindred spirit with. I don't think myself any smarter than my friends - far from it - but i must be honest in saying that the deep thoughts and ideals of life which consume my energy and passion, seem to be far from the minds of those around me. In this regard, though i love them, i am unable to connect with them about those things which seem to make up a part of my very soul. The connection we have seems somewhat empty, for, having to leave a part of me behind, it's only what's left of me that can connect with them. 

It could be that most of them weren't taught to think like this or that, while caring about these issues, they are unsure of how to approach or discuss them. It is my hope that in writing about these things which drive me, i'll find we have more in common than i thought and my agonizing feelings of isolation will instead be replaced by the joy of camaraderie. 

My goal in this blog isn't to teach You but rather - to the best of my ability - give an accurate and honest account of my life in the hopes that You'll be encouraged to live Your life a bit more honestly as well. For the next year (at least) i'll use this blog to share with You stories from my day to day life, both the ugly and the pretty, the happy and the sad. Some days i'll be the hero, others, the villain. But whatever the day, i'll always be me. No masks or lies to hide behind.

Perhaps that degree of honesty makes You uncomfortable. Perhaps You're already perfectly honest and don't struggle with social pressure to maintain an image. Perhaps You're already perfect. 

But i'm not. 

I am who i am, and i want to be honest about who that man is. If and of that interests You, i'd love to have You come with me on this journey. We can travel across this confusing landscape together, finding answers to hard questions and understanding ourselves a little better as we go. 

The pursuit of honesty will at times be difficult, but i believe what's at the end of this adventure will be more than worth the cost of getting there.