The Beginning of a New Blogging Era (I hope...)

"I should write in my blog." That statement has been echoing in my head for the last 6 months; however, it's been almost 10 months since I wrote a respectable post for this blog. It's not that I have nothing to write about--I just haven't felt like writing. When I experience something that inspires me, my brain automatically starts composing a post in my head and will not stop until I spew what's in my brain onto paper (or, in this case, into a blog template). This is what leads me to write, but it hasn't happened for months. Canada has an abundance of blog-worthy topics, but apparently nothing has moved my mind enough to want to write about it. Even now I'm having a hard time thinking about what to write in this post, but I figured that if I don't write something now, I never will. So, here it is: a blog post that I hope will motivate me to write more blog posts.

Um...

Well, as I now have more Canadian friends and acquaintances than I did the last time I wrote anything and therefore will probably have a few more readers of Canadian origin, it might be good for me to clarify a few items before I go on a writing rampage (if only that would happen). In one of my first and favorite posts, The Point of Canada, I wrote a disclaimer at the end that warned that I'll probably make a fair amount of ignorant or false statements and claims about Canada innocuously, and since then, I have not failed to to do just that. There are things I have written in this blog that I've later found to be wrong or incomplete--nothing too serious, but things people found significant enough to bring to my attention, which is much appreciated. I'll use this opportunity to repeat that I am no expert on Canada, its people, its government, economy, health care system, media, history, etc.; however, just because I'm not an expert doesn't mean I don't think I have anything of value to say, and I think it's really important for people to try to understand their surroundings and communicate that understanding to the rest of the world. As Kathryn Stockett says at the end of her fabulous novel, The Help: "Understanding is vital to our humanity." People like her who start important conversations like she did with her book are heroes. I want to be heroic too.

Now, this is not to say that I consider my writing ability or the subjects about which I write to be of the same caliber as those of Kathryn Stockett, but I can totally see something that I write to be of enough significance to be worthy of its own movie someday. For those new to my sense of humor, statements like that one are a reflection thereof and not of an underlying grandiose identity. A lot of what I write is simply for comedic purposes and not to be taken too seriously.

As mentioned above, I like to raise awareness about certain things with my writing, but I write largely for my own personal benefit. I often spend a lot of time researching the topics about which I write. Not that its anything extraordinary and probably has its own set of errors, but my piece comparing the rights of LGBT persons in Canada with the rights of those in the US took a great deal of time in particular, and even though I feel it's crucial for others to see the vast differences in legislation between the two countries, the composition of that post was mainly to educate myself on an issue I find incredibly important as well as to vent my frustration. Reading about such topics tends to make some people feel uncomfortable, but not every post can be about Girl Scout Cookies, and ensuring everyone feels comfortable is not my goal, my problem or my job. Even though it pleases me when my writing pleases others, I don't write with the intent to please anyone else but myself.

And with that, I'm going to end this post and eat a cookie.