Does this Blog Need a Focus?

I wonder sometimes if I should focus this blog on something specific.  Keeping an open-ended blog (about "whatever I happened to care about at a given point in time") certainly makes it harder to invite readers, and in many ways it makes it harder to write.  But whenever I think about focusing attention to one topic, I struggle to let go of all of the other topics that don't fit.  I suppose this makes my blog more like a diary.  Life is complex and varied, and so are human thoughts.

Sitting down to write today, I thought about how grateful I am to be living my life.  I thought of how much I love my wife and kids and my job and extended family.  But just before I began to write, I thought about the upcoming Presidential elections and the angst I've felt recently for our country.  I'm quite concerned about the path the USA is headed down as it becomes more and more likely that we will be faced with a choice of two terrible candidates.  On the other hand, I also find myself excited about an upcoming ski trip with my son and father and brother, and the relationships with my kids have never been better.  From an individual perspective, those things often seem to matter more.  Then, certain pesky thoughts keep rearing their heads and don't wish to go away.  For instance, I learned last week about a 21-year-old American student who traveled to North Korea and was arrested for taking down a political sign.  He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea for this crime.  I struggled to fall asleep for a couple hours the other night because I couldn't shake thoughts of empathy for that unfortunate young man (and indignation at the oppressive government of North Korea).

So many conflicting thoughts at once.  And even writing about it seems silly because I suspect everybody experiences it so often that it is pointless to write or read about it.

This makes me want to settle on one subject for my own sanity and that of my [imaginary] readers.

But then that begs the question... which one do i choose?  (this is one of those times when it would be nice if I had a reader or two who could give some suggestions in the comments... oh well... can't have everything.)

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