I have picked up a bunch of new followers lately (thank you!) and thought that I should have a little bit of an explanation about what my blog is about.   This is a post from a few years ago that pretty much sums it up.

I love to write. It’s how I best express myself. I don’t do it that often, but I constantly have a dialogue going on in my head about the things I want to write about. I have started and stopped many blogs throughout the years because I always think of a great “theme” for a blog and then life evolves and it no longer seems relevant, so I abandon it. Lately, my thoughts are generally in the form of a Facebook or Twitter post. And, even then, I save certain things for certain forms of media. Facebook is where most of my “real life” friends are and I will sometimes censor myself for fear of starting a debate or having a disagreement with somebody that I care about. My tweets are more “raw” because I have historically had a different set of followers there and it’s less personal (although I have had the opportunity to interact with some fantastic people). However, I’ve noticed that more and more people are starting to use Twitter so it doesn’t have the same amount of anonymity anymore.

Some people might wonder why I don’t just journal. I’ve never been much of a “journaler” (which I don’t think is a word, but you know what I mean). The privacy of it doesn’t matter to me. I decided a long time ago that if I didn’t want somebody to read something, it’s just better not to write it down. You never know when your time on this earth is up and nobody needs to find and read my private thoughts, which may or may not be rational at the time I wrote them. A public blog helps me to express myself in a thoughtful manner. And in the process of being thoughtful, I find I can work out a lot of the irrational thinking.

Besides that – we all want to be known. We have a desire for people to understand us. Telling our story helps enable that understanding.

So, this blog will not have a theme. It will essentially be a collection of memoirs. It will likely be random. It might surprise you from time to time. I am not mean-spirited and will never intentionally offend anyone, but sometimes you might not agree with my point of view — please don’t be offended. Just recognize that we all have a story and it shapes our world view. I will definitely talk about religion and politics because both are important to me. I will brag about my kid. I will post pictures. I will probably complain, but I will do my best to not complain about weather or traffic because 1) it’s annoying and 2) I can’t control either one of them. I will never betray relationships or confidences. But, I might tell stories that involve other people. If necessary, I will anonymize those stories.

Finally, the title of this blog, “Pausing to Reflect” is based on a quote by Mark Twain:

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

I have never been a follower or a joiner. In fact, I’m pretty contrary by nature. I shy away from what’s “popular”, I root for the under-dog and I question everything.
So, welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy!