{"id":11470,"date":"2016-06-08T14:36:36","date_gmt":"2016-06-08T18:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/?p=11470"},"modified":"2016-06-08T14:36:36","modified_gmt":"2016-06-08T18:36:36","slug":"blogging-in-the-wilderness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2016\/06\/blogging-in-the-wilderness.html","title":{"rendered":"blogging in the wilderness"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"the<\/a>
the author’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I read a blog post yesterday that resonated with me. It began: Sometimes I wonder why I write a blog\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Me too.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not like I change lives. Or even really make a huge difference. It\u2019s not like I have a zillion followers. I\u2019ve spent this past month thinking about my blog. Thinking about the five years I\u2019ve spent on it: planning, writing, revising, responding. And I have to agree w\/ the man who asked the question: why do I write this blog? What’s my point? What’s THE point?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"via<\/a>
via flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a non-Christian \u2013 an animistic Unitarian Buddhist \u2013 I\u2019m certainly out of sync w\/ the majority of Beliefnet bloggers (& readers). Initially, when my old friend & colleague recruited me, I was not only glad to have a home (still am!): I was also glad to be a minority voice, someone to counteract the bloggers on the site who called for extremist (to me) reactions to various groups & actions. And while this still applies, it’s no longer enough.<\/p>\n

Besides ~\u00a0I wonder if anyone who disagrees with me would bother to read me. I\u2019m never been more than a very quiet voice in the mainstream wilderness. The one time I swore, I was reprimanded (rightly so: my grandmother used to say that profanity showed a limited imagination!). And as I watch the liberal side of politics fragment the way the conservative side already has, I\u2019m growing tired of advocating for reason. Sometimes I too want to just rant & rail. Even though I know it’s not the path to beginner’s heart.<\/p>\n

What do you do, gentle readers, when you feel impotent to effect change? When you feel like a solitary voice swallowed in the great booming confusion? How do you go beyond that sense of futility? Just wondering, as I sit at my desk typing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I read a blog post yesterday that resonated with me. It began: Sometimes I wonder why I write a blog\u2026 Me too. It\u2019s not like I change lives. Or even really make a huge difference. It\u2019s not like I have a zillion followers. I\u2019ve spent this past month thinking about my blog. Thinking about the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[11,1181,1187,1388,1389,1390,1201],"class_list":["post-11470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-futility","tag-giving-up","tag-making-a-difference","tag-writing"],"yoast_head":"\nblogging in the wilderness - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I read a blog post yesterday that resonated with me. 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