Be it writers block or good old fashioned lack of inspiration, times like the last few days make it very hard to sit down and write anything of substance. I often tire of simply "discussing" the news, especially when the news is more of Obama pushing some socialized agenda of one sort or another. I have shared my views on life, liberty, and the pursuit so many times that I wonder if I am beginning to talk in circles around the same topics. I have addressed everything from state's rights to religious existentialism, from space exploration to the Pope. What else is out there waiting to be discussed, I wonder... what of substance... what new idea or thought is so grand that it must be shared with the world? Or perhaps I have, over the past three years, sufficiently made my case for liberty and small government that now the act of applying them to the news events of the day in current event commentary is so obvious that it isn't fun anymore...Has Obama and the Democratic extremism made liberty SO obvious that it has become 'duh'?
To me, perhaps.
But, and again I repeat myself, let the masses not be fooled by simply putting an 'R' where a 'D' once sat.
So, perhaps some advice... how do we keep the obvious entertaining and inspiring? How do we explain a breath of air, or tell a heart to beat? How do we make the obvious any more obvious without talking circles around it?
I have no advice for you, I'm afraid. The things you're feeling have been afflicting me for the last month or so, and I struggle to find the inspiration. Perhaps a brief time away..?
ReplyDeleteIt's not that you lack ideas or inspiration, far from it.
ReplyDeletePutting your ideas and thoughts into a blog takes effort not just because what you write can potentially be viewed by anyone, it also prompts the writer to want to contribute an idea that lends to a unique point of view (a novelty, if you will) that gives the reader pause to see things in an entirely different light.
I have noticed on my own blog that it has been much more difficult to do this, and I think I know why; Hardly a day has gone by since the President was elected where either he, a member of his administration or staunch supporter in the House and Senate has not said or done something that in traditional politics has always been verboten.
Even a person who writes and opines opinions for a living cannot keep up with the exhausting demands placed on them by this administration. It's too much for any one person to handle and keep up with. The amount of anger brewing in the electorate has also prompted people to express their political views when they traditionally would have kept out of political discussions and kept to themselves. Hence, it has become more difficult to find that "niche" that lends to a creative spark. It's very easy to feel like you're wallowing when so many others are now expressing the same point of view.
Don't sweat it, you do a fine job with this blog. Keep it up. :)
I'm pretty much in the same place, Steven. Getting to the place where I've pretty much said all that needs to be said, and starting to burn out a little and wonder what to do next.
ReplyDeleteI had staked much of my hope in trying with my blogging to get the likes of Rossputin and Rocky Mountain Alliance to just listen to the authentic conservative witness. But, the lackeys of the GOP elite that they are, they're not interested; they're off instead on a fool's errand, and therefore aren't about to listen.
Elect Jane Norton. Yeah. That'll show them.
Here's my advice as to the next phase, FWIW: keep you blog alive, but slow down. Let the events as they unfold dictate what you write. The events as they unfold will give you plenty of reason for comment. But don't trouble yourself with blogging during the quiet periods. Keep your blog up for people to find, whether you are actively blogging at the time or not.
But that's only part of it. Spend time putting into practice, apart from cyberspace, what you preach there. Plant a veggie garden. Collect more guns and ammo. Get closer to family. Read the books of the great Christian and conservative greats. Worship God in Spirit and in Truth (most important, this). Drink fine Belgian and British Ales. Smoke Padron 1926 and 1964 "Anniverario" series cigars. Love a girl. Flyfish. Hunt waterfowl from a blind when it is below zero (preferably with some Glenlivet and a Padron close by.) Learn the art of the bow and bowhunt. (Ted Nugent is an excellent source here.) Collect fine Italian Stiletto switchblades. (No one's enforcing the federal or state switchblade laws; you can order them off the web with no trouble.) Buy still and make some shine. Listen to some good tradtional bluegrass.
While we have been forced to become political, Steve, all the real conservative luminaries will tell you that conservatism is fundamentally *apolitical*. And that's where the true joy - and meaning - is found. John Derbyshire has written a book entitled "We Are Doomed." It is about the essence of true conservatism. I intend to pick it up, and I suggest you do the same. Because, truly, we *are* doomed. That being the case, we should be the happiest and most fulfilled of men. For our doom means nothing compared to what will happen to our cultural enemies, and when it's all over, we emerge as victors.
It's all very Tolkienesque.
Be of good cheer, thereore. And get out of cyberspace for awhile, in keeping with that.
Jonesie - Perhaps the best advice - and I am not at all surprised. I am doing a number of what you have suggested. I have been out hiking the Olympic Coast line (spent a full day on the beach and saw only 10 people all day - over 11.5 miles!!!) My wife and I are going to begin trying for our second child. I am drawing up plans for our new back yard garden (since the move I have not put one in at our new place). I am in the middle of building a chicken coop and run for a few egg laying hens. And I am doing some introspection in general as a way to best define myself outside of this material world. Not to mention that I could be days away from announcing my campaign for state representative - so how is that for putting my words into action?
ReplyDeleteIn all, I think that your advice lines up with my plan... but it is worth its weight in gold to hear someone else say the same thing... enjoy life, slow down a bit, and remember what it is that we are fighting to defend.
Libertas ad oculos - liberty is obvious to those who see it!
Amen.
ReplyDelete