Perspective

One of my favorite, albeit lesser-known, blogs is Jared Keller's Exultate Justi. His piece from the other day on a round of introspection he had over his blogging was interesting:

I think I know why I've been a bit blogged-out, of late. See, if someone were to attempt to get to know me only by reading this blog, I can't help but feel that they'd come away with an impression that is partially accurate, but hardly complete.

I tend to focus on serious matters here - from the philosophical, political, and strategic, to the religious, the theological, and the spiritual. These discussions spring from the ardent nature of my beliefs on these issues, and are very reflective of what I'm focused on at any one time.

My personality tends toward the quiet and introspective, and at times, this tendency can lead me toward outright melancholy. I work in a "serious" job, dealing with law enforcement and homeland security matters, and I'm quite focused on those subjects. In addition, my graduate studies deal with intelligence and national security-related issues. I'm passionate about quite a few things - my faith (first and foremost), my family, and my country. As such, I spend a great deal of time and effort deep in thought about these things. Nothing wrong with that, right?

The problem is this: I'm not a very serious guy, I'm certainly not a pundit, and I'm not nearly as bright as I like to think I am.

I think that's hit all of us amateur pundits at one point or another; we commit a fair amount of time to this, when it may or may not really be an accurate reflection of who we are and what we do. And at a time like this - when the news we write about is so relentlessly serious, and the consequences of the day's events so portentous - it's easy to get burned out by, basically, trying to keep up with the tenor of the times, when your personal tenor needs a break.

Well, not me, of course. I do like to argue all the time.

But read Jared's piece.

Posted by Mitch at May 27, 2004 08:26 AM