Reality on a Stick

Dear readers,

 We’re just about ready to get on track with regular posting again, but I need to do something first….

During this first short year, I have come to realize that I am trying to do too many different things with this blog, which is inhibiting my ability to achieve any one of my lofty online aspirations. Don’t worry, I’m not closing down. I just need to explain my thinking here for a second, so none of the changes seem too abrupt.

And now for the navel-gazing….

During my hiatus, I did a lot of reading and had a long think about what I want Reality on a Stick to become, and about what has been accomplished here to date. Here are some of the things I am proud to say about this blog:

1. RoaS keeps me connected to many of my loved ones, and gives strangers a chance to get to know me before/after we meet in person for the first time.

–A limited number of the above individuals feel comfortable commenting, but that’s OK. Frankly, I have been very pleasantly surprised with how many people refer to the blog in conversation, mentioning that they have occasion to lurk and catch up on the whacky inner-workings of my head. Right on, you sick puppies!

2. RoaS allows me to experiment with various tones and styles of prose, which is of dire importance, because there really is much more to life than being able to write crafty NPO communications.

3. RoaS has forced me to follow writers and trends in the blogosphere that have taught me more about community, business, composition, parenting, life and who I want to be in the world than any other single source of information.

4. RoaS has brought some great readers and friends into my life.

5. RoaS goes off on tangents more often than not, but it always presents an honest reaction to the topic at hand. There are no contrived opponents or conspiracy theories here. Just authentic inquiry in a constant search for truth–as cliche and lame as that sounds.

Here’s what this blog has not achieved:

1. When I started this blog, I naively assumed that lots of great minds would gather and begin chiming in with comments and contributions at an ever-growing pace. That’s not what RoaS has become. Although there are many great minds in our small community, I suspect that most regular readers are here because they know me independently of the blog, and they’d like to support me and to stay in touch with how my thinking is developing over time. Despite a few provocative guest contributions and some greatly appreciated regular commenters, RoaS is largely a place for family, friends, and colleagues to get together and contemplate what is really up with the world around us (or around me anyway;-).

2. RoaS does not showcase any particular area of my expertise, which is a big no-no in blogging. I have touched on a wide array of topics that interest me to be sure, but RoaS has by no means settled on a consistent range of topics. This is not problematic early on in a blog’s life, but as it settles into its own identity, readers have to know what to expect. At present RoaS is a hodgepodge, and I am always hedging my voice so as not to come off as cocky or condescending.

3. RoaS is not regularly updated. Well, that was the result of connectivity issues that are now moot.

4. RoaS is not a name that clearly describes the expertise I have to offer. In particular, I feel comfortable writing authoritatively on the topics of community, communication, confidence and conflict resolution, but you’d never know it from the name of this blog, nor by the majority of the content covered.

5. RoaS has not decided whether it wants to be a link depot, or a place for serious commentary, or both. It is usually one or the other, but again this is problematic because people never know what they’re going to get.

In short: you’d have to really enjoy watching me beat up on myself to still be subscribed at this point;-)

_____

The way forward….

i. Reality on a Stick will continue on as my repository for all things personal and funny. I will get back to posting whatever happens to tickle my fancy and keep on encouraging comments from loved ones and strangers alike.

ii. Regrettably, guest contributions will be discontinued here on RoaS, though they will be encouraged elsewhere (see iii.) 

iii. In the coming weeks, I will launch a new blog which focuses on my aforementioned areas of expertise–title and url to be announced.

iv. I will not be hedging opinions or pulling punches on RoaS anymore, because there’s no sense in masking my impressions from readers who come here specifically to [see] what I have to [write].

v. Nor will I be hedging opinions or pulling punches on the new blog, because the primary objectives are to share my unique base of knowledge and establish myself as a guru/scholar of the defined topics.

vi. For the new blog, I will focus more of my energy on researching and reporting on the interplay between communities and psycho-emotional stability, and how human communications set the stage for success in all aspects of life.  

Ahhhh. I can’t tell you how good it feels to finally do that. It’s been weighing on me for several months now.

Much love and appreciation.

Steven