DEAR READER

DEAR READER:

My responses here, as you can see from my first post to a real letter, will be a bit more long-winded than an average edited response can be for someone who is publishing in the newspaper.  Where possible / relevant, I will always publish a link to the original letter and the original response. 

You will begin to see certain themes in my responses as there are certain issues areas I feel strongly about.  Often you'll find me questioning why it's an issue, and why it's the particular writer's issue.  MY opinion is that a certain percentage of our population spends a lot of time worrying about other people's lives and focusing on other people's behavior rather than reflecting on their own behavior.  I admit whole-heartedly I am probably one of those people! 

I also admit whole-heartedly that I am flawed.  That you will probably find me to be contradictory.  That my opinions about certain matters may - and hopefully will - evolve over time and over writing this and living my life.  If you expect me to be surprised by any of these things, I won't be.  If you'd like to engage me in a thoughtful (and respectful) conversation or a discussion about these intricacies, I welcome it.

I'll tell you a few things about me that you may or may not have already learned if you've read my other blog, or if you've read more of this blog yet to be written and are now reading this letter.  Many of these principles will guide my responses here. 

1. I neither consider myself to be liberal or conservative and think that I'm probably quite a bit of both.  It depends on the context of the situation, and whether others around me think my views on the situation are dated/backwards, or outlandish and over-reaching (usually those are where those two "extremes" end up being - we compare to ourselves and figure out if we agree with the standings to determine whether they are liberal or conservative).
2. As much as I think we make way too many generalizations about others in life, I make some generalizations.   I probably make a lot of generalizations.  I *do* however understand that they are just that - generalizations, and not foregone conclusions applicable in every situation to every person.
3. I'd like to think of myself as a thoughtful considerate person.  I'm probably not.  As I get older, I can feel the crankiness come on, and while I try to think of myself and strive towards patience, sometimes I get impatient.
4. I believe VERY STRONGLY that we are all fallible and flawed human beings who make mistakes, who say idiotic things, but who should treat each other, nonetheless, with compassion, patience and respect despite our similarities and our differences.
5. The only exception to the point just above is the Dalai Lama.  I think he's just perfect the way he is.  ;)   But even he would admit he's still a work in progress.
6. I do believe people can change, however, I don't believe people always need to. 
7. I don't believe we should spend a lot energy judging others, but sometimes I do.  I think, however, our judgments should generally reflect a conclusion of whether these are individuals we want to share our lives with - tangentially or directly - and that we should judge them using the criteria of Item 4 above. 
8. I strongly, strongly believe in the serenity prayer.  I don't always succeed, but I do strongly pray for strength to change the things I can (that need changing), the patience to accept the things I cannot change, and for the wisdom to know the difference.  

 From the introductory post, you'll understand that I have missed blogging, and missed writing.  I feel, lately, that my life has been drained by my job which I do mostly enjoy but leaves me exhausted at the end of the day without energy to then engage in this particular practice.  Hinted at is that I often find myself falling asleep thinking about work, and I'd rather find myself falling asleep thinking about other pursuits. 

I consider myself a student of humanity.  That sounds much more lofty / ivory-tower than I intend.  But I find human kind and our interactions and society itself and how it has evolved very interesting.  I do have strong opinions. And one of my sources of study is reading advice columnists.  We form our basic understanding of how we should approach the world and others from being raised by our parents and from our experiences as we interact with each other.  We also develop our sense of how we should be from media - old school and new school.  As much as we hope our family, our schools, our religious institutions if we attend them will shape us in a way that allows us to live our lives with "success" we may sometimes not always get the direction we need to find ourselves happy and fulfilled in our lives.  And even the best of us in managing our lives will still come upon situations that we don't know how to approach or how to approach well.  I read advice columnists as part of my "study" of humanity, but also to gain insight in where people have issues in life and ways of approaching those situations.

I believe we develop over time incrementally as we experience life.  Not sure if we ever get it all, but the closer we get to it, the closer we also are to the end.  I'd like to think I've gained certain wisdom over the years, and it may all be hooey, but in my own vanity, I want to impart what I've learned to help contribute to our overall shape of society. 

As I mentioned above, I encourage thoughtful and respectful discourse.  Either here or via e-mail.  And perhaps, as this continues (if it continues), folks might start writing me letters directly to respond to. 

I can be reached at theborgblog@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
The Borg

P.S.  On occasion, I might also share the advice columnist's response and my response to it.