You Are What You Eat, or Read

I recall a story about about a missionary speaking to a First Nation convert. The exchange concerned the convert’s challenge to living a holy life in his new found faith. “It is like two dogs warring inside me.” “Which dog wins?” “The one I feed the most.” I find this to be an adequate analogy that applies to many more aspects of life. I had a recent spat of blogs which were rather political in nature. Big surprise, I am a Political Science graduate student who hopes to teach in at the collegiate level. I should be a bit of a political animal. I recognized early on, a certain measure of tact necessary for someone of my beliefs and faith needed to remain hireable for such a position in the coming years. Invariably, I’m sure there are opinions expressed in several of my past blogs that might disqualify me from a public institution. That is if such organizations intend on judging people based on their faith, or worse their thoughts from their young adulthood.

I think back to my personal statement on my school application, looking back at my childhood I was almost destined to be a political animal. From car rides listening to talk radio or the constant news on TV, I recalled even as a child having an acute understanding to politics. Needless to say, I do not wish to hijack this blog into some political outlet. My page view counts would certainly advocate such a move, but that was not the purpose of this blog.

The purpose of the blog when it was started and again when it was restarted was to chronicle my adventures and thoughts. As a young man out on his own, stationed in Europe, blogging was a helpful outlet. When I finally got around to moving my blogs to a better hosting medium, I had not yet intended to write again. I have lived in a robust community that frequently challenges my heart and mind in the ways a community ought. It was when I started reading a number of friends’ blogs that I was reminded of the healthy process of observation and self-examination necessary to blog. I have also found this is an opportunity to practice my writing style.

I have spent and will continue to spend the coming years as a full time college student. I easily spend at least an hour each day following major news. This wasn’t a new development. When I was overseas, I devoured news. The ability to attach the necessity of “being in the know” to my graduate work is a convenient intersection. I have recognized a grand failure of my intellectual appetite. I have not read much of any fiction since my elementary days. Even when I did read fiction it was Clancy, Crichton, and the sort. I never learned how to imagine things necessary for fantasy works. It was always fictional stories based in the world I was familiar. I have been seeped in structured writing. The military writing styles were a welcomed tightening of facts that I was already accustomed. The preferred model of writing was to be as clear and concise as possible. When I returned to college it was a noticeable struggle to meet page requirements because I was so used to writing in the briefest manner possible. I still recognize that writing style in my academic writings, but in doing so I also note an oversimplified writing style.

This is where I have to reach out. Reading others who are more expressive in their writings have shown me a beauty in writing which I would like to build. I’m not yet in the place that I can start to chisel through the fictional works I should’ve read as a child. Then again, all those books I should read, I have watched the movies. This subversive act has negated the need of my imagination drawing something from a blank pallet. In the words of one friend, my imagination is broken. If I do not have a movie or TV show to reference when I read fiction I only see stick figures. Despite any descriptions by the author, such details are forgotten while I try to figure out other details, such as “why should I read this?” and “what is happening?” I see this most clearly when reading the Song of Ice and Fire wiki pages. I look into details fans have extricated from the book's text and the references they provide for such conclusions. There is no doubt I would have missed such subtle descriptive references.
There is also the problem of my present reading appetite. Given my present stage as a 2nd year grad student, I am still overwhelmed with dry prose, concise facts, and persuasive arguments (if I’m lucky, otherwise it is sad propaganda attempts.) In some respects I almost accept the role of being a bit of a political tithe. This was the approach Benjamin Franklin’s parents had to his education. He was supposed to be the minister amongst his nine siblings from the same mother. Am I the citizen who is willing to jump on the bitter sword of political knowledge in order to be the informed one among the masses? If so, democracy has some serious challenges before it.

How do I conclude then? Thank you for your readership despite my vanilla writing style. Hopefully, as I read more and write more blogs this style might be as expressive as it aims to be informative.