Myriad Musings...My Blog Is One Year Old!

I was more than a little afraid of launching this blog a year ago. Not because I didn't have plenty to say, or because it would take a lot of time to keep it going, but because I knew it could open me up to being attacked. My opinions aren't universally held. (Whose opinions are?!) And I would have to expose myself to people's reactions -- many of them total strangers -- to the "real me," the one inside my head, the one rarely seen from where you sit or stand when looking at me.

I was just looking back over the history of this blog. It's amazing how wide-ranging it has been during its year of life -- from De Kelley to spirituality to politics to -- well, you name it, if it's happened to me this year (or been noticed by me in a major way), it's within the pages of this blog!

What I love about it is that it has all been such civilized discourse, while still being a lot of fun. No one has written in to bash anyone or anything I've covered. Not that I would allow (publish) rantings designed to bash others or myself, but the mere fact that I have not had to "disallow" any of the comments made to these blogs speaks for the decency and hearts of those who visit these pages.

All year long, I don't think I've refused to publish more than three comments, and those I did disallow were simply blatant attempts to steer readers of this blog to other web addresses for personal gain (e.g., "Make a million dollars this year..." -- with a link to some scam).

While there have been a few (very few) disagreements over particular philosophies or movies during the year this blog has been in existence, the people disagreeing have been uniformly respectful, loving, and willing to interact with me long enough and in enough detail so that, even where we've "agreed to disagree" as an end result, we have not in any way lost a friendship over any of the issues. That's what civilized people do! I just love it!

This is very different from the threads I see at most public forum sites. So many of them seem to enjoy the "gladiatorial combat" aspects of disagreeing, where vitriolic, unkind, unfair and outright defamatory and slanderous accusations are broadcast.

Case in point: I am very "into politics" this year. The last year I was this into politics was 1972.

So I went to a political website to read the comments and insights of supporters of Presidential candidates other than my own chosen candidate (Obama) to see if any of them could convince me to consider their candidate further, based on their own personal reasoning. What I found was sadly appalling for the most part: a bunch of mean-spirited zealots (in the worst sense of the term) trying to convince me, not that their candidate was the right one, but that my candidate was the wrong one! And they did this by trying to make feel stupid or naive for supporting him!

They didn't succeed.

Rantings rarely change minds or convince anyone of anything. For the most part, Obama's supporters respect -- as does Obama -- that although we have differences, our common interests and needs bind us together and need to be addressed, and we can only do that working together to make them happen.

I think all of the top Presidential contenders, on both sides, understand this. I wish their supporters did!

We're going to get a new President this year. He or she will start work next January, 2009. As I've said before, we need to keep our rhetoric in the days between now and then sober, civil and respectful, because ONE OF THESE PEOPLE WILL BE OUR NEXT PRESIDENT. If we want the world to respect our next Chief Executive, it behooves us to treat honorably all the public servants who are running and who are willing to put their lives on the line to lead us.

I pray for each of the candidates nightly. They can all contribute next year, but not if we keep stoking fierce fires of contention and separation.

I am SO ready for the rest of the world to become as peaceable, fun-loving and contributory as the readers of this blog have been -- and are!

Thanks for sticking with me!