Why this will never be a formidible blog.

BODY

Look... I'm an American in body, mind, and spirit. But like most Americans, the flavor of this wine is highly influenced by where it's aged (the midwest) and from which roots it's drawn (Irish roots). Without going into a convoluted explanation of my Irish-German-Swedish-English-and-maybe-Jewish background by way of Ellis Island, Pittsburgh, and Flint, I'm from a small but complicated group of people, working-class but financially stable and with cultural aspirations. It makes a difference.

In my family, there's a strong emphasis placed on:
1) personal responsibility
2) mutual respect
3) freedom within reasonable limits

I know that anyone might describe their families this way, and of course, every family has its quirks and contradictions, and moreover there's such variation in definitions of "responsibility" and "rest," and lastly, I have a tremendous personal bias, but I still think this is an accurate emphasis.

Yesterday I read Traveler's post followed by President Mary Robinson's address to the House of the Oireachtas, Cherishing the Irish Diaspora, and reflecting on my own time in Ireland, I am happy to report that the Irish heritage is alive and well in my own family.

And these thoughts bring me back to why I'll never be a formidible blogger.

About a year ago, I made a brief attempt to learn the Irish language, taking classes and studying from textbooks. In the primary textbook, we were challenged to consider a what if... What if the Celtic heritage had been better preserved than the Greek? What if Celtic languages, with their twisting, dancing rhythms and evocative shuttlings had taken the place of sharp, powerful, crisply drawn Greek?
Of course, on one level, this question is pure silliness... it was Greece's position amidst centers of civilization that made anything of its logical force, and one might argue that it was the logical force of the Mesopotamian, Greek, and Roman cultures that gave them advantages over loosely scattered tribes such as the Celts. I personally think circumstances are everything, or at least a whole lot, so I'm not arguing for an inherent inheritance.

Nevertheless, on a different level the question is very interesting. It's fascinating to try to imagine our basic concepts, our material, philosophical, and theological priorities, and our global perspective all aligned along fluid, passionate, and somewhat disorganized Celtic lines. What would it be like?
My textbook speculated a trade off: clarity for passion. Achilles might not take the throne as a self-conscious human being, aware of his actions and in conversation with the gods, but Cuchulainn's tears would react with the air of a cooler climate.

In the end, I notice this effect somewhat on my writing style, and whether it comes from this source or not (and who will ever know, really?) it's the answer.

And again, these thoughts bring me back to why I will never be a formidible blogger.

The most formidible blogs follow the Socratic formula with angled precision, and I admire their versatility. They are a fount of sources, facts, statistics, and anecdotes, blended together in combinations that proclaim credibility, accountability, and rigor. They take advantage of their online status, usually with thousands of pages of nested references and background that seems to make any argument irrefutable. Of course, any argument is ultimately refutable on some ground. That's just the nature of language. But it does seem a very effective way of putting your foot forward in a serious conversation.

It's just not my style.

I'm a more intuitive writer, and I'd say rhythm is more important to me than a precise use of vocabulary. My style lends itself better to poetry than it does argument, and most often, my links and comments are gounded in their powers of evocation above their sound, logical consistency. So it goes.

This blog is truly an artistic, as opposed to a critical, enterprise.

I'm happy with it that way, even if it means I'll never be a Crescat Sententia, or even an Utne Reader. It's good to be the boss, and good act without expectation.

~ Connor