Why Blogging is Good - the Old Internet

I’ve recently discovered why blogging is good.

Rereading the archives.

I was irked by the NYT article repeatedly showing up on my newsfeed (What Is It About 20-Somethings?) and thought of a letter to the editor for TIME that I wrote back in 2006 responding to an article characterizing our current generation, which described us as the multitasking generation. I found it later – and will respond to those articles again later if I find time, but in looking for the article I found out something else.

Years before I knew the queer community I took a stance in favor of same-sex marriage. Years before I thought I was interested in media I was comparing 3 to 4 news sources for biases in looking to current events. And years before I thought of myself as an activist I was taking the stance of speaking into the void of the internet to declare my opinion.

Selective memory means if you ask me about 2005 I’ll tell you about graduating from high school, starting at Foothill College, getting a job, a camera, travel – but I’ll forget which issues went where. I’ve forgotten which online quizzes I took (Just retook some – results have changed… ). I forgot what a big deal goodbyes were before facebook took off – the email exchange and numbers in yearbooks. How much more aware I was of the news and how it affected me before I could vote and suddenly received political spam rather than just newsprint to educate on the issues. I forgot a lot of the details, the mundane ones with the flavor of the ordinary. And in rereading them I remembered. I clicked old links, found friends' old blogs, and recalled where they were. I meandered through time and in doing so actively reflected with a much greater depth than the current rut of thought I’ve been stuck in.

When I’m passively sitting, ideas used to be bouncing around like bubbles from the wand of a five year old. These notions were erratic and random, yet stemming from a common source. And at some point in the last few years I found my thinking actively declined. If I stopped without a topic in my mind, I’d go blank. Listening to the whir of fans or a breeze, seeing the color of the light, and then after the observation it was like my brain would be put on pause until I actively focused on something – and then thinking became an active act on whatever notion I chose to focus on. Thoughts didn’t just happen, things wouldn’t just occur to me, thoughts were the product of a focused effort. I’d get stuck in a linear progression that lead to a predictable product.

But rereading my own words set off fireworks in my brain last night. Like chipping a frozen waterfall and finding a gushing river underneath I’ve been thinking about everything since then. The traffic patterns, the paint between the lanes on the highway, the DMV, government structures, international politics, the texture of paint best suited for a photomontage, ideas for art, the difference between the same content in different context, flavors and texture in food, the practice of religion, people and their professions, maturation versus mindless conformity – anything and everything was back in play.

I’m not saying rereading old posts or journals or newspapers is always great, I’m sure if one was stuck looking backwards nothing good would come of it, but rather there is a great value to have an archive of one’s thoughts, public stances, the cross commentary of those who read, and the engagement around them. It feels like I’m eavesdropping on the past to explore that which might have not been posted today where people are so conscious of their personal branding online rather than seeing a forum of ultimate freedom. It’s realizing just how much the web has changed in a few short years, and how the dialogs possible alter with those conventions.

But I think the more interesting part is the casualness of it – the coffee table convo of a thought you’d share without researching it. The opinions, speculations, and unabashed biases displayed. It’s wonderful. I wouldn’t necessarily want policy based on it – but I would want that social dialog to happen, to be open for anyone to participate in, be open for future review and accessible across time and space– and those old blogs had that to a degree I find lacking now that every news outlet and pundit is online acting as if sound bites and repetition equal fair representation or debate. Anyways, my two cents on some internet nostalgia… I’ll probably start posting more – if nothing else to try to recreate a small piece of that conversation for myself and friends.

I don't write down my opinions these days

It's actually rather sad, I noticed the other day flipping through my computer's documents, I don't write down my opinions these days. And that's problematic. Because sometime between entering UCSB and now, my line of reasoning has changed and I can't with certainty point to a piece of logic and say, "There it is!" And I can't chart the development/deterioration of thinking patterns.

On the plus side, I've read three books this week. Two Malcom Gladwell books (The Tipping Point and Blink) and one by John Wood (Leaving Microsoft to Change the World). I'm also over in England right now, and I read part of Outliers on the flight out here.

I'm about to travel across Europe and Central Asia, and I think I will be creating a blog/journal for the trip just to force me to record my reflections for my future self and the friends back home, but I haven't thought of a good name for it yet. I'll do that and get back to you later. On one hand, having my opinion online might be a liability should my perspective change too much, however as a recent college grad with her first big exploration of the world beyond the home and family (most of my international travel has been with the family...) I'm probably doing the same damn cliche growth patterns as most socially-liberal American travelers when stepping out of the bubble - and in hopes of beginning conversations with folks back home about said adventures/giving them reference points to ask about when I return - I hope to offer the opening for further dialog and reflections later. For that as I see it is the point of blogging - not just speaking to the void, but prompting face-to-face dialog and offering a foundation for such conversations. Wish me luck on my travels - and an open mind in all I encounter, for I can imagine nothing will serve me better.

A Return to the Unknown – Blogging, Transient Communities and Leadership

I realized recently that in my rush between events and activities – I haven’t given time to put reflections in written form. While verbal diarrhea seems to be a part of my post processing experience with life – those reflections rarely get communicated outside of the sphere of people who participated in the events with me. Therefore when I’m sharing those stories it only helps reinforce a memory with friends or aids me as an individual to feel a sense of narrative completion on the to do list of life.

Go to conference X or protest Z. Check. Talk it out. Continue with Event Y.

Shared experiences, they’re great. Talking things out with friends is also great. But this weekend I was reminded why that’s really not enough, at least for me right now.

While looking at what I consider common sense of organizing – I realized how many students around me haven’t had the opportunity to learn about and develop those skills yet. And as a debate unfolded this weekend at a conference regarding leadership turnover – a topic I have discussed in countless retreats – I realized what appeared immediately obvious to me is constantly being rediscovered by people who while looking elsewhere missed that cue.

Now when good/decent student leadership is leaving – they often tend to leave a long to do list, list of traditions or other set of resources behind. But when incoming leaders receive a bunch of resources – it also tends to be an information overload that gets parking-lotted (Like a car in a parking lot, it is temporarily put to the side to return to). The problem is that often times the resource isn’t utilized. Now one could blame the students for this, but realistically, we’ve got other things to do! We’re full time students and huge binders to read are a drag. But in my experience there’s one in depth resource I will always be quick to consult when I have a question – people. Peers, mentors, teachers, TAs, friends and family are all great places to go. And when the leaders of an organization graduate and the turnover is happening – the best thing to leave behind is a phone number to be contacted at and a good relationship that makes it easier to pick up the phone.

Okay – totally common sense. But the other thing that is always forgotten is who does your organization/club/group work with? Do you have a personal relationship with those leaders than enables you to work with them easily? If so – your new replacement either needs to be put in contact with them to develop such a relationship or your new replacement and that organization’s new leadership will have to meet. Yes, that is a lot of work for both you and that other organization’s leadership to organize, especially if your work has been happening in centrally dictated actions where leaders work together and pass down instructions. However if you consider leadership turnover not at the moment of exchange, but as a process it’s much easier to plan. If you make sure your organizations members know each other – when it’s time to collaborate they’re much more able to continue to work together with or without you.

I’m a senior at UCSB. I will be graduating this year (assuming the English department lets me in to my final required class…) and when I go I know my rolodex (… or facebook) goes with me. But that’s actually irrelevant. Because when I leave, so will a large number of my friends who I would have called to organize an action. Leadership is constantly developing, evolving, and graduating/leaving. If an activist next year called me and asked me for advice – I couldn’t suggest, “Just talk to so and so.” But this year before I leave, I can look for developing leaders and members around me and encourage them not only think of what the organization needs, but also just to befriend the people around them and in allied causes. I don’t know and can never be sure about who will move up – but if members are regularly working as a community the organizational culture of collaboration won’t be dependent on me or my individual skills.

When in caucus spaces facilitators’ job is to start actions, keep things moving and moderate for an enjoyable space for all. I see the role of a good leader in transient communities to do that as well. Ultimately if the quality of the space is dependent on the individual the organization will fall apart with or without a binder of resources. So as a leader now is the time to start reflecting (if you haven’t already). Who’s passionate? Who’s itching for more to do? Who was left out and is waiting for an invite to return to the table? If the people who are the answers to questions like these don’t know each other yet, start the introductions as you go about your programs. Those are the ties that will outlast your days in the organization and help your organization maintain a culture that fosters good communication needed to keep alliances alive when your rolodex is outdated, your binder is ignored and your voicemail is full.

So where does this leave me? I’m at the end of yet another conference, short on sleep, and optimistic about the future of my campus organizations. This weekend I think my greatest act of leadership was being the designated driver at the end of Saturday night – and by doing so allowing for alcohol induced networking. It might seem like an odd place to begin the leadership transition – but those memories, laughing over silly moments and the bonds that go with them are often what makes for a community worth fighting for and can make all the difference to both members and potential leaders looking for a place to call home. And even if those people never end up leading – their ability to enjoy the community and talk within that space will make it easier for whomever does.