Writing What I Think

There was a time not too long ago that Wednesday was my day for writing about writing … Writing Wednesday, so to speak … but more frequently lately, it’s been a day off.  Perhaps my writing has been sufficiently uninspired that it would seem presumptuous to offer my reasons for writing.  Or maybe the theme has just run thin.  Whatever the reason, I haven’t had much to say about writing these days.  But yesterday, my Facebook and blogging friend, Morris, asked for my my take on the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.  If you’ve been coming around Older Eyes – Bud’s Blog for a while, you know, I try to keep this a politics-free zone, so I won’t offer my answer here.  I will, however, tell you it was more moderate than I’d have expected.   When Morris thanked me for my balanced response, I replied, Thank you for getting my to articulate my opinion.  I often don’t know what I think until I write it.  And that is the topic of this post on what used to be Writing Wednesday, the possibility that I don’t fully know what I think until I write it down.

The three issues I’ve struggled with most in my middle age have been: my acceptance of my own simple spirituality  in the face of the seemingly firm religious faith of others; the continual conflict between my conservatism in fiscal and defense matters and my social liberalism; and the contrast between my intellectual support of gay rights and the visceral homophobia of my youth.   I certainly have the credentials to land most anywhere. I’ve been a card-carrying Catholic, an agnostic searcher, a near-atheist and a spiritual-not-religious 12-Stepper.  In my college and early industry days, I was a flaming anti-war liberal who evolved into a staunch conservative in my late fifties, only to find myself with libertarian tendencies in my later years.   And I’ve straddled the fence on gay rights for years, only to find myself taking a compassionate stand in my late sixties.  There is something incredibly powerful about telling people what I think about important issues in print if I am unscrupulously honest in my writing and take the time to balance my opinions with those of others.   Posting on Bud’s Blog has helped me to come to peace with my own beliefs regarding a Higher Power … to find compassion for those less fortunate than myself in my libertarian tendencies … and to realize that there is no ethical position other than pro-Gay-rights.  What more could a man ask of an avocation than to help me know what I think?

Does writing help you know what you think?

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Tags: 12 Steps, blogging, gay rights, gratitude, mindfulness, politics, spirituality, writing, writing and blogging

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