Manifesto-in-a-Million

Ok, so here’s the deal. I took some time away from the blog last week to get my head on straight about how I want to do this. Two things are abundantly clear to me. One: I can’t always write five good posts a week so there may be weeks where there’s less content appearing here. Two: my self-imposed ban on talking about political issues is a major block to writing about what I care about the most.

My dirty little secret is that I’m a person of some substance. Maybe not a lot of substance, but some. I enjoy the frivolous things in life like the Kardashians and Sister Wives but I’ve never seen a Real Housewives episode and probably never will. I have a tv in my office at work and I spend all day with cable news or CSPAN on in the background. I listen to NPR at home in the mornings and whenever I’m in my car alone. I have a masters in cultural policy studies. I know the difference between a Continuing Resolution and an omnibus Appropriations bill.

And I promise never to talk about Appropriations again on my blog. Because it’s boring.

I was floundering around for subject matter over the past few weeks and I’m sure it showed. I can only talk about my limited repertoire of reality tv programs for so long. I can only read so many books to review. My son, while cute, is not an endless source of material nor do I want to reveal so much bout him that, when he’s 12, his friends laugh about potty training exploits or whatever they find here. The day to day details of my job are off limits for obvious reasons. Ditto the details of my marriage. So, what does that leave me?

It leaves me my thoughts on the world. On politics and policy. On social justice.

What I think I want to do with my blog is not talk about politics per se but talk about social justice and the role of mothers in promoting it. The way I see it, my primary responsibility to the world is to raise C to be compassionate, tolerant, and kind. If I fail at that, I have failed at my mission in life. To do that, I must stop myself from passing on my prejudices. I must be the best person I can be in order to lead by example – not just for C but for other mothers. Not that I’m putting myself out there as a role model of someone who’s doing it right. I’m just someone who’s going to try really hard to do it better tomorrow than I do it today.

I can make one promise here: I will never present something that is untrue. I will fact check anything I print in this space. I will be transparent about my opinions and label them as such. I will never promote my opinion as hard fact unless it actually is a fact, like that Oreos are meant to be taken apart and licked clean. Everyone knows that. Duh.

And my other subject matter will not disappear. I’ll still talk about pop culture, metro commuting, fun stuff that I go out and do, books, and my on-going attempts not to be a total frump. But mixed in there will be my thoughts on the Big Questions of Our Time. I will try my best to make my discourse respectful. And I will welcome feedback, as long as it’s respectful. No one wants to be called an idiot, me included.

Also? I’d love a nomination if you’re so inclined!