Wednesday, January 27, 2016

I'm Back! Happy New Year!

I took a leave of absence from my blog for a while in the aftermath of the Daesh terror attacks that took place in France and Beirut in November. I was fed up with the anger and hate that the internet is just so damn good at spreading and I was feeling a little self-righteous, thinking that I could shield myself from the anger and hate and sadness by simply not contributing to social media at all. I thought I was better than social media. I thought I was better than people who spread anger and hate on the internet.

It took me a couple months to realize that I am not actually better than anyone. I'm not berating myself here. What I mean is that when we see people do things we disagree with our automatic response is usually to belittle them, mock them, and generally just think and act as though we are superior to them. Whether we do this by posting on social media, or whether we do this by detaching ourselves from social media, the intention is still there. We are trying to prove that we are better than that.

I didn't want to be another negative thing on the internet. I was frustrated that only my somewhat controversial posts seemed to garner any major interest from social media users. Who were all these anonymous jerks coming to my page only when I bitched about things that pissed me off? See? Self righteous as fuh. What I should have asked myself is why exactly I write a blog in the first place. And after that, how can I get my point across without resorting to pumping out sarcastic, and frankly sometimes mean-spirited, click bait.

My new intention for this blog is for it to serve as a bit of a bright spot on some of my darker days, and to serve as a resource and an inspiration for those who like me aren't perfect. I may still post shitty, sarcastic and anger-fueled posts, and there is bound to be plenty of heart ache. But I am  going to do my best to drop the superiority act.

Veganism and feminism will still be central themes, of course. And my life, and its ups and downs, are bound to play a role in determining content. But the intention is changing.

Happy Wednesday, and Happy (belated) New Year!

-J