(4 min read)
Yeah, I can already hear you, Dear Reader. “But Jon, it’s Oct 5th? What are we talking about, a fiscal year or something? If so, you’re a few days late…” Well, today’s my 36th birthday, so I figured ‘Why not start a blog?’ It may not be a new year for most people, but it is for me, so here goes nothing.
This is a space that I’ll be using to catalogue some thoughts on topics whimsical and practical, romantic and grounded, political and philosophical as the mood strikes. Some of which are going to be funny, some serious. Hopefully all of it will be as entertaining to read as it is to write.
I know, I know. It’s 2022. There are enough blogs out there in the world that cover every topic imaginable in great depth. I don’t claim to have any particularly unique expertise, but I have taken a few trips around the sun. I’ve done a bunch of stuff in those trips and seen a lot of this big beautiful planet, so I like to think I have a bit of perspective. I know I’m going to write some things that stink of privilege, that grate on some people, or later make me wish I had just put my foot in my mouth. But that’s the beautiful thing about a blog. It’s just a bunch of thoughts at a given time. None of it should be taken as gospel. None of it should even be thought of as more than just a meditation on whatever the topic is, within the context of time and place from which it was written.
I have a lot of privileges and live a life of relative ease. I’m a tall, straight, white American dude with background in finance and grandparents who were well-off enough to pay for both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. All of that combined has afforded me the ability to travel the world relatively safely for a few years without having to worry about student debt. I’ve also been through some stuff… I was violently mugged in DC (woke up in a hospital 4 broken teeth and a month), I’ve been around a lot of addiction and death, some of which has led to my own mental health struggles.
I share some of this, mostly, in order to acknowledge how lucky I am and to ask for your grace as I stumble over my own positionality in the topics that will be written about hereafter. Please know that I am always trying to do better as I strive to see both the big picture and the finer details more clearly, how it all connects, and my role in it (if there is a role for me to play). I welcome opportunities for learning and growth.
This should be fun.