^{Disclaimer: This article is really not written because of any of the Open Salon readers who I find to be quite open-minded and daring. It is only because of your open-mindedness that I dare post it before I'm even fully awake. You all are such a blessing and your though-provoking and sometimes "prickly" commentaries have taught me much. You are exceptional writers and in addition, exciting readers. Thank you. You are blessing.}

Writing, well I get that. We write because we have to write. That's why we're here on Open Salon. There's something in our heart aching to get out. Perhaps it's pain, truth, complaint, justice or poetry, but some muse deep inside exhorts and compels us to write. The question is not about writing but about blogging, about putting that writing out there for instant feedback. Of course, some people need that instant feedback as the impetus to continue writing. That too makes sense. 

 What am I questioning? I think it's the impulsiveness of responses. Sometimes writing is done to make you think and in order for that to happen, it must be prickly, must tick you off, push your buttons, rip you out of your frame. That kind of writing and reading that kind of writing can really shake a person's world. But isn't that what makes life interesting? That we don't live in a cage, that life is more than the boundary of just one person's mind?

Part of this writing is accepting the knowledge that I'm not thick skinned and in addition, like most humans am ultimately flawed. Gone are the days when you pick up a newspaper, read an article, think upon it and mull over it even. If the article continued to nag at you, then you wrote a letter to the editor. The internet and blogging has brought an immediacy to writing and responses that has never before been around. Sometimes that can be good.  When it comes to justice issues, NOW is the time to act. Step in and speak up. 

The challenge is that sometimes, the process of response needs fermentation, a certain amount of time where you can't respond and that's good because it causes you to think upon, reflect upon your beliefs and values. When that happens usually growth happens. Either your belief grows deeper or you catch an inkling that it's possible you could be wrong...and might even need to change or rethink an issue.

I'm pondering of course. I have no answer in a world where people want answers and of course they want answers that fall only within their guidelines and confirm only their beliefs. We hang in a precious balance in this life we live. There are so many ways to look at life and the living of it. None of it is bad, only different. I don't honestly feel there is a wrong path, just different paths. I do cling to the "do no harm" exhortation as a rule of thumb. And being a Southerner raised in the Christian tradition, I speak and view the world through a certain lens. Fortunately there are times that I can take the lens off when I need or want to, but sometimes life's events become blurry. Of course, when things are blurry we want clear vision so we put the familiar lens back on in order to better discern what is before us. 

 "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

How many times have we heard this one? As a youth, it made no sense to me at all. In the later years, as the mysteries of life grow, but the world seems to grow smaller and more vulnerable, it makes total sense. Writing is a catalyst to thought. I believe this and as writers, we are called to be true to what is before us...even when it is odd and out of character. There's a reason for it we may never understand. The intention is to write out the spirit moving in your pen, in your typewriter, that muse has to get out.

For the reader, take a moment. I dare you. Take a moment and think upon how the writing inflicts you or comforts you. Something is showing itself to you. That something may be your truer colors.