On Thursday I posted something I wish I hadn’t. It was meant to be part one of a two-parter. I knew exactly what I wanted to say in part two, but posted the partial because it was getting long.<\/p>\n
I expected to provoke discussion and some disagreement. That’s how it goes — all to the good. I didn’t<\/i> expect to be so totally misinterpreted. I was stunned at the message people thought<\/i> I was conveying. It didn’t even resemble the message I intended.<\/p>\n
At first I thought a few individuals just didn’t get it. Or were deliberately twisting my words. Then as more odd comments came in I thought, “Well, I must have hit some nerves.”<\/p>\n
But as the discussion continued (and IMNSHO became the lamest discussion ever conducted in these environs), I came to the only possible conclusion: I screwed up. I did a lousy piece of writing. I failed to say what I was trying to say.<\/p>\n
I have to tell you, this badly rattled my confidence. It’s fine for people to tell me I’m wrong. It’s a-okay when the occasional person shows up to announce, “Your a Idiot.” It’s great when commentors point out, “You didn’t think of X. Or you screwed up Y.” It’s best of all when something I blog provokes spirited exchanges.<\/p>\n
It’s terrible to have to conclude that I simply failed to write well enough to convey my meaning. <\/p>\n
So for now I’ve taken that post private (EDIT: made it public again). I haven’t deleted it; just rendered it and all of its comments invisible until I decide what to do. I was going to delete it and skip part two until an email from a friend urged me not to. It’s funny; when I posted it, I knew exactly where I was going to go with part two, but now I wouldn’t know where to begin on that. <\/p>\n
I’m also going to take a week off from blogging, starting after this post. My intention with the bad post was to begin the New Year delivering content with some weight and usefulness. I failed. My confidence is shot. I’ll get it back, but anything I tried to say right now would probably be crap. So I apologize.<\/p>\n
I especially apologize to everybody who has supported this blog (and even more especially to you guys who recently sent wonderful gifts to cheer me and the blog on). You deserve better. I hope after a week off to think about what works and what doesn’t I’ll be able to give you better.<\/p>\n
Thanks for your patience and understanding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Thursday I posted something I wish I hadn’t. It was meant to be part one of a two-parter. I knew exactly what I wanted to say in part two, but posted the partial because it was getting long. I expected to provoke discussion and some disagreement. That’s how it goes — all to the good. I didn’t expect to be so totally misinterpreted. I was stunned at the message people thought I was conveying. It didn’t even resemble the message I intended. At first I thought a few individuals just didn’t get it. Or were deliberately twisting my words.…<\/p>\n