Out of the Chaos, I Rise.

Where does one begin? The inaugural post seems like it should be deep and profound. Right? But then I start to think (as you will come to see, I think entirely too much), that if I want to set the tone, not to mention the bar, in this first post, I do not want to a) scare people off, b) set too high expectations or c) lose sight of the reason for starting this blog. And so, perhaps I should start with my reasons.

A good friend of mine (J) has been encouraging me to take the dip in the Blog waters, to get my feet wet. She assures me that the water is fine. But, although I love to write, I have resisted the temptation to Blog for a number of reasons. First, I have a friend and a sister who have set the bar pretty high and I am not sure that I can jump over it. My rationale: I'm going to crawl along under the bar. No shame in that, is there? The goal is the same, even if the terrain is different. Second, I already have way too many distractions on my journey to Academic Climax (also known as graduation from the PhD program). I am a procrastinator of the most extraordinary caliber and I do not need to develop this skill any further. My rationale: Perhaps this will make me more accountable. If I publish my intentions, perhaps I will feel more compelled to follow through. Lastly, I am a great starter, but tend to lose steam on projects. My rationale: Maybe this one will be different. Yeah, right. We'll see.

As you can see, both by my desire to rationalize the beginning of this Blog and by the very fact that I am here, part of me really wants to do this. To give free reign to all of those rebellious thoughts that are fighting to be heard. To share some of my journey and to hopefully inspire other closet optimists to 'come out' and be heard.

And so it begins. Out of the chaos of my life, I rise to speak, to share, to laugh and to encourage. Out of the chaos, perhaps I rise only to fall. But the optimist inside assures you that I will rise again. Watch for it! ;)