A funny thing happened to me on the way to this website. When I left for my assignment in South Sudan, this site was well on its way to being complete. When I returned, after six days of touring refugee camps and interviewing the people whose lives have been torn apart by a conflict they didn’t make or choose, I lost the ability to write pithy descriptions of the work I do as a writer.
It all seemed kind of silly, this self-promotion thing, once I returned to Planet Nice in Port Perry.
This feeling of un-settledness, that I was both the used car salesman and the old Plymouth Chrysler sitting in the corner of the lot, stalled me for a couple of weeks. At the same time, I was interviewing thinker/theologian types for a story on social media for Faith Today magazine. They all raised concerns about the loss of the virtue of humility in a world where we are constantly encouraged to be branding ourselves. This made me think even more about how I speak Me! Me! Me!, and how you can sell yourself without selling out.
Clearly, I got over it.
Once I was able to bring myself to sign back on the developing site, designed with great skill and I would say immeasurable patience by John Matthews, I didn’t cringe, cry or otherwise fall apart. I like it! And I hope you do too.
I am still pondering and writing about my Sudan experience. And my website building experience.
I am thinking about how we tell stories, and what our stories mean, even and maybe especially, when the stories we tell are about ourselves.
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