A big hello to all!

Hi guys and girls. Welcome to my new blog.

 

I’m feeling pretty excited as I write this, but there’s a tendril of nervousness sitting in my viscera as well. During my life there’ve been a ton of projects that fell by the wayside through inattention, that never survived beyond their post-birth cries. A book that I tried to write in high school. My dusty acoustic guitar. My speak-like-a-native German tapes.  Those and more are proof that my initial enthusiasm is stronger than my self-discipline. So while I’ve already got the first ten blog posts haphazardly assembling themselves in my head, I’m nervous that in a years time this blog might appear to me as a spectral figure prematurely deceased from neglect, with a single skeletal finger pointed to me as the wind carries the sibilant words “Je accuse”. We’ll see.

 

So, why should you lend your eyeballs to this blog as opposed to one of the other 147 million. Firstly because I bring life-experience and points of view that are not commonly heard. The blog title gives away part of it, atheism is an important part of my identity, but remains misunderstood and distrusted by the world at large. Also I’ve worked as a healthcare professional for over a decade, and have been privileged to see things and meet people that most never get a chance to. Also, when I get drawn into a debate, I find my mind spins like a dreidel in unexpected directions, and I have thoughts that might even be novel. So part of the reason I created this blog is to act as a museum of thoughts, so they don’t disappear into the ether. So I hope you’ll find my blog rewarding for those reasons.

 

Secondly, I’m willing to go the extra mile to capture your eyeballs. Of the millions of blog posts out there, most are quickly written in reaction to an event off the top of one’s head.  But to properly inform a debate, one should be willing to put in some research and present conclusions in an easy-to-understand manner. So I plan to create one to two posts per week on a topic, and I promise to put in several hours of research before typing. There is no pay-wall high enough, no scientific writing obtuse enough and no reference obscure enough to stop me from returning from my academic raid with concise and relevant information held in my bleeeding fingers. This is both a promise to my readers and  an assertation of what I bring to the blogging table.

 

Thirdly, I want to create a blogging environment that is welcoming to all. This blog may be inspired by atheist thoughts, but you don’t have to be an atheist to be valued for your contributions. Neither do you need to agree with me, as in fact disagreements are actively sought after.  There is no login required or approval required for comments, as all are welcome. I do reserve the right to ban those who misuse the English language to directly injure others (and will not apologise if I do so – my digital sandbox, my rules), but by-and-large I am loath to censor anyone. If in a few years, there is a vibrant community of people here enjoying the process of agreeing and disagreeing, then I would be very proud. If the only people reading my blog in a few years are my parents, then at least I’ll be proud of having a go.

 

So thank you to all reading, and I hope to connect with you again down the road.

 

Sincerely

 

Travers