Intercultural Responsiveness

I told myself several times I wasn’t going to write this post. I just didn’t win the argument when all was said and done.

It was on my 39th birthday – June 5, 2010 – that I decided to take the leap into both Facebook and Twitter. I have my wife, Cristin, to thank for the the former, and my colleague, Scott Elias, to thank for the latter. And then, on August 1, 2010, I made my first blog entry to Intercultural Responsiveness. I have my colleague, Diane Lauer, to thank for this. Now, a year later, I have two more blogs – Maranatha and Tom’s Posterous – and I suppose it’s time to reflect. But, as is usual for me, my reflections will be brief, and they’ll likely leave you with more questions than answers.

I use Facebook to connect with people both personally and professionally. It used to matter to me who would and wouldn’t be my Facebook friend, but now I realize it doesn’t matter. If the feeling is mutual, so be it. If not, so be it. Connecting with people is an experience not relegated to my definitions or the definitions of others.

I use Twitter to connect with people both professionally and personally. I tweet about education, religion, politics, and anything else that tickles my fancy. I’m sure I’ve alienated a few tweeps for this reason, and I would venture to say my following would be larger if I wasn’t so “off the charts” for some people. But, I value diverse thoughts, and I hope others do as well.

I blog for myself. Sure, I want to get some messages out there for people to wrestle with, but I’m not going to hand it to you in a manifesto. I reflect on what I want to reflect on, and it helps me learn and grow. If people are left confused by my posts, then hopefully they’ll keep searching. If people are left challenged by my posts, then hopefully they’ll keep trying. And, if people are turned off by my posts, then hopefully they’ll hang in there. But, in the end, I blog for myself.

You’re going to get me to friend you on Facebook, follow you on Twitter, or add your blog to my Google Reader relatively easily if you tell me a bit about yourself and push the boundaries just a bit. It’s for yourself, it’s for others, and it’s for me. And, hey, if you don’t want me to join your party, it’s all good.

Thanks for being a part of this journey with me.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 31st, 2011 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.