I thought of starting a new blog on April Fools Day. But I wasn’t sure anyone would believe me, thinking I was on a fool’s errand. So, I’m soft launching it now.
Really, I just couldn’t wait to get going. And I’m not on a fool’s errand. I am once again fulfilling a passion, a calling if you please, and that is to speak out about issues that concern me.
Nearly two decades ago, I lost my voice. Not my physical voice, but my comfort with public speaking. I found that I preferred to write out my thoughts and have the option of changing them before hitting the send button – something you can’t do before a crowd on Sunday morning or in a public forum. Once the words are out of your mouth, there is no delete or edit button to push.
It wasn’t the first time I had lost my ability to speak out. The first was when I landed in Taiwan, at the start of seventeen years in East Asia and confronted the truth that I could no longer speak freely, not because someone would censor me, but because I didn’t have the right vocabulary. I had to learn a whole new language to be understood. And there was a steep learning curve to that new language. So, I began the journey of developing a new skillset with which to communicate.
The next time I lost my voice was when I moved to a different location – same language but a whole new setting with vastly different restrictions. I could speak the right vocabulary, albeit awkwardly, but with much more caution. Again, as with the previous place, I adapted, grew, and discovered those supposed constraints were giving me a whole new skillset with which to communicate.
Then came this last time. I was in depression, the effect of PTSD brought on by childhood trauma. I’ve written about this experience elsewhere and will write about it again. But what strikes me now is that the restrictions with which this internal condition placed me in eventually provided me the opportunity to speak a new vocabulary with another whole new skillset with which to communicate.
Each new chapter in life brings new restrictions and new opportunities. I turn sixty-nine shortly. Far from over the hill, I am reaching for new vistas, places where I can seize the challenges and see what new heights they take me to. Who knows what the next decade or two holds in store for me. I may find myself facing new communication challenges. Or I may discover a voice I never knew I had. I certainly am back in the saddle when it comes to public speaking and preaching – in English, at least. Wherever life takes me, I have already discovered that the risk of learning to speak out, in whatever stage or setting I find myself, is worth it.
I invite you to join me here at howardkenyon.com a couple of times each week. In these short posts which will take you just a few minutes to read, I hope to tell stories and share insights about what it means to live out what we believe. I won’t be preaching, not in the traditional sense. I will for sure make statements and just as often ask questions. There are no answers without questions, so I’ve learned. Which is why the word “why” is the first question children learn to ask – and to ask over and over. “Why” leads us to “because” and not merely “just because.”
This is not my first time to blog – I did a lot of blogging a few short years ago and learned much from the effort. Some of those old posts may reappear, even in a new book or two. In some cases, the themes will resurface if not the same old posts. Back then I wrote about a lot of things, some quite controversial by certain assessments. The readership grew to surprising heights until I had to let go of the pace because I already had a day job.
Well, I stepped back from that day job recently and I’ve discovered that some of the same themes resonate. At the heart of those themes remains the idea that what we do flows out of what we believe and so we need to get about understanding what we genuinely believe we should be doing.
“Living out what I believe” is my street definition for the field of ethics, my academic home. A common definition of ethics is the study of principles that govern a person’s behavior. What is it that guides what we do?
Everyone has a belief system, whether they admit that or not. And that belief system provides the riverbanks through which our life flows. Everyone acts according to what they believe to be true and if there is a disconnect between what they believe and what they do, well then, what they do really speaks to what they believe.
We live in precarious and divisive times where the very concepts of truth, righteousness, and justice are either coldly ignored or hotly debated. I am convinced we have the capacity to sort it all out and to do so while building bridges with those with whom we disagree. I guess you can say that is what I believe, or at least part of it.
If you wish to join in on this journey with me, there are three ways you can follow. One, just keep a lookout on my Facebook page – hit or miss, but you might catch some of my posts.
Two, keep an eye on this website: howardkenyon.com. Besides the blog posting page, there’s an “About” in case you and I are just getting acquainted, and some other pages devoted to resources, work of my own that I’m promoting as it comes out, and a couple of other exciting options arriving shortly.
Three, the easiest way not to miss out is to subscribe to this blog by responding to the popup. My posts will land in your email inbox as soon as they come out – every Tuesday and Saturday, Lord willing and the creek don’t rise. I’ll also keep you updated via email from time to time on new developments in how we can make this journey together.
Subscribing is free of charge. That is no April Fool’s joke. Come, start the journey with me and see where it takes us!