The One Where I Start a Blog

Yes, this is a lazy first title, but I just spent an entire night sitting up in bed with my laptop googling words and checking thesauruses to find the title that most perfectly (and concisely) fits who I am, who my family is, what this blog is all about.  I keep trying to fit one more word into it, but overall I like it.  I am trying it on for size, or taking it for a spin around the block (to use another metaphor) before I then use it to create a personal email.  The point of saying all that is I have no energy left to put into a title for just ONE DAY.

I will do my best, however, to not use titles like today's as a rule.  First of all, that gimmick is sort of the intellectual property of the writers of Friends.  Doing it once as a nod to a great show is enough.  Second, the grammar is already killing me.  I really wish it said "The One in Which I Start a Blog."  I think.  Wouldn’t Mr. McCandlish, my AP English teacher, be proud that I still care? (The man had a shirt hanging in his classroom that read "If you don't give a damn about the comma, what DO you care about?"  I have been tormented over my comma use ever since.)

 The other thing I will not make a habit of doing is rambling as I am now.  This post will give you a good idea of my "voice", (Does the comma above go inside the quotes? Curse you McCandlish the English teacher!!) and I think that is important before I delve into topics that could be quite serious. I have been misunderstood for being harsh, judgmental, and many other things that no one ever assumes when speaking to me in real life.  I have become convinced that, this too, is McCandlish's fault.  I speak with most of the locally accepted grammar errors and colloquialisms,  but was taught to write well.  Therefore my writing often comes off more seriously than my intent.  So when you feel temped to hate me, shift the blame to the curmudgeon who trained me.

SO WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS BLOG ABOUT ANYWAY?

I am glad you asked! (See what I did here?  I am acting like we are in a conversation.  Clever, eh?)
Since I took eight hours to come up with a title, I suppose I should unpack it for you.  I just hope I can put it all back together when I am done.

 1. This Blog is About Me
Aren't most blogs?  Mine is no different, except I have no time - nor desire - to make this a journal of my life. It is about what interests me and affects my life.  It is more specifically about my perspective on things, why I have that perspective, and how that affects my interactions with others and the world around me. 

 What I have found is, that in more areas than one, I am not quite in the mainstream.  However, I am also not completely independent or recognizably counter-culture.  I could almost call this blog Somewhat Set Apart, but there is more to it than that.  This blog is where I am, it is the place where I can live freely set apart.

2. This Blog is About My Children
Again, this is not so much to recount their experiences in softball and scouts, but to share how our unique family is perceived by others

•There are many of us.  The minute you realize every prize package is for a family of four, you know you are set apart.
•We homeschool and we have kids in public school.  This is the first of many issues where we straddle a line that has divided many.  And we feel like we are living in no man's land.
•Some of the children are on the Autism Spectrum.  Autism by nature sets you apart.  Regardless of one's ability to communicate and interact with the general population, a person with Autism is wired differently.  Also, the minute a parent receives a diagnosis, they are asked to choose up sides: neurodiversty or cure?  You also have to field questions and comments from people who are ignorant of what Autism Spectrum Disorder is. Finally, we have high functioning children, which means we are not fully immersed in the services and world of the child with greater challenges.  So both parents are somewhere on the outside of both the neurotypical worlds and the world of Autism support.
•Some in the family have ADHD.  Again, our brains are wired differently.  And even at our very best, when we even outshine the "normal" people we have to do it in a way that makes no sense to the outside world.  (Plus once you have proven success, they have no idea why you cannot replicate it tomorrow.)
•One of my children has a mood disorder.  In her own words she feels she has to deal with problems much different than others do.  Her diagnosis is often invalidated by people who only see one side of her.  And this child is often on the sidelines even with a busy extra-curricular schedule.

3. This Blog is About My Faith

This is not a devotional.  I am not saying it can't happen, but I am not setting out to write a daily inspiration for people.  This is about how I am set apart in various ways because of my beliefs.

•I am a believer in Jesus.  The word "sanctified” means set apart.  I am set apart to do His will.
•I worship in a Messianic Jewish context.  The Jews were God's chosen people, set apart to bring the Messiah to the nations.  Studying God's word from a Hebraic standpoint sets one apart from most of Christendom - and we are oft misunderstood. Loving the Biblical (and just cultural) traditions that are rooted in Judaism while affirming that Yeshua/Jesus is the Messiah set one apart from Jews.  At times one feels like a bridge, other times like a lonely island.  In addition, I am pretty sure I am a gentile - yet I am drawn to the Hebraic Roots of my faith and identify with Israel.  Depending on the commentator that means different things as far as my participation, but it makes less sense to others than does a Jew who worships Yeshua.
•I don't toe the party line.  I will say I am conservative because I take the Word of God very seriously. And that means, as long as the context makes sense, I take things that are said at face value.  However, I do not take what teachers say at face value, and I am willing to look for myself to see if even mainstream doctrines might not be correct.  Sometimes it is tradition that has been proof texted.  Sometimes two seemingly opposite understandings are derived, and I will no longer assume that the "underdog" side is the heretic.    I also have detached myself from much of evangelical culture.  Sometimes I feel they can be too set apart -but that results with me being once again on the outside. 

4. This Blog is About Parenting and Discipline
I put this separate from my "children" category for a reason. This is an area I am passionate about. I believe this is one area where many have followed the status quo without even pondering that there could be something better out there.  Yes, I said better.  But I am talking about the method, paradigm, and tools - not the parent.  And with anything in life, ideals are only as good as their ability to adjust to variables.  Sometimes ideal in a certain situation is the exact opposite of a general ideal.

 But on topic.  I believe that parenting can be done gently and without punishment.  (I will clarify later.)  I believe that attachment parenting -including things like breastfeeding, baby wearing, and sleep sharing- are important.  Obviously these things set me apart both in the Christian and secular culture in North America.  But I am mainstream in most of the rest of the world.

5. This Blog is About Alternative Lifestyles
I look fairly mainstream.  I eat fairly mainstream. My health practices are fairly mainstream.  But my philosophies are more alternative.  I am making baby steps to become more natural in my lifestyle.  That is often called crunchy (like granola).  I am just mildly crispy.  Some of my choices do not even ping the neo-hippie radar, but they make me seem a bit odd to most suburbanites.

 6.  This Blog is About Being Honest
I am not very political, and I do not use Facebook as a place to lobby.  I stay out of most controversial conversations in real life as well.  It is part of my personality to not want to offend anyone - ever.  (That is, of course, impossible.)   I realize sometimes others might be encouraged by my point of view.  So in areas where I am passionate, I am not going to hide that to spare feelings.  Of course I will use tact and love, and I am still not going to comment on every news piece.  I will just give my take on those things that reflect my true nature and passion.

So there it is in a nutshell.  (If that nut was huge.)