Upend

“Hello?  Hello?  Is this thing on?”  It’s her Twitter profile, and it’s so her.  It’s also me, a little over two years and two hundred blog posts ago, hesitating every time I hover over the “publish” button, wondering if I can handle how the universe may choose to react to my voice should it actually be heard.

It’s not easy, going back in time, to my once upon a time as a writer. I cringe at the roughness of my style, the prescriptive tone of my words.   But he’s asking to go through each Windlass post in chronological order, together, in an attempt for me to get my arms around the construct of the book it’s finally time to write, and for him to get his arms around me.

 

I think about what it means to be safe, to deliver the innocuous message, the one that won’t rock any boats, but certainly won’t rock any worlds either.  And I wonder, just for a second, which is better?  Do I censor, in an attempt to protect myself and my loved ones, watering down my emotions so as not to rile?  Or do I put my true feelings out there knowing that for every individual drinking in their resonance, there’s another who thirsts to scoff? 

I believe implicitly if you’re going to speak, you should speak up. Your message might be controversial; it might be misunderstood.  The person who hears it may not be capable of getting it, and may choose in her own ignorance or insecurity to dislike you because of it.  But it doesn’t mean you’re wrong, and it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t say it.

In today’s world, it’s so easy for your microphone to be on.  What’s hard is finding the courage to say what needs to be said.