Apparently, This Is What Goes On in My Head

I’ve been thinking about why I’ve been writing all of this.

Which seems a little strange.

Apparently, I’ve reached the point where I’m now thinking about why I’ve been thinking.

That could be dangerous.

When I started I’ve Been Thinking…, I wasn’t trying to become a writer.

I certainly wasn’t trying to become an influencer.

Trust me, the internet already has plenty of those.

I just realized I had things bouncing around in my head that I wanted to explore a little further.

For years, Facebook was where a lot of that ended up. I’d see something that caught my attention, wonder whether it was true, look into it, and sometimes share what I found.

Other times I’d have an experience that stuck with me.

A conversation.

A trip.

Something from my past.

Something happening in the world.

Or occasionally just one of those thoughts that decides 2:00 in the morning is the perfect time to introduce itself.

Eventually I realized I wanted somewhere to do more with those thoughts.

So here we are.

I Don’t Really Have a Theme

If you’ve looked around the blog, you’ve probably figured this out already.

One day I might be writing about retirement.

Another day it’s an SR-71.

Then BBQ.

Veterans benefits.

Family.

Religion.

Mental health.

Travel.

Artificial intelligence.

Or something I haven’t even thought about yet.

That probably isn’t how you’re supposed to build a successful blog.

I’m okay with that.

Because the common thread isn’t really the subject.

It’s curiosity.

Something makes me wonder.

So I start digging.

Sometimes I find an answer.

Sometimes I find out the answer is considerably more complicated than I thought.

And sometimes I end up with three more questions than I had when I started.

Those are usually the interesting ones.

I’ve Got More Time to Wonder Now

Retirement probably has something to do with this.

For most of my adult life, there was always somewhere I needed to be.

Twenty years in the Air Force.

Another career in federal service.

Work.

Family.

Kids.

Bills.

Schedules.

Life.

There wasn’t always a lot of time to chase a question simply because I found it interesting.

Now there is.

And I’m discovering that I enjoy it.

I don’t want retirement to become simply finding ways to pass the time.

I want to keep learning.

I want to keep asking questions.

I want to travel, meet people, try things, learn some history, eat some good food, catch some fish, and occasionally disappear down a rabbit hole because something made me wonder, How in the heck did that happen?

Writing gives me a reason to do that.

Sometimes Writing Changes What I Think

This may be the part I didn’t expect.

There’s a difference between having an opinion and actually trying to explain why you have it.

When I sit down to write something, I usually start with an idea.

Then I start looking into it.

And occasionally I discover something inconvenient.

I might be wrong.

I know. Shocking.

Sometimes the facts support what I originally thought.

Sometimes they change it.

Sometimes I realize there are two sides to something I had only been looking at from one direction.

That’s become one of the things I enjoy most about writing.

I’m not trying to tell everyone else what to think.

I’m trying to figure out what I think.

And why.

Maybe It’ll Make You Think Too

I don’t expect everyone who reads this blog to agree with me.

Actually, I hope you don’t always agree with me.

What I’d really like is for something I write to occasionally make somebody stop for a second and think:

“Huh. I never thought about it that way.”

Maybe you agree.

Maybe you disagree.

Maybe you know something I don’t.

Maybe it sends you down your own rabbit hole.

Or maybe you just enjoy reading it.

That’s perfectly fine too.

Not every article needs to change someone’s worldview.

Sometimes an interesting story is enough.

Welcome Inside My Head

I suppose that’s really what this blog has become.

A chance to peek inside my head.

Fair warning: it’s a little cluttered in here.

There’s some Air Force history sitting next to retirement.

Family is mixed in with travel.

BBQ is apparently important enough to have its own section.

There are questions about government, religion, veterans, technology and whatever else happens to catch my attention.

And somewhere in the middle of all that is probably a fishing story waiting to happen.

I don’t know exactly where this blog is going.

That’s actually part of what I like about it.

I’m not writing because I think I have all the answers.

I’m writing because I still have questions.

And at this point in my life, I think that’s a pretty good thing.

I’ve been thinking… maybe staying curious is one of the ways we keep ourselves from simply going through the motions.

And if something bouncing around in my head occasionally gets something bouncing around in yours, then I suppose this little blog is doing exactly what I hoped it would do.