Why I Don’t Write Here As Often As I Should

I don’t consider myself to be a particularly brazen person; most of the time I consider that to be a good thing. While I have strong opinions, experiences, and ideas, most of the time I feel like rocking the boat with them is kind of an iffy decision to make. Why? Mostly because I don’t like feeling like my opinions will get me in trouble with you.

You would be amazed by how many times I flip open this empty screen and hover here, wanting to express the challenges and epiphanies that I face day to day, but too often choosing instead to shut it down for fear that you will a) think me foolish or b) disagree.

I’ve decided that’s not me seeking peace, that’s just me being meek.

Opinions, stances, beliefs, whatever you want to call them, are one serious double-edged sword. In their truest and rightest sense, opposing opinions can challenge us and sharpen us – forcing us to dig our hands into the mush that is our floundering opinions and craft them into something we can understand deeply and live out with conviction. On the other hand, like each and every one of us has experienced, opposing opinions can sting a little; they can really hurt if wielded with too much vigor. Facebook has only magnified this phenomenon; it is the easiest, most anonymous way to take a stance and then move on with your life.

Here in the Turning Point Collective, it is my hope that you would take everything, and I mean everything, I say here with grace. Test me if you feel I’m in the wrong, encourage me if what I say rings true, but don’t you dare shrink back, because being meek is not the same as being a peacemaker, saying nothing is not the same as staying out of it, and being brazen is not the same as being brave.

Thanks for being here to journey with me. “This is a collective after all.”

The Turning Point Collective

From one learner to another,

It’s a pretty gutsy move to name this small pocket of the internet a “collective” when it has really only just started with a “me” and a keyboard. Maybe it’s vision, maybe it’s naiveté; maybe it just doesn’t matter yet. Regardless, day one of the Turning Point Collective is my way of entering the dialogue of passionate people who want to make a difference.

It is my hope that this little blog will develop into a space for shared voices, large and small, experienced and inexperienced, that maybe – just maybe – we might catch some twinkling glimpses of hope. I will be sharing my thoughts on issues from global health to sustainable living, animal welfare to education, international development to climate change, human rights and more. Nothing is off-limits and these posts will range from theoretical to practical.

I’m no expert – I’m just me. And I’m learning new things every day. So, to make sure I’m not the only talker in this space, I hope to invite other writers to regularly share their thoughts and experiences with this audience as it grows.

Hey, this is a collective after all.

– Lauren