Valentine, one of the staff members, gave a powerful speech about ”alienated birthrights” – things that all human beings should be capable of engaging in and enjoying, but which have been taken from people because they have internalized beliefs and identities that say things like ”I cannot do that” or ”I am bad at that”. Things like singing, dancing, athletics, mathematics, romantic relationships, actually understanding the world, heroism, tackling challenging problems. To use his analogy, we might not be good at these things at first, and may have to grow into them and master them the way that a toddler grows to master her body. And like a toddler who’s taking her early steps, we may flail around and look silly when we first start doing them, but these are capacities that – barring any actual disabilities – are a part of our birthright as human beings, which anyone can ultimately learn to master.
This sort of attitude, of being open about shortcomings and not judging people for them, is one of the biggest reasons I’m drawn to rational culture. I feel like writing is one of my ABs, so don’t be surprised if I figuratively flail around like a toddler at some points while I’m here, but I want to get better at it, and I know I can. I’ll probably write a proper welcome post sometime soon, but I’m kinda intimidated by it, and I don’t really know what to say, but I thought I might as well post this as a start.
My issue with writing isn’t with the mechanics of it (In fact, I’m pretty good at noticing flaws in other people’s grammar.), but rather in expressing myself. I think a lot of that comes from simple inexperience, which can be fixed very reliably. I’ve read other welcome posts for inspiration, but just sitting down and figuring out what to write is hard for me. It might be easier for me to write a welcome post episodically, i.e. posting a small amount, then adding additional small bits of text as I figure out more of what I want to write.
This sort of attitude, of being open about shortcomings and not judging people for them, is one of the biggest reasons I’m drawn to rational culture. I feel like writing is one of my ABs, so don’t be surprised if I figuratively flail around like a toddler at some points while I’m here, but I want to get better at it, and I know I can. I’ll probably write a proper welcome post sometime soon, but I’m kinda intimidated by it, and I don’t really know what to say, but I thought I might as well post this as a start.
Welcome! Your writing looks good to me. :)
If you’re unsure of what to say in your welcome post, why not look at what other people have said in their introductions and see if you get inspired?
Thanks for your response and encouragement!
My issue with writing isn’t with the mechanics of it (In fact, I’m pretty good at noticing flaws in other people’s grammar.), but rather in expressing myself. I think a lot of that comes from simple inexperience, which can be fixed very reliably. I’ve read other welcome posts for inspiration, but just sitting down and figuring out what to write is hard for me. It might be easier for me to write a welcome post episodically, i.e. posting a small amount, then adding additional small bits of text as I figure out more of what I want to write.