What’s in a Name

As a ‘Blogging 101’ student, I’ve been asked to reconsider the title of my blog, along with my tagline. The tagline is coming into focus as I write, and I’m hopeful it will be clear enough for me to see it by the end of this post.

I thought long and hard about my title, and I’m happy with it. When I first decided to blog, I wanted the title, “Out of My Mind”. That’s where the content would arise, and one of my reasons for blogging was to get decades worth of stuff out of my mind to make room for some new stuff. I didn’t really think about topics, or limiting the number of things I’d write about. I was planning to write about Totally Random Shit; another blog title I considered. I knew I wanted to commit to a domain name, and discovered on searching that “Out of My Mind” has been used so often for so many different things, I didn’t want to confuse the field. As for Totally Random Shit, well, I couldn’t see putting the word “Shit” into my blog title. I don’t use profanity in public. Not much.

A few years ago, a friend said to me, “You’re getting a bit eccentric.” She was referring to the fact that I leave my Christmas tree up year-round. I take the decorations off and just leave the little white lights. I like the lights, the tree isn’t in my way, it’s a pain in the butt to take down and put up again. Why not leave it up? So I told her, “I’m not getting eccentric. I’ve been off-center my whole life. It’s just that I used to consider that a bad thing and now I finally see the value in it. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

‘Contemplative’ has a connotation of spirituality, but it doesn’t have to. It’s really just about thinking, which I do more than is good for me.

So I titled my blog, The Eccentric Contemplative, and a voice in my head immediately said, “You Are Not! What makes you think you’re the only one?!” That’s when I decided to be One Eccentric Contemplative. I have no idea how many of us there are. I’m certain there are at least a few.

A wise friend suggested I focus on a topic or two, rather than blog about whatever comes to mind. (If you’ve read my About page, you’ll know my ‘career path’ seems to have been a ‘whatever comes to mind’ sort of journey.) I wanted my primary topic to be the things I’ve learned; especially those things I find my self in need of re-learning periodically. And most especially those things I believe we have in common – what connects us.

Darn. My tagline is not only as fuzzy and far away as it ever was, but it’s been joined by a few nominee lines, all vying for my attention. Here they are, and I’ll make a selection soon, I promise. Feel free to recommend one, or let me know if any of these are awful. I could use any of the quotes that are my Guiding Principles, such as my favorite Wendell Berry quote, but suspect that would not be fair or legal. I’m partial to number one.

1. Connecting with the Truth, but not the Whole Truth
2. I See You
3. Join the Club
4. “You never know what you’re going to learn” – Wendell Berry

See Y’all,

Marcel LaRose