First Post: An Explanation

For years, friends and acquaintances have been telling me to start a blog.  I'm still unsure whether this was just a thing that people say to each other -- like, you know, maybe they say this, instead of saying 'You're interesting.'  Or maybe it's just that I think I'm interesting, and that comes across obviously, and people who are thinking I'm uninteresting are trying to hide their true thoughts and so say something that insinuates the opposite: 'Have you ever thought of writing a blog?'

Whatever.  No, I had never thought of writing a blog till people starting asking me this question.  But I've been thinking of it ever since, thank you people.  I never decided whether I wanted to.  But here goes anyway.

Because I'm graduating from Wellesley College, and I suppose I'll need something to do?

So, hi.  My name is Hannah.  I grew up on a farm in North Carolina.  I'm a Christian, a feminist, a lover, and a sinner.  I quit smoking last year on 4 July, so I now have a reason to celebrate that day.  I'm an avid reader.  I think I'm hilarious, although I know that others probably do not experience me this way.  I'm okay with that.  I grew up thinking that learning to laugh at oneself was a major life goal.  I learned that, and the idea that work is good, from this book at a very young age.

Other than that, I have very little to say in this post, mostly because I wanted this, my explanation for this blog, to be as unapologetic as possible.

What will I be writing about?  One of the reasons it took me so long to decide to do this was that I couldn't envision limiting myself to one topic -- food, say -- and refraining from writing about other things I think are connected or simply want to talk about.  So I'll be writing about a variety of things I'm interested in -- food, the spiritual body, the ancient world, yoga, feminism, faith, et cetera.  Since this is more an exercise in whimsy for me and less an attempt to gain readership and internet fame, I'm not too worried about pleasing or offending anyone who happens across this blog.  Hopefully such unfortunate wanderers will find something life-giving, because I hope we all find life-giving moments from time to time, even in such bleak wildernesses as the internet.

But I think, anyway, that this will be good for me, too.  Because I spent a large portion of my life living in intentional community, working for a non-profit, where I engaged in meaningful conversation nearly every day; because I've spent the past three years of my life studying at the best women's college in the country, where I engaged with some of the brightest minds in the world on issues meaningful to us all; because I have been given so much, I'd like the opportunity to give back, even in this small way.

I feel a bit like I'm throwing fistfuls of seed into the wind, hoping for the best but against the odds.  I suppose that's just how it goes.