So Why, Adam? Why a blog?

Great question! Here’s the answer:

Welcome to the Journal of Adam William Robert Anderson. I’m 25 28 almost 30, 33 35 40 I’m a campus minister in Erie, PA I’m working in Columbus, Ohio, I’m finishing up my final year of seminary in Austin, TX I’m the pastor of Old Stone Presbyterian Church in Delaware, Ohio, I’m the pastor of South Jacksonville Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, Florida.  I write about things that strike me, and want you to be a part of it. I love you. Don’t forget that. Here are some other things I love:

• Smiling people
• Babies (my first one born in 2013, and second in 2015)
• The pain you feel after a good workout
• Laughing randomly about nothing
• My future wife (whom I may or may not have met)
• Starbucks chats
• My change bucket, containing all the change from the year
• My job
• Poetry from the heart
• Giving Bible Studies
• Playing guitar
• Singing harmonies
• Watching people reach their potential
• …and trying to discover mine.

To gain another understanding of why I blog, here’s an old entry. Enjoy!

i’ve been a blogger for almost five twelve sixteen twenty-one years, and i’ve had the same basic philosophy: i put what i’m thinking as a personal editorial. there’s nothing here that i would let someone know in regular conversation, it just happens to be that here i have a larger space to explore those thoughts and make them more coherent for you. often, it seems my mind circulates around things like God and theology, relationships (friendships and otherwise), and perceptions of the world around me. it’s not particularly special or fancy, but it’s questions, it’s observations, and maybe (which is the main motivation for my journal) it might make someone think, someone reflect, someone grow. and what i can add to the table for that, so much the better. that doesn’t mean i don’t occasionally pour out my heart, but i guard it with a sense of personal protection, as well as protection for others – after all, not everyone needs to hear everything i do.

so, to let you know, i won’t tell you about the girls i like or don’t like (though i might say something like “i like girls who play guitar”), i won’t tell you about the struggles i have to the point they become awkward, and as much as i can, try to be positive… it’s just who i am

(or attempt to be)

which is maybe what makes blogging popular: it’s a redefinition of character. it’s my ability to be who i am/want/need/desire/fake, and all it takes to start over is signing up again

let me say this too (as a plug for the side of my journal)… each of the folks on my journal fit a niche of blogging: some are just daily reflections, some are deep philosophy, some humble, others pretentious, but each one is a glimpse into a world of these people, and i draw myself into them – i know all these people fairly well, and to read what they write in their way without the construct of grades or judgment is beautiful

for a long time i was questioning why i could not write like some of the folks i linked to. they seemed to grasp what i was thinking, or at minimum it sounds polished. but really, why do i want to be them? i’m not real flowery, i don’t define life in sonnets, and i haven’t really traveled farther than maine. my experience is just me and that’s all.