I suppose the first question I need to answer, especially for myself, is why blog at all? Over the past two years, some transformational events have happened to me. Before you stop reading you should know that up until two weeks ago, the word "transformational" made my antennae go up too.
The first event was reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. Finally! Someone understood that not only do I have something to say, but that in a per word comparison, what I have to say is probably more valuable than the average extrovert. Very empowering stuff! My first reaction was to tell my entire family that if they want to understand me (and many of the people they know) better, they should read the book. Their incentive to read it was a guaranteed, unlimited conversation about it with me anytime they wanted.
Of course, the second event was watching Susan Cain's TED talk. Not only was she articulating what I feel, she was demonstrating the power of her voice on a subject she is passionate about. Late in 2013, my sister (who took me up on my offer and read the book) invited me to join her at the Massachusetts Conference for Women which might seem an odd place for a dude to go, but Susan Cain was speaking so I was all-in.
Now, it is one thing to realize you can have a voice, it is quite another to know what to use your voice for. Enter Lyssa Adkins, Michael Spayd, and Michael Hamman. I attended their Agile Coach Bootcamp in Essex, Massachusetts in September 2014 and it was the experience of a lifetime. I had so much to say when I got home that my wife wondered if I had been replaced with a pod person.
Anyway, I am still finding my voice, but I have more clarity about my passion and I think my voice will emerge from that. In other words, I'm taking the agile approach to this blog. I know what I want, but the details are a little fuzzy, so I'll just start building it and the design will emerge through iterations. And...on those occasions when I do fail to find my voice, I plan to fail early so I don't waste your time. At least, that's the current plan.