Of Blogs and Humans

Now, this is hardly my first blog. I've blogged elsewhere and for longer than I can remember (which is a blatant lie: for 7.5 years). This seems different, somehow. Like I've expanded. Or grown. Or something that doesn't make me sound like I just sit around eating Thanksgiving dinner every day.

The problem that comes with blogs always lies in wondering what to blog about. There's a certain chemistry to a successful blog, one that many people before me have tried and failed. There needs to be a certain amount of wit, which I generally tend to have down. Whether or not you get my wit isn't a fault of mine; I can't help that I'm witty on a level that maybe I'm the only one who understand. There's also a level of gravitas, tempering the funny with the serious. And, of course, a way with words. If you know me in real life, you'll know that I like to play with words, like they're something I can mold to create something you've never seen before. Now, if I actually accomplish that is another story. But dammit, I try.

So, introductions: There are many names I go by, depending with whom you speak. There are familial nicknames that I won't share, partly because they're embarrassing, but mostly because they belong to my family. There's the nickname my friends know me as, that is also a grammar term of pronunciation. And then there are the internet handles. If you know me from the internet, you probably know me as Brooding_Soul. But, to be fair...that's starting to be a little melodramatic (albeit, true). For the sake of brevity, I'll introduce myself as J.

Onto my blog title, "First and Foremost, Human." My favorite play that I've ever read is "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen. I've read a lot of plays (and have acted in just as many) but "A Doll's House" has stuck with me for many reasons. One of those is this line from Nora Helmer, the lead of the play: "I believe that I am first and foremost a human being, like you; or at least, that I must try to become one." It's a lesson I find myself learning on a regular basis: I'm human, so I'm allowed to make mistakes. I'm a human, so I'm allowed to have feelings. I'm a human, so I'm allowed to be human. I am, first and foremost, human.

There's a lot that goes on in this head. Let's hope I can reign it all in.