It just hit me that I have never, once, changed anyone's mind on anything.
I've shared my opinion, sometimes people have found that convincing, but only if they didn't already have an opinion on that topic, no matter what it was.
It bothers me that I lack any credibility at all.
Especially so since I've tried several times to be more credible only to discover that the effort always contains some fatal flaw that nullifies it completely in support of the argument I'm attempting at the time.
I quite often feel baited into venturing an opinion because I honestly think some of the people I talk to share the conversation with others as a sort of, "look at this idiot!" thing. I am sure the response is along the lines of, "wow, he thinks he's smart and he's too stupid to see you're playing him like this? Bravo!"
It's depressing because I really don't talk about things I don't give a shit about. To suspect that the things that matter to me are being used as a punchline really does kind of hurt.
You cannot control the actions and thoughts of the people around you. All you can do is continue fighting the good fight, and let things fall as they may. You aren't wrong, Angus. But if I can give any advice, never, ever be closed the idea that you might be. Perhaps the opinion that will change will be yours.
ReplyDelete" To suspect that the things that matter to me are being used as a punchline..."
ReplyDeleteSerious, non-internet tone of voice here: Why do you suspect that?
Because there's overlapping social circles among some of my friends. Person X whom I talk to is friends with Y who knows Z who is friends with Harvey and asks, "why is your hubby so insane?"
DeleteAnd friends with Y can be like ten steps removed.
It's not that they're reading the blog either, there are turns of phrase that only happened in the conversation with X that are being transmitted down to Z.
I am officially a crank, I guess.
Hrm.
DeleteThis is not a loaded question, but a very sincere one: I know you have a ton of responsibility around the house and are the primary caregiver for your son. Are you able to set aside much time out to engage with other folks? I know from spending a lot of time at home alone except for the imaginary people in my computer that it's really easy to fall down my own belly button. When I do get out (or post comments on other people's blogs) it's easy to forget sometimes that not everybody's privy to my internal dialogue.
Does that strike a chord?
It does strike a chord. I took a couple days off blogging to let the chord resonate a bit.
ReplyDelete