Ideas post

For my This I Believe podcast, I want to speak about the 2008 recession’s impact on my family and how it taught me that we don’t control what happens to us, but we determine how we respond to hardship. Growing up, I lived in a community where most parents had stable, high-paying jobs including my dad, who worked for pharmaceutical company GSK. The recession and job outsourcing meant that the company laid off many of its workers at his site, and eventually, he was laid off as well. The notion of an unemployed parent was strange to me because my experiences thus far taught me to expect a steady income. I was upset with my dad for “getting fired” and I didn’t understand economic reality.

On a lighter note, I might also do my podcast about learning music and what it taught me about accomplishing any goal. Once you know how to read music, learning a piece of music becomes mostly about just playing it repeatedly and gradually figuring out how the notes flow. However, I’ve found that there are always things I can do to interpret a piece differently or make it sound better. Like learning music, no goal will begin itself.

For my Civic Issues Blog, I’d like to write about the American identity today and the controversies over what qualities should unite us. Each blog post would focus on a specific aspect of identity, such as religious identity, race, immigration status and others. I plan to research the historical context of the issue, then write about the current state of the country as it concerns the issue. Given my research and personal values, I’ll present my opinion on how to resolve the tensions.

This blog topic might be too general, so my second idea is for a blog about immigration. The issue of immigration inspires a lot of emotional passions, which makes it difficult to debate or discuss it. To the extent that it’s possible given my personal biases, I’d write an assessment of what values guide both sides after reading other opinions on the topic. Then, I would decide what I believe or come up with a compromise.

For my Passion Blog, I want to continue with my current idea. Ideally, I read a book each week then write a review and commentary on the book. If I don’t end of reading that week, as is often the case, I’ll write about a memorable book I read previously or some other reading related topic. The format for my passion blogs is currently pretty open ended. I might reflect on the parallels between my own observations and the content of the book or general trends in the books I read.

Another idea I’d like to try is blogging about the ways geology has influenced human history. For example, mountains often served as a natural defense against invasion while people living in societies on level land risked invasion. I would research and blog about a different example each week.