When I was doing research for my very first blog post (not the first to appear here but the first I wrote) I came across 10 articles that were essentially identical to the one I had drafted. That was a bit disheartening. Here I was saying something that had been said at least 10 times before. That’s a challenge with the uber-connected world. At any time there are undoubtedly 100s of people considering and writing about the same questions you are, no matter how odd those questions may be, and they all have access to the same internet as you. So what’s the point?

1. Writing is a great form of learning. Regardless of the outcome for others the outcome for me is worthwhile. My personal motivation for writing was to practice putting my voice out there into a forum where what I expressed was open to criticism. Whatever your motivation for sharing with the world, much of the value of sharing may simply be the impact it has on you.

2. Sometimes you are the right voice. From having had hundreds of students in my various endeavours, I know that many times I have had a student who was struggling with a particular challenge and it wasn’t until they encountered the same answer from another voice (sometimes multiple other voices) that they were able to grasp the needed lesson. My voice and way of expressing may be as important as ‘what’ I am expressing.

3. No idea should be left to fend for itself. Sure there are others who have said what I have to say before, that doesn’t necessarily make me a tired parrot. It makes me part of a network for that idea. Perhaps for someone I am the right orator, at the right time, and in the right context for the idea to truly find its legs.

I’m still writing and sharing and teaching. I hope you are too.