“Anybody who writes knows you don’t simply write what you believe. You write to find out what you believe, or what you can afford to believe.” – Essayist Adam Phillips
“The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.” – Novelist Gustave Flaubert
The Exponent blog and Exponent II have meant a great deal to me because in writing for them I’ve learned a lot about what I believe. I found the Bloggernacle in 2009, when my sister encouraged me to read CJane, and The Exponent blog quickly became a favorite of mine. I submitted some guest posts, and joined the blogging team in 2012. Since then I’ve written for and gotten involved in the Exponent II paper.
I’ve learned a lot about what I believe in the past few years. Through a piece on being a Christmas and Easter Protestant I learned that I need beauty and variety in my worship. Through another essay I learned that I’m thoroughly and deeply not a believer in gender complementarianism. I found out about Ordain Women and processed Kate Kelly’s excommunication through this blog. I’ve made sense of books by reviewing them here. I’ve clarified for myself what is so fundamentally wrong about “the policy” by writing about it. My writing has pushed at the boundaries of what it means for me to be Mormon, and it has made me examine some beliefs that are hard to face.
Comments from readers help me find out what I believe, too. Many times a thoughtful comment or question has made me dig deeper or helped me see something I was missing. Occasionally even a trollish comment has sharpened my thinking. The dialogue that happens in the comments can be really energizing, and I love it when readers participate in that discussion. I love Exponent, and I love you, dear readers. Thanks for creating a community in this space.
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Great thoughts, Emily. Writing helps me refine my thinking too. I’m so glad you joined us as a perma!
Absolutely true for me. Love this.
I often find that I need to “write it out” to figure out exactly what I think about something. I love having this forum available to me.
Have you only been here for 4 years? Exponent II is a better organization for having you and I can’t imagine it without your voice.