"A Christmas Carol" for Mormons

For me, Doug Thayer's Will Wonders Never Cease was like watching "A Christmas Carol"

with a teenage boy instead of Ebenezer Scrooge and the boy's stream of consciousness instead of the ghost of Christmas past. Caught in a freak accident and left to fend for himself for nine days under a massive avalanche, the weight of the snow presses down on Kyle with simultaneous guilt we would expect from an introspective Mormon teenager coming to terms with himself in the face of death. Kyle's thoughts, while at time's frustrating and somewhat repetitive, reflect those of a teenager quite well, as he grapples much like an Alma the Younger to redeem his fifteen year old soul through powerful and imposed meditation and self-reflection. 

Reading this novel, I couldn't help but think how badly my parents would have wanted me to be trapped in an avalanche and rethink my life at the age of fifteen. In fact, they might not even be opposed to the idea now. But what was interesting to me was the type of parents that were portrayed through the innermost thoughts of the panicking boy. His mother, Lucille, reminded me a lot of my own mother. She seems to have employed a more hand's off style of parenting in which parents instruct and aid their children while hoping that the example they have set is sufficient reason for their children to make correct choices. However, teenagers will be teenagers, and more times than not, we were able to justify our actions as to live however we wanted to. It made me think about the lessons my parents taught me most effectively, and the lessons that I have realized only with a great many years of hindsight to appreciate.

While the novel is more overtly LDS than the other works we have read (maybe with the exception of Added Upon), I felt that it was realistic to how I probably would have thought if I were put in a similar situation at the age of sixteen. Young members of the church have little other context that they could reflect in, and perhaps we are the same now as we were then. So I enjoyed the novel, but more thoroughly appreciated the challenge of contemplating my own life and the consequences of my actions.

Stream of Consciousness Strengths

I've always been a fan of stream of conscious. It's such a unique, rich genre. However, I usually read it, knowing that I'm about to read stream of consciousness. Doug Thayer's Will Wonders Never Cease novel caught me off guard at first because I wasn't expecting a stream of consiousness-esque writing style. At first it really bothered me, but I'm now convinced that this writing style was the most successful way he could have told this story.

First of all, his story was more blatantly LDS than other novels such as Seventh Son and Dispirited. The problem with being overtly LDS, is there's a lot of LDS background that's required to understand the context of the story. It can be challenging to explain LDS beliefs or culture without distracting from the story, but Kyle was able to think about missions, spiritual experience, and other aspects of the LDS subtext in a more natural way because of the writing style of the novel.

The stream of consciousness flow of the story is also helpful--not just because Kyle is alone and hsd no one to talk to--but because it relates closely and realistically to real-life experiences where we take intense mental and emotional journeys that outweigh in importance the physical action around us. For instance, since we were in Kyle's head throughout the novel we could relive his memory of Trace with him and how it related to his vision of how his death would be handled. This is more powerful than "I almost died, but didn't. The end." The avalanche was certainly notable, but it would have just  been a crisis averted had Kyle not undertaken his inward journey as he struggles to survive.

Physical survival was certainly important, but it wasn't the most important aspect of the story. And I loved that.

Resources in Will Wonders Never Cease

I've enjoyed reading my classmates' opinions of Doug Thayer's Will Wonders Never Cease. They've noticed several themes in the book and how they relate to other books we've read in our class. Another motif I noticed in the book is that of using and appreciating one's blessings and resources. 

At the novel's start, Kyle spends most of his brainpower whining to himself about pretty much everything--how strict and strange his mom is, how much he hates school, and all the stuff he'd like to have but doesn't. After finding himself buried in the avalanche, however, Kyle has to take an inventory in several ways. 

Physically, Kyle finds and uses everything from orange peels to empty soda cans to keep himself alive. Emotionally, he takes time to acknowledge and deal with his grief over his older brother's death. Spiritually, he ponders what he's been taught about the Gospel his entire life and reaches out to God and his deceased grandfather. For the first time, he realizes how much he has and chooses to use it. This changes him in a realistic and profound way.

This theme of finding and using your talents and resources also shows up in other works we've read in our class. In Dispirited, the protagonist learns she can talk to the spirit of her stepbrother and works to help him. Similarly, the protagonist in Seventh Son finds he has powers and hones them. The LDS faith focuses a lot on our spiritual gifts--talents God has blessed us with--and how they can help us improve the world around us. So it's little surprise that this idea shows up in so much LDS fiction. As well as LDS lives. 

Parenting and Oblivion in Will Wonders Never Cease

Doug Thayer’s new book, Will Wonders Never Cease: A Hopeful Novel for Mormon Mothers and Their Teenage Sons, tells the story of Kyle Hooper, a go-with-the-flow teenager with a penchant for writing and a remarkably lucid sense of self. The book is a modern retelling of the story of Alma the Younger, as Kyle is struck by an avalanche (just as Alma is struck by an angel) and as his confrontation with despair causes him to contemplate his life choices.

          Thayer's book exhibits a profoundly Mormon anxiety on every page: the question, “How do I get my kid to choose the right?” and its haunting shadow, “If my kid chooses the wrong, is it my fault?” Through Kyle’s inner monologue, the reader meets Kyle’s mother, Lucille, a woman who clearly wants her son to live righteously, but who parents him in a non-traditional, laissez-faire way, using sarcasm and candor where Victorian parents would probably use restraint and subtext.

          Does this book teach “the right way to parent”? Lucille seems at first to be the master parent, but Kyle’s narrative quickly shows that she is haphazard and frantic, probably doing parenting by the seat of her pants, and much less self-possessed than she appears. Moreover, the subtitle of the novel is not “How Mormon Mothers Should Teach Their Teenage Sons” but “A Hopeful Novel,” which suggests that this is only meant to be an example of parenting working out, not a paragon of how it has to happen.

          What I find more interesting is the subtextual moral of this book, which is that human beings need to have avalanches dropped on them before they take anything seriously. Are we really that obtuse that we can’t actually choose righteousness until death is right in front of us? I would take offense at this, except that I was exactly the same way when I was a teenager, and honestly, am often just as oblivious now. If there is anything positive to get out of this book, I think it must be this message: Wake up, and don’t make God send you an avalanche before you get smart about life.

Will Wonders Never Cease

Douglas Thayer, Will Wonders Never Cease, was a non-the less a Mormon fiction novel. I enjoyed reading the book, it was a really easy and fun. The story line of a boy, Kyle, suffering from consequences due to bad decisions was clearly a message created for the youth who are struggling with the faith. I think Thayer did a great job portraying this situation that we see in many lives in the youth if the LDS faith. I loved seeing the character development in the main character because this was the first time I have ever read a fictional story of a person gaining a testimony. It was interesting to read with that perspective.I liked being inside a fictional character's mind, certainly when it is a young adult. I think he did a great job capturing this experience in this novel

This novel was in the same genre as, Dispirited, young adult fiction. With a lot of the readings we have read this semester I have learned having an open mind has most helped me to understand these authors and their purpose in writing. Writing these not religious, but also religious but also everything else can be confusing. Being an English major it is normal to go into a book expecting something and getting exactly that. But with all of these ambiguous works, we tend to dislike them rather than trying a different perspective once we read these undefinable works. 

 

In the mind of a stereotypical teenage mormon boy . . .

This book was hard for me to get through. When stuck in the mind of a character for the duration of a book, it helps to enjoy the mind that one is getting so intimately acquainted with. And Kyle was so over the top for me. Part of me admires the fact that Thayer was willing to show the reality of a teenage boy stuck in the snow, cycling through the same type of thoughts constantly for nine days. And then the other part of me was so annoyed that Kyle couldn't think of anything new, instead plaguing every chapter with redundant thoughts, giving Kyle very little breadth or depth, unless of course that's all there is to Kyle and then I don't care anyway. 

Photo by JonoTakesPhotos
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

At the same time though, the situation Kyle was placed in was fascinating. His lack of maturity and rather shallow being was sharply contrasted with the dire circumstances he had to deal with. His communication and remembrances of his Grandpa gave him a greatly-appreciated depth to his character and his smart thinking was interesting as he raced against time and the symptoms of death to be more than he was and survive more than his seeming time allotted. 

Overall, I can't tell if I just couldn't stand the actual character or if the book was actually problematic for me. I don't think it was written poorly, it was just unfortunately the type of story I feel no reason to read because it offers me no enjoyment, enlightenment, challenge, or intrigue. 

Thayer did provide some refreshing and "liberal" views when Kyle remembered scenarios regarding his mother, but even that wasn't enough for me to enjoy the characters Will Wonders Never Cease provided.

Will Wonders Never Cease: Attempts at Something New

In his novel, Will Wonders Never Cease, Douglas Thayer tells the story of a fifteen year old boy named Kyle. At the beginning of the novel, Kyle gets trapped in his car underneath an avalanche and the rest of the novel focuses on how he changes he struggles to survive. This story was very unique due to its use of stream of consciousness, not to mention its interesting concept. (I mean, personally, I've never before read a story about a kid trying to dig himself out of an avalanche over the course of a week and a half). Almost the entire story takes place buried in an avalanche. It revolves around one character and his thoughts about himself, his actions, and the people who will miss him if he dies. This combination of details makes for a very unique story.
Because of its uniqueness this novel was a bit difficult to get into. I'd never read anything like it before and didn't know what exactly to expect. The story got a bit repetitive as Kyle reflected again and again on the same issues and people, mostly girls and his relationship with his mom. However, it was an attempt at something new, a fact that I can respect.
This novel isn't the first original attempt that we've read in this class. Nephi Anderson's plan of salvation novel, Added Upon, was the first of its kind, making it a unique, original story unlike anything that had previously been written. Luisa Perkins' novel, Dispirited, was a combination of young adult, LDS, paranormal, fantasy that made it impossible to categorize in terms of traditional genres. These attempts at originality can be hard to get into and they have some kinks to work out, but at least these authors had the courage to try something new. And each found some degree of success within their attempts.

Photo from Washington State Department of Transportation Flickr

Unavoidable Grief

"Will Wonders Never Cease" told an intensive story of a fifteen year old named Kyle on the brink of starvation and hypothermia stuck beneath a freak avalanche. He struggles between longing for relief from his suffering and desiring to experience more of life like dating, school and even a mission. A large, if not the most present, concept in the novel is the inevitability of death and its contemplative nature. However, I was drawn to another inevitable concept: grief. The workings of grief have been at the forefront of my mind lately. Within in a year, my hometown has suffered three unexpected deaths, all of whom attended my church building. One was a middle-aged mother who had a brain aneurism, the second was a 19 year old boy who was hit by another boy and fell back at hit his head and the third, happening two days ago, was a member of the neighboring ward's bishopric who had a heart attack. Each time I was told about these deaths, I felt overcome with grief though only personally knowing one. How does one deal with the grief when it is your child, spouse, sibling, etc.? I honestly do not know, it is hard for me to think about. This question is addressed in the character of Lucille. She allowed herself to grieve. She allowed herself to cry. Yet, she endured. She endured through her faith, her family, and her love for her son.

Most of the literature we have read deals with some degree of grief. In "Dispirited", both Blake and Cathy have suffered the loss of a parent. In "The Seventh Son", the Alvin's family loses a brother and a son. Yet the story of their lives continues. Because life always continues, right? I think Kyle realizes this. Life will continue when he dies bringing him a degree of sadness. I think Lucille realizes this as well. Life will continue with her son gone and she can either endure with it or not. How you choose to endure through that kind of extreme grief I don't know but my deepest respect extends to those who do.

Creative Commons

 

out of the snow.

Doug Thayer’s novel Will Wonders Never Cease is very ‘stream of consciousness’ novel from a 15 year-old boy who gets stuck in an avalanche for 9 days. Kyle is able to survive by using what skills his grandfather had taught him (reaching into a Latter-Day Saint theme of family) and by eating the food he had been driving up the canyon with at the time of the avalanche. The majority of the book is simply inside of Kyle’s head, his thoughts and feelings as he is fighting off hunger, hypothermia and frostbite, and despair. Because of this style, Thayer is writing in a stream of consciousness, the ideas flowing out of each other and never seeming to end. This type of style has its pros and cons, mostly depending on the reader. It sometimes can get confusing to follow the plot and there are many times where Kyle’s thoughts leave the reader with way too many questions and not nearly enough details. But because of the continual returns to the same ideas and topics, most questions the reader might have about Kyle and his life are, more or less, answered.

It is rather heartwarming to read as Kyle changes, somewhat, in his attitude and perspective, especially on his family and his religion. Even though he may not have matured as much as maybe he could have, he comes out of the snow a different young man than the boy who cruised up the canyon.

The Reality of Death

Courtesy of Creative Commons

I really enjoyed reading Douglas Thayer's "Will Wonders Never Cease." I wasn't sure what to expect going into the novel, but I was pleasantly surprised. Thayer tells the captivating story of a 15 year old kid who gets trapped in his car during an avalanche. He is very smart and resourceful and works hard to get himself out, but the most interesting part of the account is who he is becoming as a person as he works through the possibility that he might not survive this ordeal.
I think that a turning point for Kyle (and for me as the reader) was when Kyle turned on the radio and heard the announcement of his own memorial service. He had thought before that people couldn't possibly still be searching for him but now that it was confirmed, he really had to decide if he wanted to live or die. Many teens are not faced with such a question at such a young age, but Kyle had had many experiences with death already. As he works to save himself, he thinks about kids at school that have died, his grandparents, and his brother Trace, who passed away from cancer. At various points, the experiences of these other people give him strength but also present various fears. Reading a first hand account of someone so close to death really makes readers take a second look at life and death and what is most important in life.
As his condition gradually grew worse and worse, Kyle continued to think about his mom, Lucille. It was fascinating to me to understand in part the relationship between mothers and sons. Kyle felt that his mother was very restricting and seemed to be constantly butting heads with her. But the longer he remained in his potential grave of ice, the closer he grew to his mother. He came to recognize her as his mother, not just as "Lucille." This drives home the importance of nurturing good relationships while we can. Who knows how much longer each one of us has on this earth?

It is all the same

Oh my goodness. I am just going to say. . . this has been the hardest post yet! I am not technical savvy and trying to find good blogs/ find good post was hard to say the least. So I took a different route. As my classmates know, my personal essay is about health and wellness. Well, I happen to have a separate Instagram account about my health journey. I made this account separate from my personal account because I wanted to inspire others with my daily experiences. Thus far I have gotten to know several different people just like me. And. . . They also post about their different experiences they have which are similar to mine. The best part about this is. . . Some of them are blog owners!!! So I was able to reach out to some of these people I have met over my Instagram and read more about them in their blogs.

Blog 1
Nerd Fitness

What I loved most about this blog was that they were able to share motivation through writing not just pictures and facts. This man goes on and shares his experiences he had while loosing weight and how it affected him mentally and physically. He stated his purpose was to inspire others through writing to change their lifestyle. He shares these stories because he wants people to know they are not alone and that anyone can do it. By writing I felt he showed his readers the reality of people who go through life changing experiences.

Blog 2

Fitness on Toast

I loved this blog because she started her blog for herself and her closes friends. She has now one of the most famous blogs in America and. . . She is from Sweden based in London! How cool is that? Through her writing she promotes a healthier, happier you!

Both of my were very simple yet I can compare them to this class quite easy. Mormon literature to me is about truth, and sharing personal experiences through writing. Both are serving the purpose of inspiring others to changed because they have experienced it themselves.

Getting Involved Feels Good

I haven’t been sure exactly where to look for valuable content to read—I’ll continue my search. I looked in several different places over the week, but I’ll share brief stories about two of them.

The first wasn’t actually a blog—it was an online newspaper article and the discussion (via comments) that followed. I tried to get a general idea of what was going on and what people thought about the issue. Then I submitted a comment of my own. I tried to include both my own opinion on the issue as well as acknowledge the truth I’d seen in what I’d read. It wasn’t received as well as I would’ve liked, but I was still glad that I’d made an effort to be a part of the conversation.

My second experience had to do with a young woman—a girl several years older than me from my home ward. I think she babysat me once or twice, but we never knew each other all that well. A few days ago, she gave birth to her first child—at only 24 weeks’ gestation. She, her husband, and the baby have been through quite the adventure this week (including a LifeFlight from St. George to Salt Lake). This woman—a mother now—and her family have been posting on a new blog and all week. But I never read through any of them.

Until yesterday. I spent the time it took to read everything I could about their week, including the many comments on their posts. Although the editor side of my brain itched to make some fixes, I focused on the feelings reading the posts evoked in me. In this aspect, the posts were beautiful. I made a comment on one of the posts about how their words and attitude about their situation inspired those of us reading and watching. Judging by the “likes” my comment got, many people agreed with me.

It felt good to get involved in a cause—in a life—if only by learning what I could about it. I’m grateful for how easy modern technology makes it to do just that. It gives me cherished chances to interact with some wonderful people. 

Finding MIA

Finding blogs can be a nightmare. I had very little concept of where to start. I began by scrolling through blogs that followed my blog based on the "next blog" button at the top. Fail. Then I googled literary blogs and came up with book review stuff. Fail. Then I went to facebook and scrolled through friends and clicking on anyone I thought might have a blog. Nearly a fail.

But then I remembered Amelia. She and I worked together on the Stowaway Magazine staff for our editing capstone class. I was the Managing Editor and she was the Art Director. We both liked curry and V for Vendetta, and we were really good at supporting each other when a venting session was in need. But that was last semester and I hadn't really seen her since. So I clicked on her blog.

I know we were supposed to find knew people and build the foundation of potential blog-based relationships, but deciding to follow Amelia's blog was like finding a new side of her. The foundation of our relationship was built in person, but the realness of her life's worries and experiences I found while reading three or so of her posts. She writes in a short-burst, miny essay style. By short-burst, I mean she writes a thought leaves hard return spaces allowing for dramatic pause, reaction, sarcasm, etc. and then continues in that same way. When she begins to move into more profound thoughts or realizations her sentences become smoother and more connected. It was fascinating.

I found Amelia in her blog. I didn't expect to do that. I thought I knew her pretty well, enough for a curry date anyway. And I think I was wrong. Blogging may be the un-examined life we place out in the shadowed open for the world to see. But how many of us actually take the time to look? I'm glad I took the time to see Amelia because it turns out there is a lot to see.

https://ameliawallace.wordpress.com/

New Perspectives

I found this assignment difficult, but also really fun. I loved reading different experiences from so many people that are interested in the same topics I have been writing about. One issue that I found though was that as I started researching different blogs along the same lines as my reading was that I was becoming bored. Bored and uninterested with my own topics. That's when I started wondering if I was writing about the right stuff, so I began searching for other topics that might help me decide what I want to write about.
I started with an "I am a Mormon" video of this girl that had cancer when she was 16 and then it came back. It was really interesting and inspiring, but as I started reading her blog, I started to feel like I wanted to leave the issue behind me.
So my next approach was to search out missionary blogs. I found a few that were interesting, but for the most part, they were just letters that people who personally knew the missionaries would want to read.
At this point, I was starting to get frustrated with myself for not being able to stick to a topic. Then I found a link for a blog called the rmtc, which you can find here. http://thermtc.com/
The writing was amateur, but I found it a lot more interesting than anything else so far.
Something that I enjoy about blogging in general is that people can find connections with other people whom they may have never met otherwise. Blogging is great in that people can share longer stories and experiences with a wide variety of people, which is not exactly possible via Facebook or Twitter because of word limits (whether placed by the creators of the site or by social norms).

what I found.

I literally just used Google and clicked around, reading, until I found blogs I found engaging enough to continue looking into. I sound so snobby, but there's the truth. But, here is what I found:

I found this blogger here, http://wellbehavedmormonwoman.blogspot.com/ , and went through her posts thinking that it was going to be a pretty subtle mommy-blogger but was pleasantly surprised with her boldness. She writes mostly about politics and the up-to-date happenings with the Church. Obviously her posts include her own opinions, sometimes gets a little sassy, but it’s enjoyable to read and think about the things she is writing about. I commented on a couple of her posts but they needed to be approved first, which totally makes sense.

I also found http://askmormongirl.com/ where the blogger takes comments/emails of questions from her readers and answers their questions with her knowledge of the gospel, of historical evidence, and her own experience. I really enjoy this blog because it seems less opinionated and more informational. Again, obviously there are opinions there, but they aren’t necessarily explicit. I think it’s really cool that this blog is working for her—I think my fear in this type of blog would be getting people to ask questions in the first place, but she seems to get a lot of them.

I think it’s important to interact with those who are also in this sphere of blogging, of sharing their content, because it allows us to engage with the now, with the issues and ideas being discussed, instead of hoping someone will find our content interesting regardless of how dated it might be. Conversations are happening whether or not we are a part of them….might as well have something worthy to contribute, right?

Hunting for Mutlifaceted Blogs

I've been brainstorming the different blogs I'd like to look into, and I've decided I'd like to go the personal blog route rather than one that designed for a certain subject or agenda. I like the more open-ended possibilities of personal blogs. One post may be about an event, but the next might be hashing out a current events issue. One day the blogger may vent a little; another day they may open up about something difficult and important. I think I'll having an easier time connecting with a blog like this.

Through Facebook I've found two blogs that I think will work well for my efforts to make connections. One blog was started by a girl I went to high school with, and Ive already done some interacting with her. A couple months ago, she lost her sister. She shared a lot of her heartbreak through Facebook, so I was aware of the situation, when one day she shared a blog post about her terrible visiting teachers and their insensitive visit so soon after this tragedy. I responded, since I've had my fair share of visiting teaching failures, but those failures have taught me what not to do and have ultimately become something positive. She never replied to that post, but a couple weeks later I shared a short post on Facebook reflecting on grief and death, and this girl commented almost immediately.

For this assignment, I've been looking at her blog again and have discovered it's quite diverse. Her latest post is a DIY project--which wasn't exactly what I was looking--but I like that she shows multiple sides to herself. It's not all serious. Even though I'm certainly no Pinterest Diva (I don't actually have a Pinterest), I commented and shared my own ideas for the project.

Likewise, my second blog has a wide span of post types. The blogger is my old visiting teacher (a good one, but short-lived) who has since moved away. She's a stay-at-home mom and nurse and she shares adament health opinions, simple experiences with her children, and deep personal issues like her miscarriage and birth. Some of these posts coincide with my ideas for my personal essay.

Maybe I should narrow my searches for connections, but like seeing a dimensional person. What do you think?

The Blogging World

To be honest, at first I didn't really know where to begin my search for blogs to read so I simply entered "recommended blogs" in the Google search bar.  As would be expected, I was given website upon website with titles such as "Top 100 Blogs of 2014" and such.  I skimmed through some of those websites but most were business blogs or catalogue type blogs and nothing really interested me.  So I searched for blogs on Google+ and found one that really surprised me.  The blogger is Liz Strauss and she is an international brand strategist.  Now, when I read her profession I didn't really know what that meant and assumed she wouldn't be writing personal posts but she had a quote posted to her profile that said "You're only a stranger once...be irresistible!"  that intrigued me.  I found a link to her blog called LettingMeBe (lettingmebe.blogspot.com).  Her posts were artful, intelligent and even philosophical yet also personal.  I was surprised at how much I like her content.  She had about 25 comments on each post and I enjoyed commenting on her writing as others had, it made me feel part of the web.  I was skeptical at first of simply looking around for random people but I was pleased with what I found.

Still, I felt there was something more to be read.  Though Facebook is a closer circle that the Google Search Bar, I decided to see who of my friends kept blogs.  One girl from my Sophomore ward, a girl I have only had a few conversations with, just began a blog.  She has only posted once.  I read her post and was moved to tears.  Her writing was precise yet moving as she described the death of someone close to her family.  I immediately messaged her and thanked her for her post and complimented the aspects I liked.  She responded, admitting that she had been nervous to post her writing and she told me she was in the midst of posting another and hoped I would read it.

Though both different experiences, I have enjoyed letting go of my own writing and focusing on the works of others.  It is rather gratifying.

Two Blog Approaches

I started my journey into the blogosphere with “The 444 Project,” which was started by my friend’s girlfriend, Josie. For the past two years, she’s used her blog and internet presence to teach people about a condition that she suffers with: bipolar disorder. She discusses her struggles with drug abuse and suicidal thoughts. She talks about the difficulty of growing up with bipolar disorder, and how her struggles with the disorder have brought her closer to God.

Josie’s blog is wildly popular. She travels throughout the United States (and, as of last year, Italy) giving stake firesides and youth conferences to help spread her story.  She also interviews “random strangers” on the street, asking them what “gets them out of bed each day.” She shares the stories she hears with the people in the firesides, in an attempt to spread joy with all of the people she sees.

Another blog I looked at, “Bright and Beautiful,” had a similar mission. This one is written by Beth, a friend of mine who just moved here from Hawaii. Her blog is more intimate, detailing her lifelong struggle with body image and confidence. She writes posts weekly which explain her views on self-perception, as well as how we treat others.

In reading these two blogs side by side, I realized that while their two approaches were very different, both of these blogs had the same mission: they wanted to convey something that their authors had learned, so that an audience could benefit from their experiences. Beth and Josie have very noble intentions to share their knowledge with the world, though Josie does so through macro-level public speaking and campaigning, and Beth does so through modest essayistic posts.

I don’t know if one way is better than the other to do what they want to do. Josie will obviously reach more people, but her blog seemed a little chaotic to me, which made it hard to focus on what she was saying. Beth’s brevity and eloquence in writing made me reflect more on what she wrote; but then, Beth will probably reach less people through her writing, in the long run.

Both approaches, though, are really admirable. I love the idea of using writing to teach, so that a reader can learn through experiences that someone else has had.