Some Blogging Goals for 2007

It’s that time again, when thoughts turn to what the new year has in store. Now that we have started to settle down in Hong Kong, I’ve been putting a lot of serious thought into the future direction of this blog. Of course, that is in some ways tied to my thinking about vocation, writing, music and so on, but to some extent this blog has a life of it’s own as well. So here, more or less, are my goals for 2007.

More Theology and Culture. My academic interests focus on issues related to ethics, faith, culture, religion, economics, globalisation, education, politics and spirituality. These coalesce in a project I call Theology and Culture, which I really defined for myself in the late 90s. However, the time has come to rethink this and try to publish new work in this area.

Less on the Emerging Church. Specifically, less about the conceptual debates around what is, or is not the emerging church and the conflicts between supporters and defenders of the movement.

More Reviews. I’m very pleased to be writing more film reviews again, but I want to break through the blockages that stop me writing more music and book reviews.

Less Digging Up The Past. I re-started this blog as a way to deal with a pile of unfinished work and the feelings they aroused. Whilst that archeological task is not complete, it still gets more attention on this blog than it should. It some ways it is choking new ideas and projects and it is time to close down and let go of some projects that never quite made it.

More On Expatriate Issues. I want to dig deeper into the problems of global mobility, the creative class and living away from (or without a) home in more detail.

Less On Places I Used To Live. Not that I have stopped thinking about London, Delhi or Sydney, but I don’t live there anymore and in the case of the last two, probably will never live there again. These are global cities, so in one sense they will always have an interest for me, but they get too much attention on this blog.

More On Everyday Spirituality. I feel that some of my best writing and thinking has been on the issue of everyday faith, the small things we do to build a sense of connection and meaning. But whilst I’m very focussed on that, it doesn’t seem to register much on this blog.

Less On The Big Agendas of Christendom. I devote too much time to evangelicalism, to the religious right, to the buzzword trends in Christian marketing to the culture wars. There are other blogs devoted to that stuff and they do it better than me. Besides, those things are almost totally disconnected from how I actually live. Besides, these debates are often so toxic, so polarised that it feels dirty just to report them. So, I’m declaring a holiday (or moratorium)from it all.

More On Music. This is a headache for me. My blogging is disconnected from my music. I’m not sure what the solution is – podcasting, another blog, more clips. Whatever it is, by this time next year my blog needs to reflect my musical work more closely.

Less On The Blogosphere. Technorati, blog-fasts, rankings, etc. Yes, it is all an addictive trap, yes many A-listers are that obnoxious, yes the coolest blogs fly just under the radar. But I’ve already said that over and over.

More Fresh New Bloggers. It might even be as cliched as new blogger monday, or something like that. There are so, so many worthwhile blogs out there waiting to be discovered.

Less Biographical History. Every good blog is biographical, but I’m going to be spending less blog-time focussed on my distant past. School days, time at theological college, and the such have been filters through which I’ve approached a lot of topics. In 2007, I’m going to try a different, more contemporary approach.

More Globalisation. Food, fashion, sport, economics, art – more, more, more.

Less Negativity. This has been a big goal through this year. Something snapped for me in 2005. I got to the point where I couldn’t take any more of the habit of “saying something negative to say something positive.” Somehow I learnt the habit training for ministry and hanging around church circles and I realised it had to go. However, it’s hard to do that without disengaging from some people and from some conversations. It’s a tension I will continue to explore.

More On Creativity. – I want to explore further the creative process, especially as it pertains to writing, theological reflection, music and improvisation.

This isn’t quite complete and maybe doesn’t make sense, but it is where my thinking is currently at for this blog. There’s a few more areas I’m considering and maybe some changes, but for now this is the big ideas.