Opening statements

 I think I learned it in English class... At least I can see the cheeky smile of my high school English teacher shaking his finger at us and saying "You have only 15 seconds to grab your readers attention!". I suspect it's even smaller, and to be perfectly honest, I don't even know if it's 15 seconds anyway. The point is, opening statements have to grab our attention. If they do not, our attention goes elsewhere. 

It's not just writing either... Every tried to chat with someone on an online dating site? That opening statement really seems to matter! 

I once started the conversation with a bold "Hi <so and so> It's nice to meet you!". Yup, complete with capitals and punctuation. I looked at my opening line imagining the rapt attention of the person on the other side of that match. "What a thoughtful opening statement!" they would muse before responding with rapt enthusiasm.

The reply came back. It was about 24 hours later and read:

hello

Yup... that was it. Not even a capital, or an emoji, or any punctuation. I've already deleted the thread, but as best as I can recall, I humorously retorted "I'm loving the enthusiasm!". Ahhhhhh! sarcasm to the rescue. That was the last I heard from this particular match. 

I'm going to get vulnerable while writing this blog. Why? I suppose it's because I want to meet myself. Born and raised to please others, at my age now it feels like a pretty set habit. But, I believe that learning to understand and provide for my own needs starts with actually meeting myself. This is hard for me. Not just because of the aforementioned reason, but perhaps it's also because as a species, It seems like we tend to fear or shun that which we don't understand. 

When my 3 children and I moved into the house that we currently reside in, we found all these hornets flying around the driveway and the yard. I hate wasps and hornets, but not quite as much as my kids. Getting all of the contents from the U-Haul into the house was, at first, somewhat terrifying. We dodged erratically flying hornets much like I would the ball in a dodge ball game. With fear.

Bear with me: Later on, I did some research. Apparently the hornets were called "solitary hornets". I also learned that they are usually in the area because there is something that they want. Often, it's something we don't want. Some other kind of bug usually... When they have consumed what they were after, they leave and go somewhere else. Oh, and they never re-use a nest. 

The more I learned the more I realised that I was probably the least of the hornets interest. I can imagine them talking amongst each other, shaking their heads and putting a small foot on their face while shaking their head.

"Their just so erratic"

I get it hornets... we are not so different after all.

Given that you are reading my blog, perhaps I should introduce myself. Make my opening statement.

My name is Stephanie Raelynne Closson. I won't say much more than that. Internet safety and all... I'm sure you understand. 7 years ago, I transitioned from male to female. That was probably one of the first times I met myself, and the processes of transitioning started me on this road. It's the same road I trod today. The road of meeting myself. One of the first things I learned?  transitioning changed my external appearance. That is really important of course, but like the dating site, I was really just looking at my picture, without really reading the profile. There was so much more to this new person. 

This process continues to this day, and that is the reason I am writing this blog. "What's the purpose of life?". Might I ask how many insightful answers you have read in response to this existential question? I sometimes wonder why so many people have a difficult time answering this question. I think it's because we often don't know ourselves. As a result, how can we begin to understand the purpose of our lives? Perhaps the better question is "What's my purpose?" or this one:

"Who am I"

Join with me as we figure that out together.