Illustration by Sir John Tenniel.
I never really thought it was a good idea for me to share my thoughts through an electronic medium. Those of you who know me understand what a trainwreck that could be. When I am chatting with friends and colleagues, I can be quite boisterous even bordering on opinionated or judgmental – who wants to read that? Apparently a lot of people.
I was recently at a social media workshop hosted by the lovely women at our Northeast Center, and it seems that popular blogs are ones written in a very blatantly honest tone. It is also OK for people not to agree with you, almost the point really if you are trying to get people to respond.
Coming up with a title was very difficult, as was deciding on a focus. Most of the stuff I do relates to educating the public about archaeology in Florida. This includes developing interepretive material for the public – presentations, lesson plans, brochures, signs. I do a lot of work with teachers at workshops and in the classroom. I work with many like-minded partners to promote awareness of Florida’s cultural resources. None of that sounds like fascinating reading. But then I thought, maybe I should not just talk about the what – talk about the whys and hows too.
So I came up with “Through the Looking Glass” – yes a Lewis Carroll reference that has honestly almost been beat to death, but let me explain. Like Alice, sometimes I feel like I have stepped through the looking glass into a world I no longer recognize. It then becomes my job to communicate with the people that I come across on my journey, in a way that makes sense to them – in a manner that speaks to their needs. Whether I am interpreting events like the Jabberwocky poem, or trying to define terms like Humpty Dumpty, or bringing people to the table to agree on a course of action which very much resembles a chess match – I am not in my world, I am in theirs. Unlike Alice, at the end of the day I am not focused as much on crossing brooks as I am on building bridges. Bridges that span the gap between what I want to impart and what people are willing to hear. Bridges that create a path to mutual respect and support. OK, so still a storybook ending.
All aboard. The train is getting ready to leave the station – next stop blogosphere. Either way the trip will be an interesting one for me, I hope it will be equally interesting for you.
