I have decided to start blogging again. I have things to say, questions to ask, and conversations I want to have. We live in a complicated world, and I know my opinions do not necessarily make a difference. But I have come to realize that my hesitancy to share my point of view is really not a good trait. I want to break through my silence, and meet, engage, share, speak, converse, give, discuss, question, challenge… what I have to give may not be of interest to everyone, but I think and hope it will be interesting to some.

Training the mind

This is not my only blog. You may already know about my other blog. On that blog I write about everything related to professional photography. On this I am going to write about other, more personal things. I know that maintaining two blogs will be challenging, but I choose to do so for two reasons. First, I have learned that writing really stimulates the mind. I am already experiencing this in these first paragraphs. “Writing is to the mind,” I read somewhere, “what going to the gym is to the body.” I am looking forward to the stretching of my mind this blog will bring. I do not consider myself a great artist or writer, but I would like to get better at the the art of finding the right words, and putting together coherent and pithy sentences to convey meaning.

More than just a photography

Secondly, I am more than a professional photographer. I enjoy my profession and am proud of my work; yet I realize that ‘professional photographer’ does not encapsulate all that I am. Besides photography and business I have a number of other interests. Or to put it differently, there is ‘Rogier, the photographer’, and there is ‘Rogier, the human’. I want to explore human themes and ask human questions.

Because we are all, as the title of this blog suggests, on a journey. I find the human journey fascinating. My journey is interesting, but so is yours. Too often we only talk about superficial things. How is the weather? Did you see that movie? Do you think Feijenoord has a chance of winning this year? How was your holiday? These questions are great for small talk, but I like talking about the real issues of life. The things that make our individual journey so interesting. Give it it’s ups and downs, it’s twists and turns.

The four subjects of this blog

Specifically, I am interested in four areas of our journey. I think these will be the main foci of this blog.

I want to talk about faith and worldview. About how we see the world — and why. I am a former professional christian with theological training who has lost my faith. This transition (‘deconversion’) continues to have a huge impact on my life.

Next, I want to talk about human relationships. About how we engage with each other. My deconversion has had a significant impact on my thinking about subjects like marriage, sex, homosexuality, right and wrong, healthy and unhealthy … there are issues here to address and questions to ask.

Also, I want to talk about Personal Development. If you want to succeed in the 21^st century, you need to be at the top of your game. So developing yourself matters a great deal. But how we develop, and what constitutes healthy development is impacted by the first two issues I intent to address: how we see the world, and how we do relationships. And so Personal Development is a logical third subject.

The fourth and last main subject for this blog is culture and politics. This makes sense, because in our journey happens in a context. And that context impacts our journey: our woldview, our relationships, and our development.

Invitation

So, that’s the plan. We will see where we end up. For now, let’s get started. I look forward to learning about your journey, and telling you about mine. Shall we move on?