Something different

Starting a blog is something I would never do. However, life is much different than it has ever been before. In the spirit of challenging my own boundaries and trying new things, I present this public anthology of my thoughts.

The existence and conception of this blog is interesting to think about. In theory, I am exactly the person you would expect to write a blog. I'm confident (others like to call this cockiness), opinionated, self-righteous, and welcome any dialogue. Rarely does the opportunity present itself for me to express my perspective. More specifically, my friends know that I welcome the challenge to say something in ten words that can be said in three. Let's be honest, most of these qualities are essential to a disposition that would lead someone to post their random thoughts on the internet and expect people to read them. Nevertheless, a blog posting is certainly out of character.

The conception of this blog is an important reflection of the path my life has taken over the past year. The individuals responsible for convincing / inspiring me to start the blog are surprises in my life's path of the most unlikely sort. They have opened my heart and mind to aspects of life and this world that would have been lost in my periphery. More importantly, I cannot begin to express the influence they've had on me and the degree to which I value their friendship. This leads me to the title of the blog.

As a student in high school and in college, I cannot count how many times subjected to a conversation referencing Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. He prefaces the work with a poem that concludes, "For the strenght of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack." The general interpretation of this line is that the value of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I've always had a more personal interpretation.

For those close to me, they know how important family is. When I talk about family, I mean it in both a literal and abstract sense. In my life, I feel as if I've experience great triumph as well as great sorrow. The catalyst in the moment has always been those surrounding me. Success is empty without someone to share it with, and pain only hurts if there is no one to catch you when you fall. As three of unexpected additions to my "family" I thought it was only appropriate that the title of this blog somehow commemorate the friends that stand with me during the great uncertainty looming over the new and exciting life I lead.

I also believe this concept has a broader application and a far more important context. At the University of Michigan commencement, President Bill Clinton spoke about interdependency. We live in an interdepent world. The world has serious problems and serious challenges. No one man/woman, nor one powerful nation can solve them alone. In our cities, in our towns, in our nation, and in our world, "go it alone" policies are not enough... For the strenth of wolf is the pack.