In Which I Try Not to Sound Too Pompous, Or, Welcome!

Welcome to Practicum of Life. I’m glad you’re here. Pull up a chair; coffee and refreshments are over there on the counter. Help yourself. While you’re getting comfortable, I’ll try to figure out how to start.

There are a couple of options. One, I could give you the brief bio – SWCF, voluptuous, loves cats, ISO Meaning of Life – but you’re not here to read a personal ad.

Or I could start by giving an historical background – the events and thoughts that led me to post this in the first place. Yawn. You don’t care, at least not yet. So why are you here? Why did you click whatever link led you here?

While you’re pondering your answer to that question (which I hope you will leave in the comments), let me explain the title of this baby blog. “Practicum” is defined generally as “[a] school or college course, especially one in a specialized field of study, that is designed to give students supervised practical application of previously studied theory.” (www.thefreedictionary.com) Another definition is that practicum is “a course involving activities emphasizing the practical application of theory, esp. one in which a student gains on-the-job experience in a field of study.” (www.yourdictionary.com).

So, a practicum for life. Wouldn’t that be, well, life? I think so. But there’s plenty of practical application of theory involved in life, and I have come to believe that gaining wisdom involves on-the-job experience; that is, living life.

My current philosophy of life is drawn from many sources, but it’s constantly evolving, both as I learn more theory and have more experience. One of the driving forces of my life has been to help other people. So much pain and suffering exists in the world, and sometimes I think pastors, preachers, ministers, teachers, counselors, and others in positions of some authority tend to forget that theory is grand, but we must be able to apply that theory in order to survive the missiles and arrows aimed in our direction as we walk through life.

So that’s what I imagine this blog to be – a place to record how I have learned to apply in a practical manner the theory I’ve been absorbing all my life, in the hope that something in this record will help you on your walk through this world. I fully expect to wander, to cover anything and everything from fashion to faith. I will speak frankly, and apologize in advance for any offense. I intend none, and hope that those of you who disagree with me will do so in a courteous fashion. I invite dialogue, because one of the tenets of my philosophy of life is You Never Know Who Has Wisdom to Impart, So Listen to Everyone You Meet.

But human nature being what it is, I must set forth a few ground rules:

1. No flaming. If you disagree with me or a commenter, play nice. If you refuse to play nice, I reserve the right to ban your access to this blog.

2. If you notice that I have quoted someone incorrectly, please give me the correct information for citation. I certainly have no wish to dishonor the contribution of anyone who’s helped get me to this point in life.

3. Did I mention no flaming? Good.

4. Please feel free to give me courteous feedback. This blog is a work in progress, and it’s the first time I’ve attempted anything like this, so if you have suggestions about how to make things work more smoothly, I welcome those.

5. There’s really no Rule 5 yet, and I hope there won’t have to be. It’s just that I have a thing for odd numbers and can’t leave a list alone unless it ends with an odd number. Yeah, I don’t know, either.

Because this is a public blog, unless I have specific permission (or obligation, if I’m citing a source) to use someone’s actual name, I won’t.

Well, I think that covers the basics. I look forward to seeing you again, when the next entry is published.