Sister Sage’s Musings Turns One Today – And What a Learning Experience It Has Been! Sharing Memories

It seems  just like yesterday I began my first post when SSM was at blogspot, back in the days with those rather boring looking cookie-cutter themes. I noticed Blogger has improved on that since then.

What’s funny is that I had never meant for Sister Sage’s Musings to be a political blog.  When I first opened the account in June, 2009, I had originally meant it to be more of an online journal of my trials and tribulations as I hit middle age; more of a personal nature.  Maybe some thoughts of the news I had heard earlier in the day or week, but nothing more. I had put up a few posts which I had since scrapped and come to think of it, they  don’t seem important anymore and I had given up on blogging altogether, but kept the blogger account open.

It’s funny, I was one of those (somewhat) politically apathetic folks.   While I always voted at every election since I was old enough to do so, as I believe that we don’t have the right to bitch about the government we have if we don’t vote, I believed that all politicians & the two main parties; Liberals and Progressive Conservatives were pretty much the same although, I kept a higher watch as I observed the growth of Reform and the merger of the Cons and, like so many Canadians, stared at the TV with utter horror and disbelief as I saw ol’ Stevie spiteful get elected as PM, but never believed it would last as long as it has.

I was also one to take a lot for granted, that Steve would never get his majority, that would never lose medicare or any other of our social programs, etc. I woke up for the first time after learning about the Shona Holmes lawsuit against her own government, as well as slandering Canada to unsuspecting Americans. It was my first taste of political discussions on line; on Facebook and then Twitter much later on. Observing and reading all the current events, as well as being introduced to political blogs from both sides of the borders was the beginning of my wake up call; that lesson on how we can’t take anything for granted because anything can happen if we allowed ourselves the luxury of being lulled into a false sense of security.

The first Canadian political blog I followed regularly was A Creative Revolution.  Pale & Dr Prole introduced me to something; straight talk. Two average, concerned women expressing their concerns for what is happening to Canada and the world out there without the usual increasing Harpercon-friendly bias in the usual corporate media outlets I was discovering.  Pale and Prole  were providing an alternative; voices from women who don’t owe anything to anyone; no editors to change their words beyond recognition (hell,  that happens to letters to the editor!), nobody pulling their strings; thus more credible opinions.  How refreshing! I would be introduced to others of equal quality and entertainment later like  Dr Dawg and The Galloping Beaver. I thought to myself, Hell! I had so much frustration for that corporate media with their right winged slant and Harpercon sympathies, How clever! Put your own opinion out there and perhaps even add some truth where corporate media may have left out.   That’s when I decided that Sister Sage’s Musings would become a  political blog, for the most part, due to my frustration with corporate media.  That, of course, was the easy part.  I had no idea what kind of trials and tribulations I would be up for. So many lessons I’ve learned. Sometimes to the point where I had entertained even leaving blogging altogether. Battle fatigue and migraines were but a few issues.

I’ve met a lot of interesting people once my blog was aggregated at Progressive Bloggers. I liked, and still do, like the information sharing. For an introverted individual who thinks socializing should be reserved for work only, I have found much of the interaction fun.  Many history & economics buffs, whom my dad would have loved to meet, having taught both those subjects himself during his teaching career.

Then, through Canadian Cynic, I had been introduced to the dark side, the Blogging SupposiTories. I had learned why CC was so amused by them. Wow! I had no idea this was what conservatism was about.  Having been raised by a regional union rep for the Montreal Teachers’ association and a staunchly left winged mother, and their friends, for the most part all seemed to be like minded, I don’t think I was ever really exposed to Conservatives, well, those who voted the old Progressive Conservative, but I never remembered them being as stupid, or as demonic or (in some cases) as psychotic as the Blogging SupposiTories, nor do I remember them ever promoting greed above all.   I still ask myself if this is a new phenomenon or is this the way they’ve always been, only now they’re unplugged?

I got tired and took a brief hiatus before Christmas, as many remember. I had decided to quit smoking and was battling other health issues, as well as a change in my job description at work. This was not conducive for battle.  Being nicotine deprived also gave me blogger’s block (I don’t call myself a writer. I’m too dyslexic and I also  create digital art as many have seen to reflect my thoughts on current events.  Besides, I have noticed that many bloggers tend to be auditioning for careers in journalism or other professional writing gigs or are already established; this is not my case. I have no interest in that whatsoever. That would defeat the original purpose as to why I started my blog in the first place), among other hideous withdrawal symptoms.  By the by, for those who haven’t kept up, I finally fell off the wagon end of June/early July, when my brother and his girlfriend came to town and I decided to light up with them.  Not the end of the world. In fact, I feel like my old self again.

I eventually did decide to go back to blogging, but not on blogspot. I wanted to design my own site & be self-hosted. I really didn’t like the cookie cutters offered at blogger. WordPress had much cooler theme designs and more to choose from, but I wanted my own designer original that no one else had.   As a graphic artist, I have photoshop and Illustrator skills to come up with something cool, just a dummy at coding.  I looked through tutorials until  my husband downloaded Artisteer for me for one of my Christmas gifts. That application provided the templates, but I could provide my own backgrounds, pics, icons, rss buttons, so  I still got to put up my designer original.  Hey, I got green hosting services to boot!  Sister Sage’s Musings’ new home was finally unveiled New Years’ Eve. New Year-new start-new site.

I still had a challenge though; how to blog without cigarettes?  I somehow managed though, prorogation was happening and I joined the Montreal anti-prorogation  rally planning committee.   The rest came on its’ own.

I eventually had  a co-blogger who provided a different progressive view and a much different style.  I wanted other co-bloggers because I wanted to branch out to other projects.   The Left Hand, of course, is welcome to come back and blog here anytime. I’m still looking for a  progressive co-blogger to blog in either in French or English.  I have to say that having guest contributors and / or a co-blogger has been a positive experience for me.

Many firsts. Many situations I didn’t know how to handle. One such example was when  I blogged my response to the passing of President Obama’s heavily watered down health care bill; the post ended up being  marksteyn.com’s reader of the day.  With that came a bunch of traffic.  Problem was, did I want that kind of traffic? My comments section was bombarded; suffice to say, some of them had strange ideas as to what a love letter consisted of. I remembered being in a total panic, emailing a fellow prog blogger, ‘what do I do?’  But after  reading his advice,  I realize that there’s no such thing as bad traffic, but it’s more how one handles the trolls that decide to spew their toxic venom.  I still have trouble have trouble with that to this day. I laugh about it now.  Jokes like Sister Sage went to the wrong side of the tracks and stuff like that. I have to admit, it is funny.

Speaking of trolls and having difficulty cutting them off and dealing with them, I learned how toxic some can be and how persistant.  I learned that sometimes having the best of intentions and wanting to encourage debate and freedom of expression,  sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way and yes, I had to ban a few folks.  Discourse can’t be had with those who think General Pinochet is their hero, or  those who believe victory is using sock puppetry.  Yes, I had no idea how much evil there was, here in Canada, before I joined the blogging world. I wish I never discovered them, but at the same time,  I know I had to, because ignorance is not bliss in this case.

I think what’s been hardest for me in the past year, were disagreements with fellow progressive bloggers. Not the minor skirmishes; those are to be expected.  After all, Progressive bloggers are a mix of people from socialists to red tories.  I’m somewhere in between the two these days. As much as I like socialist ideals, I know most of Canada is not that way and they fear it; they’re in the center.  No, what I mean are some of the more serious disagreements I’ve had with a few of them over certain issues, be it current events or even over the handling of certain trolls.   Some, regrettable, and I think moving past those,  and looking back, I’m not proud of myself.  Others, while never easy, are sometimes unavoidable.  It is my goal to come to some kind of truce, but at the same time, I know conflicts could come up again when certain issues elicit such passions.

Now, here I am, exactly one year later. I obviously still have a lot to learn.   I am still meeting interesting people throughout the blogosphere and some, rip-roaringly entertaining, if nothing else. Sometimes, one has to laugh at the Blogging SupposiTories (most of them, anyway); as my Dad would say, if they had half a brain, they’d be dangerous.

Will I still be here next year, doing battle? I don’t know.  But, honestly, I never believed Sister Sage’s Musings, as a progressive political blog would have lasted this long, given all that has happened in the past year.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have provided moral support, encouragement, advice and cared enough to  let me know when I was on the wrong track and to quit while I was behind via email. You all know who you are!